Drain hot water heater?

1,894 Views | 13 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by ChiveOn
baldandbeautiful
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How important is it to drain/flush your hot water heater tank? Lived in my house ~8 years and never done anything for the water heater. Read the other thread about the leaky water heater and made me think about this.

If this is something that I really need to do, can I just use a regular garden hose for this?
Whitetail
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AG
Yeah it is simple to do...

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/skills-and-know-how/plumbing/how-to-drain-a-water-heater
The Fife
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After some number of years of never being used, I'd be a little concerned about not being able to shut off the drain at the bottom.
AggieGunslinger
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AG
It is pretty easy to put a new one in
Agmechanic
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AG
Whatever you touch is not going to seal back up. Plan on replacing the valve once you open it.

Personally inwouldnt touch it
sts7049
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AG
If it's been 8 years I wouldn't touch it either...
strohag
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AG
Most Heaters don't have a drain located at the bottom to get any of the deposits out of it so I'd leave it alone. Drain is usually an inch or 2 up and you won't get much out other than the water
Josepi
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AG
I've never drained a hot water heater in my life, and I have always gotten 8-12 years out of them. Maybe I should, but it doesn't seem necessary to me.

Oh, and I have never replaced one of those anode things either.

Maybe I have been lucky. Don't know.
The Fife
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AggieGunslinger said:

It is pretty easy to put a new one in

Mine is made completely of plastic, I didn't want to chance it. This thing has simple task turned into all day project written all over it. 6 years later and the water heater is 18 and still operational. Soon to be replaced with a tankless one, so mission accomplished I guess.
AggieGunslinger
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AG
Understood. We replaced the one on my moms heater last year, it was brass and was no problem.
JP76
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This is one of those things that rarely gets done.
My current heater is a kenmoore from 1991 and I have never drained it. I doubt the previous owner did as she was a single elderly woman. If you are on well water I have seen sand build up in the bottom of the tank. This can cause a few issues, it reduces the water capacity of the tank, if gas it acts like an insulator and cause the water to heat slower, if electric it can cause the heating element to fail sooner. If you decide to drain it, have a spare t&p valve ($20) and a brass drain valve ($10) on hand or be able to purchase them as these the most common failure items once you open the system up.
will.mcg
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AG
Our water heater is located in an outdoor closet. The thing looks pretty decent considering how quickly things rust around here. There is a datebook on it that says 1987, it gets water hotter than any house I've lived in. I am expecting it to crap out every day. Definitely will not drain it for fear it wouldn't be the same again.
agchino
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AG
The problem I had with mine that sat for a while was that the deposits had actually built up enough that they stopped up the drain valve. Luckily it is in the garage, but I had to open up the valve, shove a long screw driver in it to break up the deposits, then close the valve real quick when water started spewing, then attach the garden hose and let it drain. Then I repeated the process a couple of times, as each time I refilled the tank, it shifted the deposits and clogged the drain again.
Shelton98
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AG
^
I had the same problem. I ended up just using an air compressor to back blow it through the water hose for a second until it flowed. When it plugged again, repeat. But I haven't even messed with it in 5-6 years.
ChiveOn
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AG
my dad and I were talking about draining my water heater this weekend

he told me of his first occurrence draining a water heater, 8 years after they bought their first home--it was unknown to him before this

after draining the water he pulled the heating element off so he could look in to the tank. he stuck his finger inside and easily could feel how high the sediments were

he ended up bending a coat hanger and fished out enough sediments to fill the bottom 3 inches of a 5 gallon paint bucket

now he flushes his 2 tanks every other year. because he has enough clearance above the tanks he's able to get a PVC pipe in from the bottom to swirl and smash up the sediments. he also fashioned a siphon system to better get everything


TL;DR

my dad is handy
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