Draining Tank Lots Sediment!

[molo]

Hello all,

I am in an area where there are loads of minerals in the Water. Hot-water tanks are always getting filled with sediment. I have a situation where I need to drain a hot-water tank that I know is filled with lots of sediment. What is the best way to do this?

Thanks in Advance for any help,
Molo

[hj]

1. Replace the drain valve with a ball valve and hose adapter.
2. Replace the tank instead of wasting a lot of time flushing it.

[got_nailed]

1 turn off power
2 turn off water
3 open a hot water at sink to relive pressure
4 close hot water at sink
5pull the drain valve if it is plastic then have fun with the destruction but don’t mess up the threads
6 use a long screwdriver or something in the drain hole and use it to break up the deposits
7 put your water hose on it
8 turn the water on
9 go get a new straight ball valve and hose fitting for it
10 turn the water off drain the tank (turn on a sink then when empty turn off)
11 turn the water back on till you don’t see any nasty stuff coming out of the hose.
12 turn water off
13 put on new ball valve and close
14 water on and open sink to fill tank
15 when full (water coming out of the sink) turn off the sink
16 turn the power back on to the heater


Do this once a month but after the first time you don’t need to remove the ball valve. If it is real bad then you can pull and replace the lower element. Use something to break up what you can whale your in there (a bigger hole).

[molo]

Thanks for the help!

Do I do all that in the order you listed? I'm wondering about what to do if I take the plastic shut-off out, start clearing the sediment, and the water starts pouring out of the tank? Should I have the ball valve with hose connection ready to thread into the tank? I need to avoid a flood.

Thaks in Advance,
Molo

[leejosepho]

I'm wondering about what to do if I take the plastic shut-off out, start clearing the sediment, and the water starts pouring out of the tank? Should I have the ball valve with hose connection ready to thread into the tank? I need to avoid a flood.

Does anything at all come out of the drain valve now?

If so, and even if only a trickle, you might first shut off your water supply and let the system pressure run down by pushing what it can out of the tank ... then have your ball valve with a hose barb in it and a drain hose nearby so you can next remove the plastic valve and install the ball valve (hand-tight for now) ... then open the ball valve and poke through it until a little more of whatever comes out ... then stick the hose on the barb (off and back on while poking, if necessary) and let the tank finish draining. At that point, you can remove the ball valve and clear a little more around/inside the hole.

If nothing at all comes out now, you might first shut off your water supply and release the system pressure at a cold faucet somewhere (and leave it open) ... then have your ball valve with a hose barb in it and a drain hose ready and continue on with the above ... and of course, turn your water heater off before doing anything else.

[molo]

Thanks Lee,

It still seems like it will be next to impossible to avoid a mess. Sound right? or is there a clean way of doing this so that I don't ruin the carpet?

[leejosepho]

You might try using a large, low-sided catch pan such as might sit under a washing machine, but no, I cannot think of any guaranteed way to keep everything nearby completely dry. If nothing comes out now and you can get the valve changed and firmly attach a drain hose going somewhere, you *might* be able to use a little backpressure (either air or water) through the hose to disodge the slug and get things flowing so you can drain the tank before again removing the valve to do some poking.

[alternety]

I know this is pretty obvious but - after turning off the power let the tank cool. If you start fooling around at the drain with hot water n the tank you could get burned.

[molo]

The results are in on draining this tank!

I was able to get a 3/4" ball valve (with nipple) into the tank while there was still alot of water in it. I then used a small trash can to catch water as I prodded into the tank with a flexible rod. I did get alot of white calcium type material coming out. I then hooked up the hose and drained the entire tank. After I was done with that I took the hose off and went back to using the amll trash can to catch water. I repeatedly turned the cold supply on and let it flush the remaining LOOSE sediment out until the water was nice and clear coming out.
Then I refilled the tank, and turned the gas back on.
I still have the same problem as before!
The tank is very loud (sounds like rocks rolling around)!
I thought that if I got the sediment out, it would fix this problem.

Question: Is the sound caused by sediment? Could there be more sediment in the tank or even hardened to the bottom that causes this noise (like rocks rolling around in the tank when it is heating. It is quite loud.

It is gas fired, some assumed from the beginning that it was electric.

TIA,
Molo

[Rancher]

One more question...

Gas fired hot water heater?

Rancher

[jadnashua]

Some of that sediment may have hardened in place. This would somewhat insulate the heating elements, if electric. It won't be perfect, and will have cracks, etc. in the coating. Water will end up being superheated, flash into steam, and make that sound. You may not be able to clean out enough to solve your problem. If it is electric, you could replace the heating elements.

[molo]

Note: This is a Natural Gas fired tank

The results are in on draining this tank!

I was able to get a 3/4" ball valve (with nipple) into the tank while there was still alot of water in it. I then used a small trash can to catch water as I prodded into the tank with a flexible rod. I did get alot of white calcium type material coming out. I then hooked up the hose and drained the entire tank. After I was done with that I took the hose off and went back to using the amll trash can to catch water. I repeatedly turned the cold supply on and let it flush the remaining LOOSE sediment out until the water was nice and clear coming out.
Then I refilled the tank, and turned the gas back on.
I still have the same problem as before!
The tank is very loud (sounds like rocks rolling around)!
I thought that if I got the sediment out, it would fix this problem.

Question: Is the sound caused by sediment? Could there be more sediment in the tank or even hardened to the bottom that causes this noise (like rocks rolling around in the tank when it is heating. It is quite loud.

It is gas fired, some assumed from the beginning that it was electric.

TIA,
Molo

[leejosepho]

Some of that sediment may have hardened in place. This would somewhat insulate the heating ...
Water will end up being superheated, flash into steam, and make that sound.

A thin spot in the cylinder wall of an internal combustion engine can cause the same kind of thing (as evidenced by coolant overheating), and maybe your gas-fired internal heat exchanger has a similar "thin spot(s)" problem causing some "rolling bubbles" of steam.

[Cass]

You will most likely never get rid of the noise so if it is that bad for you replace the tank with a new one like hj suggested.

[master plumber mark]

They do mkae a solution that would clean the bottom
of that tank.....call around

you pour it into the top of the heater and let it set for a few hours

then you flush it out....and it strips the sediment off the bottom of the tank and it is as good as new...

the only downside to it is ----it is very labor intensive
and odds are you will end up cleaning the bottom of the tank so well that a leak will probably spring forth .....


We have some old Tight Wad Germans -around here that would opt for that ....