# Hot Water Heaters



## Guest (Apr 6, 2004)

I'll check the prvious posts.....

Reading a previous thread, I heard you should empty your hot water heater yearly. i noticed a spigot at the bottom. Can anyone give me a 30 second how-to and anyhting I may want to watch out for?

Thanx,
-DaG


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

I just flush mine. 
Shut off the circuit breaker. Connect hose. Open valve. Let run for 10-15 mins. or until water is clear. Shut off valve. Disconnect and coil hose, put away. Open any hot water fixture closest to the heater and wait for any air to clear (may not be any). Turn breaker back on.
Easy enough?


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## pawned (Apr 3, 2004)

When the hose clogs up with all the sediment in their it would help to backwash or back flush the hose to break up all the sediment so it will continue to run


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## pmiranda (Feb 8, 2008)

Do it on a weekday morning after everyone has taken their showers for the day and there are no dishes from breakfast to wash. That way when the flush valve clogs up with sediment and needs to be replaced you have time to do it and if something goes horribly wrong you don't have to pay night/weekend rates to get a plumber to fix it.
I speak from experience here 

BTW, I'm about to embark on fun debug of our water heater system... some mornings the shower takes several minutes to warm up, and the cold faucet in the bathroom is never as cold as the hot faucet in the seconds before hot water arrives. 
9 year old house, I suspect the tank is full of sediment that sometimes clogs the circ. pump plumbed from the WH drain tee to some other pipe. Second person to shower always gets good hot water, usually extra hot if the first person's shower was cold.


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## thom (Nov 3, 2006)

How long to run it depends on your water. I drain about 5 gallons every fall. After about the first cup it's clear.


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## Herk (Aug 1, 2007)

All water heaters do not have to be flushed. If you are on a well and get rust and sand buildup then you need to periodically flush it - manufacturers usually say five gallons once a month. But if you live in a hard water area, flushing is pretty much worthless. The sediment builds on the elements and then breaks off in large chunks that will not come out the valve on the bottom of the heater. 

It is possible to clean the heater when a large amount of hard water sediment accumulates, but it's a difficult job because the element opening is the size of a 1" pipe. I often get five gallons or more of sediment as well as a failed lower element. If the heater is over ten years old I always recommend replacement.


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## Bill (Mar 30, 2006)

Depends on how much problems you have with your water. My water heater was in use for 21 years, never changed an element, never flushed it, or anything. Took the fittings off to re locate it and all I used was a pair of channel locks. No rust, no sediment, no slime, no nothing but pure water. I do not have any filtering system either. All my faucets are 21 years old and never so much as replaced a seat, valve or anything. All the plumbing is original. NOW I have seen homes where within 3 years everything is a mess. So it depends on your situation


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## rick99601 (Aug 16, 2008)

1. turn off w/h via whatever the correct procedure for your source of fuel.
2. once burner is out/element doesn't have power, turn the cold water supply off above the heater. It'll be the one with a valve. if there is a valve on the hot also it should not be and can be very dangerous.
3. hook up a garden hose to the drain spigot near the tanks bottom and terminate appropriately.(drain/outside) 
4. turn on the hot side only at all of your faucets to let air in/break the vacuum. or just open the tp valve to do the same.
5. open the spigot and drain w/h completely. 
6. when it has finished draining close the bottom spigot again, leaving the hose hooked up. close either your hot water faucets or tp valve.
7. open the cold water valve above the heater fully and leave open until you can no longer hear the tank filling, what has happened is about 3/4 of the tank has water and the remaining 1/4 (at the top) has compressed air. 8. make sure cold valve is off and after verifying that the termination point of the drainage hose is secure (seriously) open the drain spigot at the tanks bottom. 
9. after the initial pressure/most of the water has come out open the hot faucets/tp valve again to relieve the vacuum letting the rest of the water drain. 
10. close spiggot and disconnect hose - also make sure the tp valve is closed, but the faucets are open.
11. turn cold water supply to the tank back on and let fill until all the air is out and the stream is constant from the faucets.
12. turn off faucets once air has been purged and begin restart procedure for the w/h.

thats my understanding of the correct way to flush the tank anyway. feel free to criticize...


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## Ron The Plumber (Oct 10, 2006)

rick99601 said:


> 1. turn off w/h via whatever the correct procedure for your source of fuel.
> 2. once burner is out/element doesn't have power, turn the cold water supply off above the heater. It'll be the one with a valve. if there is a valve on the hot also it should not be and can be very dangerous.
> 3. hook up a garden hose to the drain spigot near the tanks bottom and terminate appropriately.(drain/outside)
> 4. turn on the hot side only at all of your faucets to let air in/break the vacuum. or just open the tp valve to do the same.
> ...


Good job Rick, not bad for an electrician. Who told you how to do this? Hope to OP will get a new account so he can see your reply.


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

There is no such thing as a hot water heater.

If the water was hot you wouldn't need to heat it.


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## Ron The Plumber (Oct 10, 2006)

I call them water heaters myself.


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## rick99601 (Aug 16, 2008)

Ron The Plumber said:


> Good job Rick, not bad for an electrician. Who told you how to do this? Hope to OP will get a new account so he can see your reply.


thanks:thumbsup: and i almost went into plumbing, but opted to go with my "first love" haha so to speak. im one of those people who is just curious how everything works...so i found out as much as i could about pretty much everything mechanical...i cant really be licensed for everything but i still like to learn, just for a better understanding of the world, i guess you could say. So I'm mostly self taught in matters other than my trade, i take a lot of pride in whatever i do and am proud to leave me name on it, i cant stand the people that cut corners and just do sloppy work to make that extra buck.

and you guys are great:notworthy i like how you guys deal with the d.i.y.ers who come in here asking...stupid, absolutely clueless questions being cheap and not getting someone who knows what they're doing:clap:


point taken on the "hot water heater." hah just never thought about it.


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## plumberman (Jul 14, 2008)

Im sure the OP appricates the step by step how to manual.... Im sure he has fixed it by now though...


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