Hot water question

I woke up a few days ago to inch deep water in my walk in closet. I checked my Depends, and that wasn't it.

My hot water heater had a coronary during the night.

argggggggghhhhhhhhhh

So, I went out, and disconnected everything. I hooked up a hose and went to drain it. Opened the valve ..... counter clockwise ......... lefty loosey ......... and no water came out the end. So, since it already wouldn't work, I figured I would twist off the stem, and drain it down a v shaped piece of sheetmetal I had onto the ground.

The stem twisted off, and not a drop of water came out.

So, I horsed the heater, with 50 gallons of water in it out of the enclosure to a place where I could tip it over. It was full. Grunt. Fart. Wheeze.

Questions: Why didn't it drain? Why didn't it put out water when I twisted off the stem?

Only thing I can think is that it was so full of sediment, it was clogged, or the seat was frozen and didn't move.

Oh, yeah. I put a pan under the new one, like the boneheads SHOULD HAVE DONE on this one.

$15, and it sure makes a difference when your water heater dies.

Steve

Reply to
Steve B
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When you opened the drain, did you also open the pressure relief valve to allow air into the tank?

Reply to
RBM

Simplest way to connect heater: unions in each of hot/cold water & gas, with shutoff for each on obvious side of union.

On failure: close the three valves mentioned above attach hose to drain valve & run hose downward or to location of pump open t-p relief valve and hold open until tank is MT.

In the interim, check and possibly replace anode every couple-5 years and _very_carefully_ open drain valve to dump sediment every year or so, being ready to replace crappy plastic valve with proper one.

J
Reply to
barry

You're probably right, it was so corroded and sedimented, the outlet to the drain was plugged from the inside. Running a coat hanger wire up its hole might have started it to drain. Alternatively, you could have just drilled right into the side with a high speed bit.

In addition to the drain pan, get in the habit of flushing the tank periodically and consider replacing the anode rod 1/2 way to the end of the predicted warranty period. If you do plan to do this, remove the rod when it is brand new and put teflon tape on its threads so you can actually remove it later.

I would do this to mine but frankly, I want it fail since it is too small and I would like to replace it anyway.

Reply to
PipeDown

Best bet! When your heater is BRAND NEW, remove and toss that junk drain valve and install a BALL VALVE.

Much easier to drain, most drain valves leak if ever opened!

Reply to
hallerb

..

Of course if it looses 50 gallons that pan is not going to do much good. :-)

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

I hope you were just trying to be funny there. Thaose pans have a hole in their sides to connect a fitting and drain hose. The hose shold should be run to a place where the heater overflow can be handled without trouble.

IIRC, most new construction codes for things like apartments and condos with water heaters on many floors requires drain pans connected to proper plumbing drains.

I ran the hose from the drain pan I istalled in our home through a hole in the wall to the outside where it will drain into a flower bed.

Course, if all the OP did was just stick a pan under it then you're ceretainly correct.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

IIRC, hot water heaters have reverse action ..lefty tighten.. like radiator drains ;)

Reply to
Nick Hull

By then, the lines had been uncoupled from the top of the tank.

STeve

Reply to
Steve B

Yes, I put a line in from the drain provided in the pan. I just sat there looking and looking and looking at it, and figured, "What would happen if this thing leaked? Oh, there's a hole in the pan with a coupler. I bet that is what that is for."

Duh.

You would think so, but not so here in Las Vegas.

You mean you can't just put a four gallon pan under a fifty gallon heater? Well, I mean, you can, but why?

And where do you find a "pan" that big?

Steve ;-)

Reply to
Steve B

Well I guess is was funny, but the joke is on me. I have never really looked closely at one. I have never had one since for over 50 years I have always lived somewhere that had a clear run from the heater to the floor drain. Never needed one.

That does make sense.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Yes, I was going to say the same thing. Full port ball valve is the way to go. sweat a brass thread adapter on the end of it so you can connect your garden hoze and you'll be ready to go. I'd keep it straight out with no elbows so just in case you need to poke out any sediment blocking the drain, you can do that.

Reply to
autonut843

Chances are that the bottom of the tank had a lot of sediment blocking the drain. With a gas heater you can disconnect everything to the gas valve and unscrew the entire unit from the tank. Then screw in a 3/4 inch pipe fitting with a hose connected to it to drain out most of the tank.

Reply to
Bob

I had a non draining tank too. I cut off the pipes, pushed over the tank and opened the pressure release valve. fortunately I did this in a basement, so water spilled didnt matter

Reply to
hallerb

That makes sense now that I think about it.....

"What leaks on your floor in Las Vegas stays on your floor in Las Vegas" :)

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff Wisnia

You could have turned on a hot water faucet, and used compressed air on the heater inlet to force the water out.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

Wouldn't compressed air into the tank tend to force a bunch of the debris from the heater into the pipes and just end up clogging up a bunch of your aerators and other things down the line? I don't know. I do know that one time when I was new to sweating pipes, I used way too much solder and when I re-pressured the line, a solder bead from inside the pipe got caught in the cut off valve for the first toilet that started filling. I discovered it when I next tried to shut it off and it wouldn't shut off because of the solder blob in the way. Ever since then I've been more careful about flushing lines after doing stuff. I've also sweated a lot more joints since then and don't use that much solder any more. :-)

Reply to
autonut843

At pressures not above the water pressure - No more than running the water. You could put a hose on the tank outlet and then do it.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

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