Water won’t drain from hot water heater

This is a quick video showing you how I got my water to drain from my hot water heater. The spigot was clogged with lime scale. Remember...BEFORE YOU DO THIS TURN YOUR HOT WATER HEATER OFF FOR AT LEAST 12 HOURS OR YOU WILL GET SCALDED. MINE WAS STILL WARM WHEN I DRAINED IT!!!

[willchapman]

Just bought a house and had this exact same issue and assumed I needed a new water heater, took the cap off like you said and shoved a screwdriver in and the water blasted off. Thank you!

[HollyBelle]

Thank you dabernathy! I am a widow and live in the country where we cannot always get someone out here to help. My water heater isn't heating the water very well so I decided to drain it, but had same problem as yours. I was able to follow your instructions and got it drained so a big THANK YOU from a red dirt road in Texas!!

[mikeliner]

Thank you for posting. Last time drained my water heater I had a floor filled with water trying to fight my plug. Your trick made it way easier. Thanks so much.

Mike

[ManBearPigLOL]

whoever had the idea for plastic drain valves on water heaters is a sadist

[tomz]

Hey, D.. You are the Man. Saved my hide & Sanity. The wire method Did Not WoRk. I don't have an air hose. I removed the top valve cover. Line still Plugged. However this angle Allowed me to insert the wire into the Tank & a geyser of Water flew out.
Big Things Up

[nebuchadnezzarsmith]

Thank you for this. I used a thin screwdriver instead of the coat hanger and the lime scale came out looking just like that on your floor. We also used your two hose solution which helped a lot.

[dutchfox]

You save the day for me. I put two hoses on mine after watching your video and it drained out of the top hose. Thanks for your help. Your video help me accomplish the task

[SuperMannyMann]

Thanks for posting buddy. I had no idea what to do lol.

[blackjaminboy]

Thanks a ton! My 80 gallon WH is 19 years old and it needed drain so I can put in a hybrid 80 gallon WH. Mine is draining really slow but much more than before!

[jjbackwoods]

Great advice. Never changed heating element before and I had to do exactly what you did to drain. Seems as if I’ll need to flush this 3 yr old tank of sediments

[charbrus]

+1 on having the second hose. That was a great technique. Much easier to thread the second hose than stuffing the original valve plug back in. Also, keep an air lock on the input/output water pipes on the heater and there is not much water flowing once you snake the sediment out. I had already remove input/output water hoses but just used one of the old hoses for a loopback. Thanks again for the video.

[ericalvarado]

Thank you thank you thank you :)

I had to gab the hole for a couple seconds, but the water came right now. It did come out a lot slower than I thought, was easy enough to hold a towel over it and reapply the cap. This worked perfectly. 2 hours trying to figure this out.

[levimust]

Clear hand helpful thanks. Any problem that can't be solved with a wire hanger and/or duct tape probably will never be solved.

[belldicius]

Same here you are the man I had the same issue with sediment and could not get it to drain it was so heavy and my dolly couldn’t even move it. You’re a lifesaver man!

[millertime]

Thanks for the tip! I was having the same issue and the coat hanger did the trick.

[whodisnewphone]

A suggestion. If you leave the water pressure ON when you first open that valve (with hose like you have it), The pressure will blast that debris out. THEN turn off water and gravity drain. almost all old ones will have sludge in the bottom so you clear that with water pressure on (Not heater tho just water pressure) Then gravity drain.

[condor]

I would change out that cheap plastic thing with a ball valve. Makes draining so much easier. Great video

[loco_]

I have a State water heater with the same plastic valve. I was wondering what thread the shut off was. I have plywood floors and didn't want to do anything like: Man you're not going to believe
Thanks for posting!

[Wesmancan]

That helps. Thanks man. Lazy video said you fed if you have a plastic valve.

[bobbywenger]

Thank you very much understand why my hot water heater didn't drain I seen a little white dot but I wasn't really sure now I know what to do