Flushing a water heater

[cloweman]

Has anyone done this? Stupid question. Is it as simple as it appears and is there anything I should be concerned about before I do?

We haven't done it since the house was built 7 years ago and now we seem to get a lot less hot water than we used to. I'm guessing there is a lot of gunk in the tanks (2 - 40 gallon tanks).

Please advise.

[chuck]

7 years? Ya its time, should try to do it every six months or at least once a year. Pretty straight forward to do it, hook up a garden hose to the spicket on the heater, run it somewhere below the level of the heater, turn off the inlet valve and open the pressure release valve this should empty the tank. Turn on the inlet valve and let some water run thru for a while. your done.
Oh if its a electric heater turn off the breaker a hour or so before you start, and remember to turn it back on when your done.

[Hockeyfan]

Nice advise chuck. Haven't done mine since I've been in here. Haven't had a problem, but I guess that would help insure that stays the same eh.

[Cubfan]

supposed to flush 'em? :shock: We've been running out of hot water more often lately too. Thought maybe we were just catching the end of the batch, but it did happen 3 straight days.

Seems like a good time to do it - garden hose is finally thawed.

[sao95]

http://dadcenter.com/diy-dads/Maintain_your_electric_water_heater.html

[Don-Dad]

I thought SAO wrote a post or article for dadcenter on the topic? I'm too lazy to search for it at the moment. haahah, he posted just before i finished!

I tested my pressure relief valve a few months back, freakin thing leaked for weeks after that. I was just about to replace it, bought the new valve and noticed it stopped leaking. It has not leaked since.

[cloweman]

Draining/flushing the tanks now. I figure I'll flush until the water is clear again. That sound about right?

[chuck]

yes sir, that will make it a happy heater :)

[cloweman]

Ok, one tank down, one to go. Now, how long before I have hot water?

[chuck]

could be a few hours, depends on weather its gas or electric and what condition the coils are in. Shouldnt be to awfull long, did you see a lot of krud come out?

[cloweman]

I didn't see any solids, but it was going directly into he floor drain. The water was spurting at times, so I know there were solids involved. The water started out very rusty and after about 15 minutes of flushing, cleared up. We have extremely hard water here, but we have a softener that works wonders when I remember to keep it filled w/ salt.

Anyway, it is done. The water is wonderfully hot. I think we improved things greatly. Thanks for the help.

P.S. - It is gas and water was warm within 30 minutes.

[goingrey]

another few things to consider: debris on the burner(if you use gas). I had an incident where the water wouldn't get hot because all kinds of rust flakes were on the burner. Blew off easily with compressed air.

There's also a sacrificial anode rod in most tanks that should be replaced. I still need to check mine after 5 years :shock: