Draining Hot Water Heaters

Absolutely, at least for Sears and AOSmith.

I cut one of mine open and there was a layer like vinyl, about 1/4", clearish, a little whitish, translucent. I had to work to pry it away from metal shell and it bent, with much more effort, like a uninflated basketball. Eventually I got parts of it inside out, but even then, there wasn't a chance of its breaking or leaking .

Used a reciprocating saw to cut it open. I'm too cheap to replace worn blades and eventually there were no teeth, but it cut almost as fast as before. Cut it in about 5 or 10 pieces and threw it away with the trash.

Reply to
Micky
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At most it's only needed by some people. The notion that everyone should do it is poppycock.

I've been here 33 years, never done it. Never had any problem bedcuase of it. Last time this was discussed there were a lot of stories of valves that couldnt' be fully closed after they were once opened, especially if they were plastic.

First electric WH leaked after 15 years (counting 4 years before I bought hte house.)

But I got mixed up, I think, and decided after 10 years that one WH was broken when it probably just needed a new thermostat or heater. Cut it open and found only a tablespoon of sediment in the bottom. Only 1/4" high. Since the heating element was a few inches higher than the bottom, it would have taken over 250 years before the sediment reached the element. If it does't reach the element, it causes no harm.

I have "city water" that comes ultimately from one of 3 reservoirs around here.

You would be better off asking neighbors with wells in the same aquifer and similar water softening what happens when or IF they drain theirs. Do they actually get sediment coming out? How much? Unless there is a lot, there is no point to doing this.

In the last conversation, with different people maybe, most people were against it.

Reply to
Micky

And if for some reason you do let the water out, turn the electricity off first. If it's empty and the heater goes on, it wiill burn out within a few minutes. Elements can be replaced, but why let it happen.

Kibble works well for training. Don't give it the kibble until the water is actually hot.

Reply to
Micky

No, it's real glass (fused to the metal tank).

Reply to
Don Y

Why so complicated? Hook a hose from the spigot to a drain. Open the valve, let the water pressure blow some sediment out. Don't touch the power or TP valve.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

  • INCORRECT *

If the element becomes encased in sediment, it develops hot spots, which causes it to fail, as well as distort and deform. I've seen it more than once. Sometimes you cant even remove them, because the element is so stuck in the sediment, as well as deformed, that it wont come out of the tank.

In YOUR case it might take 250 years, but I know one nearby town on "city water" where a water heater becomes half full of lime sediment (sludge) in about 3 years. I have helped several people replace their WH and it's almost shocking how bad they are. The plumbers in that town make a lot of money just replacing WHs.

Actually, my WH came from a house that was being demolished. The guy doing the demo needed help and posted an ad. I inquired and got hired. The pay was lousy, but he said I could have any lumber I wanted to salvage. I stocked up on lumber, took down the whole garage and saved all of it, and got quite a bit from the house too. I noticed an electric water heater which was dated and only 2 years old. He told me to take it if I wanted it. I did. When I got it home, it was 1/3 full of lime. But I was in need of a WH, so I removed the elements, the drain valve, relief valve, and of course the pipes were removed. I laid it on it's side (on my lawn), with some 4x4s under it, and with the element holes down. I stuck my garden hose in it and rocked it back and forth. That lime just fell out in chunks, and when I was done, I had to rake it up from my lawn. I filled 1 - 1/2 five gallon pails with that lime.

I replaced the deformed lower element, and put it back together and had a good (almost new) WH, for the price of one element. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years now, and it works fine.

I have a well, so I dont have that lousy city water with all it's lime. My water is kind of hard and leaves an orange ring in the toilet (iron), but aside from a little extra scrubbing of the toilet, it's not a problem.

Reply to
Paintedcow

On Wed, 17 Feb 2016 02:30:35 -0500, Stormin Mormon wrote in

+1. No need to drain-to-empty. All you need to be doing is flushing a few gallons out the bottom to remove the sediment.
Reply to
CRNG

I didn't have to train it, it came pre-trained. I think that's a function of the type of water heater it is. Costs me almost nothing to use it because it's set to only heat water during off peaks times.

Reply to
SeaNymph

No

Reply to
SeaNymph

Depends a lot on the water heater. I might consider draining an electric heater, but have found it a total waste of time on gas - but then I buy the better heater with the "turbulator tube" that does not allow any sediment to build up.

I have not been following the thread - so this may have been mentioned

- but the "drain valve" on MOST water heaters is so pitiful that even if you drained it monthly it would never last the life of the water heater. Many fail the first time they are used. Cheap chinese plastic crap. That is one more difference between cheap and better quality heaters. The good ones get rebuildable brass drain valves.

Reply to
clare

Huh, you may be right.

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Reply to
TimR

+1

If you're planning on periodically draining it, I'd replace the cheap drain valve with a quality one at time of installation.

Anode replacement, not sure what to do. One theory is that checking and replacing it will prolong the life of the tank. The other is that the anode is good for the life of the tank, and even if you do replace it, it won't do much to extend the life of the tank, because it's going to fail anyway from other causes. Probably depends a lot on the water you actually have too.

Reply to
trader_4

Now, imagine trying to remove -- for the purpose of repair -- something that screws *into* a hole MANUFACTURED in that "glass bowl"... without cracking the glass (which won't cause it to leak, in itself, but *will* eventually defeat the purpose of the glass (preventing corrosion of the supporting metal) and cause a premature failure.

The same is true of the temperature/pressure relief valve on the top of the tank (and the sacrificial anode which screws in from above).

I.e., the SUGGESTED maintenance activities all pose significant risk.

Reply to
Don Y

Ditto to that. A neighbor had a leaking water heater a few years ago. I remember having a hard time opening the plastic valve without risking breaking it. Mfr probably saved $10 cost.

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

Did you look at the video? It's not a glass bowl. It's a glassy coating equivalent to a powder coat. Huge tanks are routinely assembled by bolting them together. Cracking the glass is not an issue.

Reply to
TimR

a real glass tank without breaking it.

This is "commonly" known as "ceramic" coating not "glass". ?_? ?

Reply to
bob_villain

A "powder coat" would not equate with a 1600 deg. ceramic coating.

Reply to
bob_villain

Is your water heater tank several thousand gallons? :>

Would you rather I'd said "glass lined, formed sheet metal"? :>

Sure it is! When you break the drain or TPR, you're going to wander down to HD/Lowes and probably end up buying a BRASS replacement part. Then, you're going to screw this into the existing hole -- making sure it's a good, tight fit.

This puts strains on the metal and the glass fused to it.

Note that the manufacturer has undoubtedly tweaked his "process" to economize on the amount of glass fused to the tank structure (both to save on material costs as well as energy costs). He's also tweaked the related components to save there as well as minimizing any losses that he might incur assembling the units!

You can bet your *ss that he hasn't factored the homeowner's (unskilled) actions into this, down the road. And, plumbing professionals would sooner recommend replacing the entire tank than fitting a new valve ("Mr Smith, I could replace the valve for $250 -- which might get a few more years out of this tank -- or, get you a whole new tank for $400")

I.e., there is no incentive for the manufacturer to make the unit "robust" and "repairable". They *know* the TPR will only be activated rarely -- and, the tank probably replaced when that happens. Likewise, they *know* you won't be regularly draining the tank so they also know you won't be replacing that crappy valve!

Reply to
Don Y

Nothing you have below makes what I said incorrect.

So, I told her to check with neighbors with similar water and water softeners.

Are you saying a 4 foot water heater had 16" of lime in the bottom? How come they kept using it after the lime covered the heating element?

Apparently there's something wrong with the city water near you. I never said all city water was the same. In fact I pointed out that I had city water to let the OP know that my results might be different from his with a well. But now iiuyc you're saying that you're well water doesn't have a lime (or other sediment) problem. He'll be happy to hear that.

Reply to
Micky

I'm sure they saved *much* less than $10!

People would be amazed to know what things actually cost. And, in most cases, unable to understand why the *price* was so much higher ("Wow! Look at all that PROFIT!")

Reply to
Don Y

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