How to Drain, Flush & Fill a Hot Water Heater
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- Опубліковано 25 січ 2017
- A quick video on how to drain, flush and fill your hot water heater. Flushing is necessary to remove excessive sediment and scale buildup that naturally occurs over time. Depending on the water conditions in your area flushing may need to be performed more frequently. Flushing your tank at least once per year will help extend a water's heaters life, reliability and performance.
The process is essentially the same for natural gas, oil fired and electric heaters. If you're working on natural gas or oil fired heater please familiarize yourself with the gas control and pilot light systems. - Комедії
![How A Water Heater Works [Cutaway View]](/img/n.gif)
I had to watch so many videos that all gave bits and pieces of the full procedure, but this one gave it all. I subscribed for the first time in my life, mainly to show my appreciation, but also because I don't want to miss out on any other tutorials this guy has to offer.
Np! Thanks for stopping by.
Very comprehensive! Thanks for taking the time to share your DIY procedure. 15 years is an insanely long time for ANY gas water heater; you've done quite well.
yeah my water heater finally cratered not too long after doing this video. It didn't leak but the thermostat was starting to fail where it wouldn't heat the water up unless a lot of cold water filled the tank (meaning I was taking very lukewarm showers) and after waiting for maybe 45 minutes then the water would be hot like it is supposed to be. I ended up replacing with a rheem classic pro and am very happy with it.
Thank you! I've watched many videos but yours was the only one that actually did the job allowing everyone to hear all the normal noises that would occur. This is the first time I've ever had to do this so I'm very appreciative of you making the video. Thanks!
glad you liked my detailed vid. Thanks for watching!
The sacrificial rod is also an important part of the maintenance on water heaters. I inspect the sacrificial rod every other year and replace every 7-8 years, they do not cost much ($20-$25). Have had water heaters last over 30 years with no issues. Thanks for the video.
You're most welcome. Thank you for watching. I actually have another water heater servicing video I published years ago explaining how to replace the anode rod. You can check it out and give me some feedback :)
I concur with the last comment. You truly made sure the viewer understood more than the average video. My husband and I understands why we were doing the steps you provided. You included the importance of not just draining your water heater but flushing it as well!!!! Thank You so much for your thoroughness!!!
glad you liked my vid. Thank you for watching!
Super thorough and very informative ! Awesome job! Thanks!
glad you liked my vid. Thank you for watching :)
Excellent video. Did mine this evening in accordance with these directions. Thanks for covering how to release the pressure valve. I ended up having to open all of my hot water faucets before any real amount of water came out of the outflow.
Glad it helped
I bought this water heater ua-cam.com/users/postUgkx8G49mV71sAzUl9shXyLW-r3XgHH9EVh1 for use in my bus conversion. I installed it under my kitchen sink and it is fed by a high efficiency on-demand LP water heater. It is both a backup hot water source as well as a water saving device since we have hot water on demand rather than having to wait for the gas on demand water heater to finish its ignition cycle. I decided on this water heater due to the fact that it only draws 1300watts when it's ON instead of the 1500 watts that most Water heaters this size draw. In an RV a couple hundred watts can be a big deal. With very low standby losses, I don't have to worry about excessive power consumption. When propane is not available for our gas water heater, in conjunction with our low flow shower head there is enough hot water available to shower, albeit we won't be taking "hotel showers." Also very happy with the recovery rate of this water heater. Granted, it is quite small, but it does exactly what we need it to do.
that's good.
Well done! I wondered how to agitate the sediment to get it to drain out and you answered that.
glad you liked the vid! Thanks for watching!
Just watched this video! I actually had closed my faucets once I drained my tank. I then turned on my pilot to heat the water…So i had a water since I didnt drain all the Air properly! This is actually well detailed
Glad you liked the video!
Wow! A very detailed and informative video. I'm so glad you took the time to make a video & upload it, really helped me out. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
AWESOME video!!! I do all home repairs myself, and naturally, I watch a LOT of videos. I had watched like 5+ videos on this subject and couldn't get a clear order in which to do the steps, and why. Your video was PERFECT.
•You explained WHAT to do, and WHY.
•No ridiculous, loud music.
•Spoke clear & no mic feedback.
•Didn't force us to watch the 35 excruciating minutes of water draining.
•No camera "motion sickness".
The things I mentioned may seem a bit insignificant, or taken for granted, but when you have to rewind videos 5, 10, 15 times to understand what they are talking about, and during THAT time, you are on full alert, switching between max and min volume to hear the words, and not go deaf from the music -- you get an appreciation for these things :)
glad you liked my video. Your feedback is encouraging and good guidance for my future vids!
awesome video man. i performed my first drain, flush and fill Hot water heater. Thanks for the clear explanations
glad you liked the video!
this is an excellent tutorial, this my first time doing it, and went off without a hitch. best video on this topic, How too for dummy's. Thanks a lot!!
glad you liked my video! Thanks for watching!
Thanks man, that was really helpful.. gonna do mine today. Cheers!
Glad you found the video useful. Thanks for watching.
@@piercedasian Thanks to you, I was able to do it easily! Something that I learned from you and will help me forever.🌺🥮🥂
Great tutorial, cheers!
glad you liked my vid!
Very helpful! Thanks!
Very helpful presentation. I'm off to drain & flush.
glad you liked my vid. Thanks for watching!
Good video, and I've got the same soap dispenser.
lol the dispenser for the most part works great! Glad you liked my vid.
good video , good work , my question is how do you do this when you live in an apartment on the second floor
sorry it took so long for me to answer hopefully what I have to say helps. Do you own the apartment? If you don't own then let the landlord deal with it.
Good video Thanks
you're welcome.
I have two valves on top if my water heater I am assuming one us for hot water line and one is cold water line. so when I am doing this do I turn off both valves or just the hot water line ? also do i have to ooe. hot water faucet at upstairs level of could faucet in bathroom work just as well ? great vid BTW. liked.
You can shut both valves off to keep the water inside the lines. All you have to do is drain some water out of the tank using the drain petcock and letting air into the tank via the pressure relief valve. Drain approximately 2 gallons of water out of the tank and that should be more than enough to prevent water from spewing out of the anode hole.
I have a gas line coming to the my water tank and the heater is also connected to a power outlet via a powerplug. Do I need to unplug the power supply from the water heater by taking the plug out of the powerplug before I start draining the water heater. Great Video!!
Yes do unplug the heater as that will prevent it from lighting up as you're doing the draining.
Stupid question, but if my water heater is in a crawl space and there is no drain, will the water still be able to come out of the hose if it has to go to an elevated surface a few feet higher? The entrance of the crawl space to my yard is above the drain level of the water heater. I'm sure this is a simple question, but I have no idea about plumbing etc.
water will flow only as high as the water level in the tank. So if you're trying to drain your tank with a hose going uphill that it can permitted that the uphill is lower than the water level at the top of the tank. Just remember however, that you will never be able to get a thorough draining because once the water level in the tanks falls to the same level as the entrance of your crawl space that water will no longer drain.
if i am only draining the sediment out can i put the gas valve on low, will that be ok,,im just doing maintenance on it not a full drain its only 3 yrs old, if i put it off will i have the push the button pilot when i turn it back on ?
yep you can absolutely do that. In fact if you do it that way every 6 months you'll be in a very good position since you're regularly draining most of the junk out all the time.
iv been noticing that some videos recommend replacing the discharge valve that came with the tank with a 3/4 inch full port ball valve to get a much stronger pull of water thru the hose. but not all video's talk about this, so whats the scoop? is that really necessary?
Hi Darrin, yes as a matter of fact that is ideal to replace the drain valve with a 3/4" valve to allow larger outrush of water and sediments. It is absolutely necessary to have a 3/4" drain? No IF you're running soft water or water that very little if any impurities that would precipitate out of the water. If it isn't hard to swap the valve then I would recommend you do so IF your tank is in fairly decent condition and has been cared for. I would not put a valve on a tank that is older than 10+ years as it likely is approaching end of life anyways so why bother?
@@piercedasian I
Before I replace my drain plug from plastic to brass, can I use a vacuum cleaner to clean out the sediment at the bottom of my water heater, if there is sediment?
Awesome video. Thanks a lot.
yes you can...if you have a snorkel or small enough adapter for your vacuum just be careful to simply remove what you can without being too rough on the inside of the tank..job well done.
Kudos, brother.Thanks for your reply.
you could try to suck the sediments out but I just opt to blast what I can out by flipping on the cold water valve several times AFTER the tank has completely drained to stir up the junk in the bottom of the tank.
Thank you for your reply.
I have no water valve on my Satellite Sealed system like that so how do i get water back in it ?
PLEASE HELP .
I have very hard water.
I can do everything else but have no idea how it fills again without a valve unless there is a floater in there.
It is gas only.
Hi Abigail, while my reply is super late I'm not sure how I could've helped you in your situation. I've never heard or seen a "satellite sealed system" so I wouldn't know where to begin to help you with your specific issue.
Will a brass drain valve last longer than my white plastic valve? Also, will a brass valve corrode vs. a plastic valve?
Awesome video. Thanks a lot.
yes a brass valve is better built and can withstand repeated openings and closings. BUT if your plastic drain valve isn't leaking and works properly then no need to replace it.
If you bother to replace the valve, install a full port 3/4" ball valve for much better flush and not clogging of valve.
My tank is electric and has tried lighting multiple times without success and is now locked out. Will flushing my tank solve this or do I need new parts?
Well if your tank is electric there is no "lighting" but rather that it a heating element or thermostat that has failed. If you have a electronic ignition tank that burns natural gas then it likely has something to do with the ignition or gas control system which will not benefit from flushing.
I heard to leave pressure release valve open when filling. (For around 10 minutes only for pressure valve) Then turn on a faucet too. (The entire time) Is that true? I have an electric water heater btw.
You could do that or you can simply open up a bit water tap furthest from the tank typically on the 2nd floor.
@@piercedasian ok. It's a condo unit. I'm upper level and on separate water heater obviously than my lower unit. Thanks. Appreciate the help bud.
you're very welcome!
Mine is in the attic. Can I flush it in the nearest drain like the tub downstairs? I don't think there is anywhere I can flush it in the attic like u have in your video
Yes absolutely! It doesn't matter where you flush the water since it is potable water anyways. Wow a water heater in an attic? How easy is that to access and replace should it one day need replacing?
@@piercedasian yea I know I wish it was in my garage.
How do you know when your water tank is full or at the correct level?
when you're done doing the drain and flush, open up your hot water taps (just open them a little) and purge the air out of the system while the water heater fills up. The water heater should be 100% full and when you open the hot water taps that any air in the lines will be pushed out and the tank will be full :)
I flushed my hot water tank but the water is still running slowly and there is noise coming from the exit point going into the house is it possible that it could be blocked
Hi Patrick, there could likely be a blockage elsewhere in the tank near the water outlets or even at the fixtures. What do you mean there is noise from the exit point going into the house? Is this the venting or the plumbing?
What are all those tags you have hanging everywhere and how do I make my own?
The tags are identifiers to what the particular item does. For example, the main shut off valve will say "water shut off" or "gas valve" and so on. The builder put those tags on but you could easily make your own by buying toe tags and using a label printer to print the names of everything on them and attach them to the appropriate fixtures/valves/switches and pipes.
I've tried to drain my water heater, but little to no water will drain from the attached water hose, lots of water come out when pressure vale is half way opened, but stop when completely lifted opened. All faucets in my home has no hot water pressure, if left running all faucets will stop running hot water completely. Suggestions anyone??
do you use well water or have really hard water? How often has the tank been drained? How old is the tank? I suspect your tank is so full of sediment that it has blocked the lower drain and may have even blocked the hot water outlet. I have seen in really EXTREME cases where this happened. You may want to either disconnect the hot water outlet line to see if it is all jammed up or call a plumber to inspect and possibly replace the tank.
@@piercedasian thanks for the reply, it was the hot water pipe above the water heater. Had both hot and cold pipes replaced and I'm golden :)
whoa that's nuts. Was it full of calcium buildup blocking it from flowing properly?
@@piercedasian Yes, my water heater had cheap pipes that are now replaced with much better copper pipes.
Not sure why my water heater took me 4 hours to drain even when I opened all the valves around the house
Some tanks have super tiny drain valves that drain water extremely slowly. I did my father's tank last year and I swear I was there for almost 2 hours draining a 50 gallon tank so YMMV.
The opening on the factory valves is very small, and can get clogged (partially or near totally) by the sediment that you are trying to remove. Install a full port valve and you should be able to drain the tank in under 15 minutes.
My drain plug is clogged.
yikes that sucks. Are you perhaps able to remove the drain valve and screw in a galvanized nipple to allow you to flush all the junk out of tank?
Just realized theres a yellow tint in my hot water. Think i might get my dad to clean out the landlords hot water heater.
eeeeew. I can't say I've seen yellow water come from a hot water tank. I gather that you're likely well fed or your municipality has less than stellar water quality?
It cleared up after a while. I should probably still get him to clean it though. Maybe it was from turning it off to fix a leaky pipe
maybe but it is interesting to hear about yellow water!
imagine a heater failure in calgary in january. brrr
I've experienced it and it sucks. Fortunately for me I can fix my own problems 99% of the time :)
what a waste of time , water and energy . where is the sediment build up ?
The sediment was mixed in with the water being drained. We don’t have that much scale where we are (at least none that drains out in huge amounts). I typically use up most of the hot water before doing it to reduce the amount of energy wasted before doing a drain and flush.
It’s not called a hot water heater, you don’t heat hot water.
semantics! lol
Hot Water Heater is fine. Water can be heated, but not hot. The appliance is specifically made to make the water "Hot"
It's a water heater,not a hot water heater
Very helpful...Thank you!
you're welcome!