How to Flush a Water Heater the RIGHT WAY - DIY Plumbing

How to Flush a Water Heater the RIGHT WAY - DIY Plumbing - Water Heaters 101

Water heaters need to be flushed regularly in order to keep them working properly. Today I'm taking you out with me to flush a water heater for a customer and I'll show you how to flush a water heater the right way. This is a very easy DIY plumbing project that will save you money and keep your water heater in working order. If you have a new water heater, watch this to learn how to flush your water heater and make it work better for longer.

Thanks for watching! I'm Roger Wakefield, LEED AP, The Expert Plumber and welcome to my channel. On this channel, I teach homeowners how to save money on their plumbing by doing DIY plumbing projects. I also teach plumbers and plumbing company owners how to be the best plumbers in their area and run successful plumbing businesses. My goal is to teach you everything you need to know about plumbing.

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[Thepaulieboy]

One thing you should probably think about after flushing a water heater is that it’s good idea to open a Hot side on a faucet and maybe remove the aerator and flushing the lines in the home. I flush heaters all the time and the worst thing that happens is you break up all that scale and blow it through the plumbing system. If your not careful you can plug up cartridges and or areators .
Thanks for your videos. Keep up the good work

[fortunatedad]

Hey Roger, try opening and closing the water supply to the tank a few times while having the hose hooked up just like you did. I found it to be effective in agitating the sediment., :)

[cesarresendiz]

Sir, wanted to give a big Texas thank for taking the time to making this plumbing videos. It helped me understand much better on how to maintain my water heater. God bless you sir.

[jeffthomas]

Have always pretty much flushed my water heater as you describe every year, but not with a filter/bucket. Let me also mention that I have whole house filters (2 in series) and a water softener. After flushing for 10-15 minutes with the cold water supply on, most of the large sediment was gone, but there were some fine particles still coming out. However, today, after reading some other posts on this, I decided to just drain my water heater (opened the pressure relief valve to prevent a vacuum) after shutting off the cold water supply. I let it drain most of the way, closed the PRV/PSV, then turned the cold water supply back on. Surprisingly, a whole bunch more of larger white and brown 'rocks' came out again, which I did not expect. Apparently, the turbulence kicked up a bunch more sediment that had been missed in the initial two flushes. Might be worthwhile to flush in two steps - one with the cold water supply on and then again by draining the tank and then turning the cold water supply back on.

[wilchami]

Thanks Roger. Just went through your steps with my water heater and got rid of 2 cups of sediments with no fuss. I've been putting it off for 3 years since draining the tank with cold inlet shut off just made so little sense, and that's all I was getting from web searches. Much appreciated!

[kruulz]

Hi Roger. I am a plumber in New York and this is the first plumbing tutorial on youtube i have learned something from. Good Job. Love your videos!

[ryanespinoza]

Mine was never flushed in the 5 years Ive had it. Last week I put a hose on it and flushed it out. The water came out thick black with chunks. I let it run for 45 minutes lol.

[girohead]

This! I watched a few of these but this one was most specific and gave the t-shirt idea, into bucket. I didn't expect to see much in newer Bradford water heater and if I just let drain, it looked pretty good. Putting it through a green t-shirt revealed my hard San Diego water residue. I did it in phases of filling up the bucket instead of one shot, to allow inlet water to come in and swirl around (and no holes in buck, and heater was deep in garage, so this was very clean.

[ahyungrocks]

We didn't know this has to be done. Thank you!

[centralcoastcamper]

I agree with your flushing method 100% !

[leafmetal]

Anytime I have DIY plumbing questions I refer to YouTube first because I'm always on a budget. And of course anytime I see your contributions I absolutely must watch them. You, sir, are indeed an expert! And your badass mustache only adds to your credibility. Haha

[darkmaice]

I start working for my brother in laws plumbing company here in Tennessee this August. Once I know enough I’ll definitely look into installing a filter.

[jmackinjersey]

In Phoenix, and Bullhead City, AZ you should flush your water heater, regardless if it is a tank, or tankless, once a year. The water there has so mush sediment in it, that I've seen tanks blow out after three years of not being cleaned. Even with the salt or RO systems, the tanks can hold sediment in the bottom, and those tanks need, I stress need to be done no less than 2 years. I used to be a Realtor in AZ, and was also a property manager, and now do flips in those areas so I have seen a lot of this first hand. It is such a simple thing to do, I'm surprised at how many people never flush their tanks, and then wonder why their systems perform like they do.

[SuwanneeHomestead]

You deserve more likes. Thank you sir. I am rebuilding a double wide mobile home. One of my last tasks was a whole house filter. We have well water but it has rust and was fixin to ruin our beautiful brand new tubs, sinks, terlets, etc.
Well sir, we have run a couple weeks without filter before I installed it.
Needless to say (in hindsight) the water heater was still full of crud. So I ran all the faucets for wafts seemed like 30 minutes. Very small improvement.

So I thought…let me see what YouTube sez. Can I open the drain valve and run it while pressurized. I thought so…and YOU SIR confirmed it! 😊
I ran several hundred gallons through the water heater and it is crystal clear. I even closed and opened the drain valve several times while flushing it.
Very RARELY will I give this much of a reply. But here ya go… you deserve many more likes!
Thanks from Suwannee Homestead! 🎉 2:11

[emidden]

You just saved me hundreds of dollars & a lot of frustration, thanks a ton!

[RB-jood]

Hi Roger, I just saw your video and I’m gonna flush my water heater tomorrow and just connect the hose and turn it on and flush it and that’s it. I thank you for your advice.

[thenightmare]

I like this guy's, he's like the uncle that I never knew I wanted.

[jacklabloom]

That method you showed will work fine, if home owners flush their tanks at least every two years. If a tank has not been flushed in ten years, the flush method needs to be different.

Step 1- shut off the power.
Step 2- drain the tank
Step 3- remove anode rod
Step 4- use a spray nozzle on a water hose to spray water through Anode rod opening. Move spray around. I have gotten a bucket full of sand-like sediment out of tanks using this method, when simply draining the tanks produced only a quart or two of sediment.

Step 5- install new Anode rod. Close drain valve.
Step 6- fill tank and run water in House until all air is out of the system.
Step 7- turn power back on.

I get eighteen to twenty years minimum service from from my hot water tanks. I currently have four hot water tanks.

AO Smith - 18 years so far and still going.
Bradford-White 19 years so far and still going
Whirlpool- 19 years and started leaking. I never drained it. It was at our cabin. AO Smith refunded my total purchase price plus tax paid. It had a lifetime warranty. The tank was built by AO Smith for Whirlpool. I replaced it with an AO Smith tank.

You can replace the anode rod, both electric elements, and both thermostats in an electric water heater for less than $80.00 in parts, if you do it yourself. I had to do that at year 16 on one of my AO Smith tanks.

This stuff is not rocket science.

[larrydixon]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge about this important home maintenance project. God Bless you.

[tonym]

Question, do you need to shut the power off first? I’m assuming the cold water coming into the tank and the water leaving via the hose is the same. If the hose is letting more water out than is coming in and the tank level drops below the upper heating element wouldn’t you risk burning out the element..