Water Heater Drain Valve Replacement With Tank Full of Water! 

Look for a 3/4” male theeaded boiler drain, try to find one that has at least 1 1/2” length to it to fit through the insulation jacketing. The one i used is a standard water heater drain available at home depot in my area in California. Good luck!

Not at all, you could see the water coming out when i removed the old drain. Its why i quickly replaced with the new drain. That way only a small amount of water went on rags on floor.

Great comment, these drain valves can break when attempting to remove them!

Oh dang that sounds like a terrible situation

​@jeremyfreeman1860 well you should have forewarned ppl that the plastic valve could break. YOU SHOULD UPDATE YOUR VIDEO. IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO

@@frederickneal4781I guess you’ve never heard of an easy out

Didn’t drain tank. Just turned off water supply to it. Didn’t open any faucets, that would allow air in and it would leak out faster. Yes unplug and valve off the recirculating line if there is a valve for it. You can turn to pilot or vacay. Shouldn’t matter. Or if you don’t feel comfortable changing it while full, drain the tank. Typicality you would change this bibb because its no longer draining.

@@jeremyfreeman1860 , Mine is completed, had to call a plumber, entire pvc cracked off inside doublewall tank, he installed a brass valve...

@@i3diamonds ouch! These plastic ones are garbage! Its why i switch them out for brass. Good heads up on them just cracking off as a possibility! Did you end up scrambling to stop the leak out of the broken plastic drain?

sediments blocked it@@jeremyfreeman1860

Most valves are 3/4”. They should be about 2-4” long to penetrate the insulation jacket around the heater.

I have always replaced the water heater drain value with brass values on all my water heaters when they were brand new. That's called preventative maintenance. I'm also not a fan of flexible water or gas lines.

3/4" threaded ball valve with a nipple about 2 1/2" - 3" in length would do the trick

Yes. It drains using gravity. So if its on the top of the tank it would point sideways and you could pipe it horizontally for a few feet but then would have to pipe it down. If its on the side of the tank it must face down or sideways, but not upwards in anyway. The relief valve in this video was piped incorrectly and was corrected.

If water is leaking out the front of it then it’s not all the way shut! Either try shutting it all the way, or if it doesn’t shut all the way it’s time to replace it!

Hey I’m having the same issue how do you make sure it’s shut? Do I just tighten it?

@@rakeemstewart4733 i would say 5 wraps of tape and spin it until it’s difficult to turn with a wrench.

Jmanzi said it all 3 months ago;) i went back and fixed it. Ty for the view!

Not typically, unless the leak is spraying on the pilot flame or electrical connections

Mr Morrison I applaud your efforts. Did you correctly add 5-7 wraps of teflon tape and a few smears of pipe dope prior to replacing the hose drain bibb? When you say you drained the tank till it stopped leaking from the hose but its still leaking did you mean its still leaking from the hose? Or somewhere else? The body of the tank itself could be bad!

@@jeremydewolfe8026 Thx so much for your fast reply! I really do appreciate it. No I did not use any Teflon tape. I followed directions that Rheem emailed me on draining the tank. Its a faulty tank and I’m under warranty so I’m picking up a new one at Home Depot this week.. but had to drain it first. So, I followed their directions on draining but I missed the step of flipping open the release valve. So I want to RU-vid and found your video and realize that was maybe an important step. So, after the tank seemed drained (since no more water was running out of the hose) I undid the hose from the valve at the tank bottom, and tightened the valve. But then dripping still occurred from the valve and the back of the apron which is probably coming from the stem to the valve. My concern was; I want to repeat the draining process again but now the tank is half full of water with air on top half where the release valve is. When the valve is turn tight and still dripping, it starts to make a hissing sound. Is that pressure buildup? I’m concerned if I open the release valve will it explode? That was my main concern. Thanks for your advice on this and sorry for the long book! Vicki

@@v.j.morrison1784 makes sense! Thanks for the well thought out explanation! It sounds like the ball valve that shuts off the tank may be dripping some water past it and trying to refill the water heater slowly even tho its turned off. Its ok to open the pressure relief anytime you want to test its functioning properly (pit a bucket to catch water if the tube ends in a basement) the hissing should stop and you would keep the prv open. This allows air back into the tank for draining again. The open the drain on the bottom and bucket out however much water went back in! Good luck on the swap!

@@jeremydewolfe8026 Thanks so much Jeremy for your fast advice! The swap went well at Home Depot today and new water heater is in! Yay! Even though I had a 5 year warranty (still 1 1/2 yrs left) I went to Home Depot earlier this week and made contact with Mgr’s so when I went in today, I had back up names to give customer service… that this even exchange was approved!! Thanks again so much!! Best wishes and God Bless you! … Vicki in Central CA.

Mine leaks behind the knob after loosening the knob if I was going to flush it. Is there a remedy for this ? The shaft doesn’t seem to be turning so I’m wondering wtf. I have the same style of knob as in the video

Home depot, lowes, menards, amazon…

Well said. It doesn’t. I changed it.

3/4

great comment! lol i guess Ill head back over there :)

just need to cut the copper and unscrew it and use teflon tape & pipe dope. clean up the corrosion with a wire brush

Sure was!