Electric Water Heater Maintenance: Draining the Tank

This video from Sears PartsDirect shows how to correctly maintain your electric water heater by regularly draining the tank to flush out sediment. Every year, you should empty all the water from your water heater. This will prevent a buildup of mineral sediment in the bottom of your tank that could reduce the water heater's effectiveness and possibly damage the heating elements. This video will show you how safely drain the tank so you can keep your water heater running efficiently and correctly.

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Transcript:
Hi, this is Wayne from Sears PartsDirect. Today we're going to show you an often-overlooked maintenance tip on a water heater. We’re going to drain the sediment from the tank. Overtime sediment can build up, eroding the tank bottom and damaging the lower heating element. Sediment can also interfere with the elements heating up effectively. Flushing the sediment from your water heater will increase its efficiency and longevity and it’s easy to do. First, shut off the electrical power to your water heater. This is extremely important because the heating elements can break if they turn on when the tank is empty. Next, connect a garden hose to your water heater drain valve. Use a heavy-duty hose that won't be damaged by hot water. Run the open end of the garden hose out into your yard to a safe spot where you can drain the hot water. Fully open the drain valve. Water will start to flow out of the garden hose, flushing out the sediment. After a couple of minutes, turn on the hot water in the kitchen. This will create an air gap in the pipes that will force the remaining sediment out of the water heater, after we turn off the water supply later. Turn off the water supply valve above the water heater. This will also stop the flow in the kitchen sink, but be sure to leave the hot water valve open. The water and sediment will now start draining faster, because gravity and pressure are helping us out. You can open the T&P valve if the water’s not draining fast enough. If the hose get clogged during the draining process, you can use a shop vac to unclog it. Be careful, that water is hot! Once the water stops draining, you can turn the water back on briefly to give the tank another quick flush and remove any remaining sediment. Then close the water supply valve again. Once the tank has drained completely, close the drain valve and disconnect the water hose. Wear gloves to protect your hands. The hose fitting will be hot. Be sure to close the T&P valve when you start to refill the tank. Open the water supply cut-off valve for the water heater and refill the tank. As the water heater fills up, you’ll start hearing your open faucet in the kitchen spittin’ and sputterin’ as air is purged from the water heater. Don’t turn the faucet off, until a full stream of water starts to flow again. Now, you know that all the air is out of your water heater and the tank is full of water. Restore electrical power to the water heater and you're done. Make sure it’s full before you turn the power back on. Repeat this procedure every year to keep your water heater working efficiently. Hey, thanks for watching. I hope this video has helped you out today. Be sure to check out our other videos here on the YouTube channel and don’t forget to subscribe.

[brianbelet]

Excellent video; very clear step-by-step. Thanks.

[kellyadamson]

Thank you for giving a 2 minute video that explains everything clearly. Much better than a 10 minute video with unnecessary info and time.

[BillSledzik]

Great advice. I have watched it every year for the last 5, just before I perform the task. One suggestion: If you drain your tank onto the lawn, as Wayne did, turn off the power a few hours BEFORE your begin. That water may be hot enough to kill the grass. I learned the hard way.

[Dan-lkxz]

I want to thank you for the short, to the point and easy to follow video. Great job, Dan.

[izzy]

Best video out of the 10 that I’ve watched.

[pipersmitty]

Wayne you are one of the good ones, Sears should give you a raise

[mptmcguire]

The BEST one I’ve watched. Prepared, clear, thorough step by step. Thank you!!

[Bubba-nineteen]

New homeowner and the house came with an electric WH. I have never done this till today and this was SO helpful! Thank you for this

[kaykaykc]

we're 1st time home owners in a new build and wanted to thank you for showing us detailed steps of how to perform this task. It went smoothly and your instructions were perfect. Thanks!

[pags]

He speaks well. Easy to listen too. Good info as well.

[mikefrancesa]

Thank you for giving us a short quick easy video. Everyone else is 20 minutes of the background history of why they moved in the house they're in and their uncle's sick and all this other BS

[beverlypatin]

Most effective instructional videos are short and to the point. Very informative.Thanks for not wasting time.

[southernbelle]

Thank you much Wayne!! Everyone I spoke with could not remember the correct order for all the valves - you saved me and I appreciate it so much. You've also helped me in the past with my riding lawn mower's solenoid switch and the starter - you're the BEST!

[iceroad]

Wow this was as easy as explained in the video - highly recommend for beginners. Thank you

[demariojason]

I did this once before when I moved into my home around the same time of this upload. So barely remember how to do this procedure in its proper order. LoL
Since I started to see the white "crack residue" again, I decided to flush it the right way, following these simple steps! (literally 30 minutes ago).Thanks for this upload!

[frankdrebin]

Well this was the most informative video on this topic. Other videos didn't explain thoroughly and were 10 minutes long. 👏👏

[andrewhowat]

I tried this process without really understanding each step and based on some other instructions I had found and ended up with the relief valve leaking. I followed this video after and it resolved everything, and got our hot water running clear again. Thank you!

[nopenope]

Thanks for being short, sweet and to the point. No extra information that I did not need.

[agoogleuser]

Finally, a good video with easy to follow instructions.

[cynthialewis]

Thank you! Finally a video that explains what to do at each step and why. This is the third video I tried, the others are impossible to follow.