Draining water heater for element replacement

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tlong_66

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When i opened the valve to drain my hot water heater only a very small trickle of water came out. I made sure the valve was open all the way. Is this normal? Everyone has told me about cleaning out the lime and scale build up when draining the tank. How is this accomplised with such a weak flow?
 

Cass

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did you open up faucets to allow air into the heater and did you turn of the gas or electric first?

You could also try opening the T&P valve but you need to be ready to replace it if necessary.

Depending on the mineral content of your water and how old the unit is your attempt to clean it may be futile.
 
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Leejosepho

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With the water, gas and/or power to the unit turned off, open a faucet somewhere to de-pressurize everything. At that point, you will have to remove the drain valve from the bottom of the heater and do a little poking to see how bad your situation might actually be. My son-in-law found about a foot of settling and buildup in the bottom of his water heater.

In place of the original drain valve, a ball valve can make it possible to get the flow started more easily next time.
 

tlong_66

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Draining water heater

Electricity was shut off and one hot water faucet was open. Should more faucets be open?
 

Cass

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You have sedement build up on the bottom not allowing the water to drain faster. It is not worth doing at this point. When the heater is replaced start doing it then on a regular basis like every 3 months or so.
 
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My suggestion is to open the drain without turning off the valve on top of the heater, let the drain run with the heater under full pressure. The pressure will often push out the debris blocking the drain. Let it run for aprox 5 minutes until you're confident it'll drain on it's own without obstruction. You may have to open/close/open/close the drain a few times to jar loose some debris as it comes thru the drain valve. Once the drain is clear, turn off the valve at the top of the heater and open a few faucets to allow air in the heater while it drains. If you're daring, you could open the T&P valve but be warned....it may not close properly later and you may end up having to replace it.

Alternative: Get a 1x3/4" bushing (brass preferably but galvanized will work too) Install a 6" brass nipple in it, a full port 3/4" ball valve and a 3/4" i.p. X 3/4" hose thread adaptor. Turn off the water to the heater, pull/remove the lower heater element. Most of the water will stay in the heater under vacuum (think of lifting a straw from your drink with your thumb over the end of the straw). QUICKLY screw in the bushing/nipple/ballvalve adaptor you just built, with the valve in the "OPEN" position until you get the first thread or two started, then shut the valve and hand tighten the adaptor into the heater. You now have a means of draining the tank with a new, temporary drain (usually) above the height of the sediment.

Good luck.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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flush it out under pressure

If you dont do it under presure it will
only piss out a very small stream....



but it really is to no avail if you are attempting to get
most of the sediment out of your water heater....




if you really want to do a tourough celaning of the heater,
you will need to shut off the water to theheater..
then take out the bottom drain valve...


if it is in an area where
you can let the water go everywhere then you can let the
water our out the bottom while you are scrapeing the junk out of the heater with some sort of home made tool...


usually I suggest getting about two feet of 3/8 copper and flattenning down the end of the pipe and making an L
out of the peice...



then you can reach in and pull out all the sediment while the heater is pouring out..
 
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Budman667

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If there's a large amount of sediment in the tank try a ShopVac

If there is a large amount of sediment in the tank:

Let the water drain slowly until it is below the top heating element. Next, remove the top heating element. Attach a 1 inch flexible hose the length of the water heater to your ShopVac (one option is to use duct tape). Insert the hose into the top element hole and remove the water.
 

tlong_66

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My suggestion is to open the drain without turning off the valve on top of the heater, let the drain run with the heater under full pressure. The pressure will often push out the debris blocking the drain. Let it run for aprox 5 minutes until you're confident it'll drain on it's own without obstruction. You may have to open/close/open/close the drain a few times to jar loose some debris as it comes thru the drain valve. Once the drain is clear, turn off the valve at the top of the heater and open a few faucets to allow air in the heater while it drains. If you're daring, you could open the T&P valve but be warned....it may not close properly later and you may end up having to replace it.

Alternative: Get a 1x3/4" bushing (brass preferably but galvanized will work too) Install a 6" brass nipple in it, a full port 3/4" ball valve and a 3/4" i.p. X 3/4" hose thread adaptor. Turn off the water to the heater, pull/remove the lower heater element. Most of the water will stay in the heater under vacuum (think of lifting a straw from your drink with your thumb over the end of the straw). QUICKLY screw in the bushing/nipple/ballvalve adaptor you just built, with the valve in the "OPEN" position until you get the first thread or two started, then shut the valve and hand tighten the adaptor into the heater. You now have a means of draining the tank with a new, temporary drain (usually) above the height of the sediment.

Good luck.

By under pressure do you mean not shutting off the water supply?
 
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