Alright guys I'm a plumber here. Don't do this unless your water heater is under 2 years old, reason being is the sediment could actually be plugging a leak in your tank if it is old. If the tank has been flushed annually since its installation then you don't have to worry about that issue. Now, all you have to do to flush it is to connect a water hose to it and run it outside to the road and open the drain valve. The water pressure will push all the sediment out into your hose. You really want to avoid draining your water heater because they are either porcelain or glass lined galvanized containers and draining the tank can't put unneeded wear-and-tear on to that lining. Also you won't have to worry about turning off the electricity or the gas.
Yeah no shit, he’s also saying the heater should be flushed annually to prevent sediment from building up. Obviously if you’ve never done the flush to an older water heater than don’t do it.
People don't know the basics. Idk if you are in the trades, but I as an HVAC tech assuming Home owners know how to take care of equipment is the biggest mistake you can make. Also relax.
A plumber WOULD say that… the less folks that flush their own, the more water heater jobs plumbers get from failed tanks. Haha. Jk. Putting in a new water heater today, gonna make sure I keep a schedule and flush it yearly. Thanks for the tips man!
Fact: NOBODY flushes their water heater annually. NOBODY flushes their water heater…..EVER, except when it’s time to replace it. I have five of them. I’ve never flushed one.
Lol. I've owned several homes in several states and have NEVER flushed any of them. Haven't had a single issue except one time with the pilot going out after a crazy storm here in TX. 🤷
@@4PFB ...Nah, he knows that for the people who don't know this, he is helping them to understand. I don't believe he was trying to insult the guy at all. The guy really does have an upbeat attitude.
From a plumber be advised if done regularly maintain this is ok but for old units that had never had it done it may cause leaks as the tank gets older the sediment in the systems on old units will plug small holes in the unit that may have formed so doing so in some case will unplug the holes letting it leak best to not do so on units that have not been serviced like so on units 8-10yrs and older
You don't have to shut your water heater off you could put it in pilot, do not do this if you have not done this from the beginning of the install, you can expose a crack on the tank and thats not a good thing
If you think about let it cool down too flush the sediment out. Would that not let the sediment to settle at the bottom? I flush it under pressure because it will stir up the sediment when it runs clean your good. Been doing this for over 30 years. I saw 1 that was from the 1950s all copper ,tank duct everything and it still ran like a champ.
You don’t have to shut the unit off you can drain it with hot water. Just make sure it doesn’t drain into your lawn. It will kill the grass. And no matter how many times you flush it you’ll never get every bit of that sediment out of there.
The water stays hot for a while after you turn it off. You turn off the water heater because you can burn up the electric element or the bottom of the tank, if gas, and cause damage to your water heater and your free maintenance just turned into a $600 plus replacement. Warranties don't cover the mistakes you made by not following instructions.
As a licensed plumber if you’re going to wait for the water to cool down you’re gonna be waiting a while. A water heater can hold hot water for up to 48 hrs after it is shut off just fyi
I'm a plumber and you ALWAYS turn off the heater when flushing. You can severely damage the unit if you don't shut it off and let the unit completely empty.
You know those aren't replaced yearly. That wasnt what was covered here....To be honest unless your water is incredibly hard the anode rode will outlast the life of the water heater.
@@BonsaiBuckeye the ANODE rod according to mfg recommendation should bring inspected annually to determine the corrosion rate . and the grounding/ bonding should never be removed
@@BonsaiBuckeye MFG recommends INSPECTING the ANODE ROD once per year !!!!!!and determine the corrosion rate based on how hard or soft the water is and replace accordingly!!!!!
Since you seem a little confused I will educate you; your anode rod should well Outlast the life of your water heater considering water heaters now last eight to 10 years. If you have an anode rod that is deteriorating quicker than your water heater then you have a massive hard water issue that needs to be solved with a whole house water softener. The solution to your anode rod being destroyed within a year is not to continually replace it
Or Call a plumber 90 percent of time the little drain valve stops up ,so call plumber tell them you want full port drain valve installed, oh yeah turn heater off but should flush while hot im a Master Plumber
True. Yet most electric or propane water heaters will go 15 to 20 years without a flush or any problem at all, unless the local water is bad. And by then you'll want a more efficient model anyway. Just sayin' ! (Not a master plumber.)
all city water has minerals, Chlorine , and fluoride if your on a well have twice the minerals and no chlorine or fluoride all this isn't good for heaters and they don't last 15 to 20 years anymore try 6 to 10 years all the water heaters now are sourced out to foreign manufactures so made very cheap now but are more expensive $700 for a 50 gallon gas now
or just use an instant one, i cant because i live in country with no access to natural gas, but i had one for the past 10 years and we didnt even need to touch it
So 1 you can turn the heater off and run water for 5 to 10 min to cool it faster and 2 if you leave the cold water on for the flush you literally can't make a vacuum
Dumb question: where do you drain the water? I’ve seen suggestions to drain it outside, but my tank is in the basement and likely won’t be able to flow uphill.
Either you make a lot of trips lugging buckets upstairs or get 200 feet of garden hose. I seen a dude do one in the basement with some sort of pump/hose combo.
@@JayWil29 I've seen videos and talk to people where they went to clean out their water tank and it started leaking afterwards so they say if you haven't done it in years it's probably best not to do it 😂
There is a valve on top of the heater called the TMP valve. You don’t have to turn on the hot side to get a flow out of it. Just open the Tmp valve and it will have a good flow to get the water out of the heater and you don’t need to wait for water to get cold either just turn off the gas or electric before draining it
No, don't touch the temperature and pressure relief valve. It may not close all the way again and continue to drip. There is no reason to open anything. You use water pressure for the city or well pump.
Bad advice! The T&P (temperature & pressure valve) is at or near the top of the tank, sediment is at the bottom. Also, never open the T&P valve unless you want a constant drip from it.
In that case, one would need to remove the male hose adapter fitting going into your tank. The new fitting is about $10 and it is simple enough to replace after a DIY video like this one. Hopefully, you have a floor drain because this will expell some water...
FAIR WARNING; you're asking for problems when you go messing with plumbing. There is no reason to turn anything off or to open any faucets. Just run your hose to a safe location. Use the city water pressure or the well pump pressure to force as much sediment out as you can.
While this is great information, "water heater" goes up there with terms like "horse-back rider" or "eye doctor" for the leaderboard of unneccesary multi-word Americanisms for things that already have names.
EXCEPT if that drain is plastic. Don’t touch that shit lol call plumber to swap it to a ball valve and boom easy peasy draining for the homeowner every time.
