Time to flush!!!

[retro-man]

Ok boys and girls time to get your trusty garden hose and hook it up to the drain valve of your hot water heaters and let them run for 5 minutes or so. I am sure we have all built up a lot of sludge and rust over the summer. 5 minutes now will ensure good hot showers, laundry and dishes over the winter. Plus saving the cost of new water heaters amd the time and pain of installing a new one.
Jon

 

[tuthill]

I was thinking about doing this, is that all there is to it??? Just opening the valve?? Anything else I should know??

 

[gansky1]

Good idea - I have soft water, but it's a good idea anyway.

Also remember to check those CO2 detectors and change the batteries in the smoke detectors as well.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Just be sure the drain valve is fully closed. I have been known to shove (and remove) a paper towel up there at the end of the session to ensure it is bone dry.

Electric and gas water heaters will benfefit from a cleaning, but with gas your efficiency goes up upon such treatment.

Also this is a good time of the year to change the batteries in your electronic thermostat. A friend was not getting any heat and the culprit was the batteries. (I'm going over there at his request to add a second old-fashoned mechanical thermostat in parallel such that if the electronic one fails the backup one wil prevent frozen pipes).

[I thought my Lux brand clock-thermostat defaults to a built-in "ON" programme in such case but I may be mistaken. Wonder what brand he has......]

 

[rp2813]

Our water heater is in the basement. It's only a couple of years old. I've been considering doing the flushing because the pipes here are 80 years old but always thought the proper way was to let the heater actually drain. So I just hook up a hose and let the pressure send it up and out? That sounds easy enough.

 

[toggleswitch2]

It is far less likely to cause a problem (by user error, BTW) if one drains it with the water supply "ON".

Tank-style hot water heaters will self-destruct if operated /energized dry.

...And I assure you you dont want to be showering under the water that emerges form an electric hot water heater if the elements' outer sheath cracks while "ON" and empty before it is refilled.

 

[retro-man]

Tuthill: That's all there is to it. It will extend the life of the tank. I had 2 in the old hair salon. Real cheap ones from home depot. They had a 5 year warranty. I did this on a regular basis and they were 12 years old and still running well with no leaks when the building was torn down and they were disposed of.
Jon

 

[Cybrvanr]

change your electric heating elements too

If your water heater elements are over 5 years old, they may also have scale and grime built up on them too. This can make them inefficient, as the heat on the element is not transferred into the water surrounding it as easily. Eventually, this can lead to your heating element burning out, but before then, it's wasting your energy. You can tell if your water heater's elements are getting scale buildup by listening to your water heater while it is running.

If it is making a hissing noise. You may need to get the house quiet to hear it, but if you hear any hissing noise while standing beside the water heater, it's coming from scale buildup on the elements. The hissing noise comes from the portions of the element that is actually heating having "hot spots" and it literally boilng the water on those small portions that are transferring heat. The steam, after leaving the coil then transferrs it's heat to the surrounding water where it condenses back, and this is where you get the hissing noise...just like a pot of water sitting on the stove that is not quite hot enough for the steam bubbles to rise to the top and be called officially "boiling"

Replacing a heating element is easy. Drain your tank first, and then use a 1 1/2 inch wrench to remove the element. Replace the element with similar size and wattage piece...about $15 at your local hardware store!

 

[polkanut]

I drained & flushed mine this afternoon, and no sediment came out. Not bad after 10yrs. This is only the 2nd time I've done it since we bought our house, we had this heater installed shortly thereafter. It's a Ruud w/ a power-vent. It replaced a 40yr. old electric heater.

 

[volvoguy87]

Elements.

Could you remove your old elements and soak them in vinegar or CLR to remove the scale? It would be time consuming but cleaning would still be cheaper.

Dave

 

[iheartmaytag]

I did mine this weekend

I thought the water heater was only three years old, but what the heck it will only take me about five minutes.

I hooked the water hose up to the tank drained it in the bath tub. You would not believe how much sandy sediment came out.

We are on city water, so I know it was lime scale, but the tank is a White water jet that is supposed to prevent buildup. I would say all in all there was about a cup of crud that flushed out.