I've been told that two of my faucets were clogged with sediment from a decaying part in the waterheater and that I should replace the waterheater (bought seven years ago) before the pipes get clogged. Is this a common problem with waterheaters?
Travis
Hi, Do you have water softener? Tony
I would recommend replacing the sacrificial anode in water heater, if you are a DIY, it is a better deal than buying a new one.
will make your old water heater "like new" again for another 7 years!
PS - this trick won't work if the water in your area is so hard that the tank is now 1/4 full of sediment!
Sounds more like a problem with waterheater sellers! How about opening the drain valve (put a hose on it first) and seeing what kind of gunk comes out. NO water or very low flow means there is probably a lot of gunk on the bottom of the tank, hard to clean out, will probably end up burning out the lower element, do what you want. Gunk with some flow, means try to get it out by running until clear, if flow remains low, same as above. No gunk with good flow, probably not causing the faucets to be clogged, forget it.
This is probably true. A decaying part in the water heater is different from sediment/minerals in the water heater. There was some bad heaters released perhaps 15 years ago that had a part that would decay and clogg stuff. If this is what they are saying you got, its time to replace the water heater.
Otherwise you can try this.
Turn off the water to the heater. Drain the heater. Refill the heater. Repeat a few times. And from here on at least once or twice per year (even with a brand new heater).
Right. And if the decaying part is the dip tube, you dipstick?
And before you do that (in case you didn't know this already), if it's an electric water heater, TURN OFF the electric power to the heater or you'll burn out an element or melt a plastic dip tube.
This guy Gilbert shouldn't have asumed you knew that allready.
Jeff
Perhaps Gilbert didn't know that himself?
Well, most of us learn from experience. But personally I prefer that it be other peoples' experiences.
And in case the OP is truly a neophyte with this sort of stuff it can't hurt to tell him to open a hot water faucet after he shuts off the supply to the heater so air can get into the tank and make the draining MUCH easier. We don't have to tell him to close the faucet afterwards; That he'll figure out on his own.
Jeff
Yep, but not when it comes to sex.
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