EASY WAY to FLUSH your HOT WATER HEATER TANK

Don't let you HOT WATER tank fail FAIL early and ensure you are getting the MOST HOT WATER possible while saving money if you know the EASY way to flush out the inside without special tools or expensive chemicals.

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Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, I cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information. Silver Cymbal assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. Silver Cymbal recommends safe practices when working on machines and or with tools seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, no information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Silver Cymbal.

[spankymagee]

If you have real hard water be careful. my tank built up tons of crystals from the previous owners and when I tried to flush, the rocks got stuck in the valve down there where it wouldn't shut off. The crystals were so big in there nothing would come out. If it gets to that point where you hear a lot of noise when it's running, it may be too late for you. But those little rocks will destroy elements as they slosh around in there so make sure you do this often, especially more often the harder your water is. But have one of those caps handy like he showed in case you get crystals jamming up your valve.

[marccongdon]

So at this point your videos just end up getting added to my honey do list for the weekend, just flushed mine and was amazed at the gunk that came out. Even with what I thought was a pretty decent filter setup I had put together. As usual thank you for this tip.

[ctvxl]

flushing through the drain that way clears very little of the sediment out of the tank. It just removes a thin line down the middle. I have an electric water heater. What I do every couple of years is kill power and shut off the input water to it. I then drain it completely. Next, I remove the lower heating element. I have a 5' length of garden hose that I cut from an old hose. I duct tape that to the nozzle on my wet/dry vac, then I use it to vacuum all of the sediment out of the bottom of the tank. Works very well.

I always check the sacrificial anode at the same time, and replace if necessary. I also check the pressure relief valve frequently. Several times per year.

In my area, what mostly collects in the tank are little chips of calcium carbonate. If you don't flush it this way, and either don't flush it at all, or if you do the method in this video, the tank will fill up to the bottom element within about 5 or 6 years and cause it to burn out.

[mn-mhuy]

“Scalding hot, better to not wear shorts” **proceeds to wear shorts.

[sirwolly]

I would also recommend a 3 stage whole house water filtering system. Easy to install and makes a huge difference.

[joedimarco]

On the topic of this I would also highly recommend checking the anode rod and making sure that doesn’t need to be replaced either.

[elppedro]

Great tips! I would turn off the water heater a day before so I could use the water on my lawn or shrubs and not boil them.

[jackdawson]

Great advice. I have three AO Smith self cleaning water heaters in my properties.. I open the valve into a bucket every 3-4 months. First bucket is usually a little brown. Second bucket is clear. If I forgot to do it and wait 6-8 months, then the first two bucket are dark brown. It takes 4-5 buckets for it to clear out. Ive been doing ever sonce my water heaters new 16 yrs ago. They are all going strong. It's so easy to do, especially with the self cleaning heaters. The sediment gets stirred up alot when you open the valve

[bmay]

When I installed my water heater, I replaced the junk plastic drain valve with a real (brass) one, knowing about that problem. I'm glad you mentioned that concern!

[doctorhorton]

Thanks this is timely every video on the subject talked about turning off the water, which I did. I have tons of sediment that I can’t get out. I’m going to get my drainage all set up and turn the water back on until it gets cleaned out. I bought a threaded 3/4” pvc extension as the plastic drain was leaking (started this entire process for me) and was too narrow for the sediment to exit

[Bear]

Thanks for that breakdown. It seems pretty intimidating but you showed how easy it is. Thank you again! Long time fan BTW.

[sonoftheredfox]

I did this yesterday. So easy! It took about 15 minutes for the water to get clear. My water heater had one of those plastic valves. Had to use a flathead screwdriver to open and close the valve. Water was thick gunky brown at first, but now nice and clear. I think the water heater is about 15 years old, and as far as I know never been flushed. Well water....don't know if it would have been better or worse on county water.

[lambrinos]

You motivated me to flush my two water heaters. I'm really looking forward to upcoming videos from the new house!

[brianbradford]

Wife says we got brownish orange water in the sink with Cold water. And a few times with hot water years ago in the bathtub. I'm thinking it was just the lines out in the neighborhood being worked on but thankyou for this video! I probably really need to do this! I will probably get a big boost in hot water capacity too.

[ianmackenzie]

That brownish water I don't waste by using it on flower beds and lawn. Free dissolved minerals.

[TheLawngineer]

Got a video about replacing the sacrificial anode in the tank? If not, might make for a good video.

[ejonesss]

if you have one of them refrigerated water tanks (yes that is right there is a refrigeration unit with compressor and freon gas doing the heating instead of gas or electric heating elements).

refrigerated water heaters have a heat exchanger that takes the heat from the compression of the freon gas and puts it into the water.

such water heaters are even more expensive as they have a refrigeration unit but supposedly they are a lot more efficient and can save money and repairing one of them or replacing one can be quite a bit maybe over $2000 or even $3000.

[pondacres]

On mine, recommendation in manual is to do this once/month, but just drain off a few gallons at a time. I drain off for about a minute and call it a day. I just connected a short hose and route it to the same drain that the condensation from the furnace drains to, just leave it there...makes draining once per month a breeze.

[boondocker]

Nice vid, I had an indirect fired water tank installed last month, this was very much on my mind, will do it Sunday, good vid.

[NeverEnoughRally]

Don't forget to replace your anode rod!!!