How to Flush Water Heater and Test Pressure Relief Valve 

Thank you - little things like recording maintenance are easy to over-look. Also, I appreciated you telling us why certain things needed to be the way they are.

Another step would be to open the cold back up for a few minutes after it's finished draining to stir up any remaining sediment, shut off and drain the tank. Do this a few times especially if it's been a few years since you flushed it last.

Thanks a lot man 👍🏽👍🏽 because of you and a few other content creators I was able to change out an old leaky hot water hose with confidence.

God, finally a good video on how to properly do it! The switching to pilot was a nice trick since my gas knob is hard to get to. For those videos that didn't suggest shutting anything off, the ones I watched at least said it was fine because they only drained about 5 gallons of water out to flush the sediment since it should be mostly at the bottom -- they implied a full drain wasn't necessary

Tip: If the water tank will not drain, then close the hot water of the kitchen faucet, open the cold water line slightly and allow the water to drain to the hose. If the water continues to drain to the hose, then turn off the cold water line and open the hot water of the kitchen faucet to finish the draining of the water to the hose. Some water will drain to the hot water of the kitchen faucet, but it will eventually run dry and then continue the water drainage to the drain valve/hose. Our water tank is called the Rheem Classic Series Professional 50 gal gas heated water tank (2014 model).

Very thankful for this video. The first one i watched did not mention turning off the water, or gas...

Very correct: watch a few videos before start. Video briefly mentioned turn on hot water tap before flush. The fact is that you need to keep the tap on. If that does not work, you need to turn on pressure relief valve. In my case, I had to keep the pressure relief valve on before I was able to drain the heater.

Looks just like my water heater. Now I know how to do it. Thanks!

Simple, to the point & informative. Thank you! I had never thought of just turning the thermostat to pilot.

This is the best DYI on the internet! 💯

Great stuff, thanks for posting!

I just installed a Rheem performance plus 50gal tank in my house yesterday. The manual recommends opening the bottom drain valve to purge only a few litres of water once per month with no need for annual total draining, no need to turn off. Very nice tank. Mine has a brass bottom drain valve.

Same issue as others in the comments. Had the kitchen sink hot water open and it still wouldn't drain. Had to open the pressure relief valve before I got anywhere.

Thanks worked out perfect !

Thanks dude. Great presentation. Clear and to the point in only 5:33. Perfect.

thank you, just what I needed to know

Very helpful, thanks for sharing!

This helped thank you !

Hip hip hooray great job my dear friend you saved me few hundreds of dollars I really appreciated

Thank you very much 🙏

You can open the T&P when you're draining the tank , that will let air in to facilitate the draining.

Very helpful, well explained

Thank You Very Much

Good. I learned a lot.

Thank you for the clear steps on how to perform this at home! Will try it this weekend. By the way, water set to B?! The people who live there must really like their water hot! Lol.

Just what I needed. I have the same water heater, in my garage, in Arizona! Wonder whether we're neighbors. Hahaha. Thanks!

Nicely done! Understandable and, informative! Quick question: In other videos the cold water supply was kept on, explaining this provides more pressure to flush the tank. In your video (and mentioned on the tank) you turned the water supply off. Does turning the water supply off still provide enough pressure to flush the tank? Thanks!

thanks for one of the best instructional video!!!

Great instruction however I wonder why the water never stops when I open the hot water faucet. I did turn off the cold water inlet.

Subscribed!

Perfect!

Super!

Thanks.

I don’t have a water valve shut off on my heater it just straight line can I still do the same exact way

Thank you

You did not say if you let the hot water faucet off or on after you let it out before draining the tank so when you came back to the kitchen water faucet was it open or closed.

Can I change the t&p valve from the side to the top ??

First first thing to do is, back when it was installed, replace the crappy plastic drain. They don’t survive a few maintenances cycles.

What happens if you don’t shut the hot water in the faucet and start draining the water through the hose?

Hi, I’m a new homeowner and I just moved in. After 3 days in, I got no hot water. I found that there was a pressure switch is open when it should be closed. Can u do a video on how to fix that or show me how please. I just couldn’t find the pressure switch. I have exactly the same as you heater. Thanks so much

When I turn my valve to the left with the hose on it very little water comes out? I keep turning until it almost falls off and still very little water comes out the end of the hose

Thanks. The issue is knowing how much water to let out. Their manual is useless. I called Rheem, and they told me, “Fully empty it, and then open the cold water intake and let it flush for 20 min,” which I think is overkill, BS. If the sediment is on the bottom, I believe flushing 3 or 4 gallons would suffice. Anyone got any info on it?

Do you know if it’s normal when testing tpr valve, the water flow is small, like 1/3 of the flow in your video. Thanks.

Great video. I am slightly confused with how long to keep the pressure release valve open. is it just for a few seconds ? Is that done to get air out ? Thanks for taking the time to do this - very informative !!

How do I know when it’s fully drain

I have the same model water heater as yours. When I drain the heater out, there is only a small water trickle. Does that mean the drain is plugged up? Are you suppose to turn the cold water inlet valve back "ON" to flush out the system so the sediments at the bottom can be disturbed ?

I just tested my valve. First water to come out was brownish and nasty looking then quickly came out clearer. After I stopped some water was coming out. More than just dripping but coming out like crazy. I read online to flush it a few times to clear the debris that may be blocking the seal. I did and it’s much better. It’s dripping a bit and the water is not hot so doesn’t seem like it’s dripping from inside. Could this be leftover from the long white pipe? The leaking is very minor.

Thanks for this. After you turned everything back on, I see you turned to "B", do you not have to relight the pilot light?

Thanks for the video. I DO have a question for you, though. I also watched The Grumpy Plumber. He recommends doing nothing to your water heater. What do you think of this advice? It's easier to do nothing. Thanks again.

I tried your way and no water was coming out. I called rheems and they told me to do the same and advised my valve was clogged with sediment. Still no water. I called my plumber and he said don't turn off the water and it worked. The water started coming out. No more popping from my heater.

My water heater is in the attic and there is a pipe that runts from pressure relief valve to the side of the house. As another way to flush, can't you just release the pressure relief valve?

Do you have to tirn off the electricity? Or just turn off the gas or to pilot ,thanks

I turned off my water inlet then proceeded to open up faucet. However, mine keep running. It didn't stop as in your video. What steps do I need to do next?

I'm in Chandler, AZ. Tank has been installed for 5 years and I need to drain it do to a gas control valve failure. It must be encrusted with heavy water deposit because I can get any water to come out. Even after removing the supply line to eliminate any vacuum. Any thoughts? Thanks

I've followed every step, and I even tried opening the pressure relief valve as other videos and comments suggest, and my tank still is not draining?

Not sure I understand why you need to turn the water lines off? Also, how much water did you run during the flush (all of it or just for like 10-25 seconds to get the crud off the bottom?

Good info! How long did it take for yours to drain? Mine is past 20 Minutes and still going strong

My Honeywell 24v box does not have a "Pilot" point. So where do I turn the switch to? Low? That is the lowest off point available. But there is an "On" and "Off" switch.

my heater has that exact same plastic drain valve... it's ANNOYING as hell waiting for that much water to leak out soooooooo slowly!!! lol. i'm going to Home Depot tomorrow and replacing it with a full port ball valve. that'll make it easier for future flushes... with that plastic valve, sediment doesnt' really escape.. it's too little and not enough exit force.

I was told to leave cold water on to get more pressure

🙏🏼😊

Have you have had issues with the pressure relief valve. Mine is leaking. The thing is a little over 2 years old.

When I turn the drain valve counter-clockwise, the whole pipe turns with it. I feel like the drain valve will be detached from the tank. A day later after messing with it, my water heater starts leaking, which is clearly not from the water supply from the top. Do I need it replaced?

I tried this today and everything went fine until I went to open the valve. It seemed like the whole pipe was spinning with the valve. I had water trickle out from under the pipe so I was worried I was going to have a mess. I tightened it back up and there was hardly any water in the hose. Is it your experience that they move the entire pipe when spinning this valve?

Ours has a small slow leak coming from the spidget...noticed it last week. We bought the home which the Rheem was already installed, no Manuel....

Do you turn the water valve off that goes into the tank??

You could easily have just waited a few hours for the tank to cool down, correct? I have to drain the Rheem Performance I have to replace the leaking plastic valve (like the one in this video) But I'm a little apprehensive about opening the flood gates on scalding hot water... Also, how safe is it for us DIY'ers to pull that TPR valve? I've heard some conflicting things that you should leave it alone, and others that it's perfectly fine to do...

Your directions are good except the water on my Rheem did not drain until I opened the pressure valve.

My hot water heater at the pilot it has very hot, then C, B, A, then hot, low, Vac, pilot and then off my question is can just turn down the temperature just by turning this know to hot? Or do I have to turn off the power to it and remove the top and bottom panel to adjust the heat, because its way too hot. Please respond to my questions

Is a 40 gallon enough for to 2 showers

Why wouldn't you test the pressure release before draining? That would save you waiting around for "normal operating conditions".

I bought this water heater ru-vid.comUgkx8G49mV71sAzUl9shXyLW-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.

You are beautiful. Never stop being you.

I have this same model but when I connect the hose and followed your instructions, no water comes out of the hose.

Gotcha, yeah the drain valve shouldn't leak in any place aside from the actual opening where water is supposed to drain from. Is your unit like mine? With mine all I did was tighten the house on (clock wise) hand tight... then loosen the grey circle thingy counter clockwise to let the water out.

Can this resolve water hammering?

Testing the pressure release valve? NO, UNLESS YOU HAVE A REPLACEMENT VALVE IN YOUR POCKET!! A lot of them don’t fully close after testing.

My dumbass dad installed a new heater in his house. Connected everything correctly then flipped the breaker. Went back upstairs to wash his hands. No water. He didn't turn the water on. Burnt out the elements. 😂

My Electric Rheem says 125-130 top and 120 bottom. The problem is the thermostat has widely spaced marks. Totally worthless. They say it was set at the factory. Eyeballing it, they look similar. but with no real marks on the thermostat on where it should be, their engineering sucks. How can you really set it correctly????

Allot of water to go down the drain in the desert . Capturing that water for domestic use would be prudent .

This NOT how the plumber who installed my Rheem water heater told me to flush the heater.

RU-vid

Can I trust you ? I have one like your and wanna flush it

At that flow rate, how is that going to flush anything… title should be drain, not flush. You’re not getting any sediment out, guaranteed!

I'm shocked this piece of garbage is working after 6 montjs.

Change the anode rod every couple of years, it will make it last 20 or 30 years