Tankless Water Heater

6 Responses to “Water heater flushing. How does shutting off the water improve the process?”

1. norman7774
   May 15th, 2010 @ 7:22 pm

   IT DOES NOT IMPROVE the process. When you flush the hot water heater.. once a year as you do(and that is a good idea).. you leave the water ON so when you drain the water(It would drain faster than the water going in if you left the water on)it will drain out all the sediments and the new water coming in would help push the sediments out….

2. dreaming_again2002
   May 15th, 2010 @ 7:25 pm

   You are doing it correctly, do not cut off the water. You are right that is what flushes out the sediment.

3. Woodworkingmenace
   May 15th, 2010 @ 8:17 pm

   You cant drain it, if you are filling the thing at the same time!

   All you have to do, is shut it down, by turning off the cold water, and opening a spigot on a sink upstairs, then letting the water flow out the drain.

   This will back flush it well, (especially if its on the second floor).

   My assistant took a coat hanger and scraped the bottom of our tank at work, and got a lot of rust out of it..(it didnt come out on its own), and I was impressed that there was a lot in there!

   Then he flushed it again.

   Of course, make sure the gas is off, so it doesnt “fire up” and hurt you.

   I wish you well..

   Jesse

4. nonna_barbara
   May 15th, 2010 @ 8:49 pm

   Woodworker is correct. You need to shut off the water to flush the water heater. You also need to open at least one spigot..

5. Corky R
   May 15th, 2010 @ 9:05 pm

   First off, unless someone has changed the original valve that came on the unit, you’re wasting your time draining or flushing the tank. In any area that has any real lime or calcium content in the water, even a water softener won’t take enough of it out to keep sediment from building up in the bottom of the tank. The original valves, only open enough to allow maybe a b-b sized piece of junk to escape, everything else just piles up against the back side of the valve. What’s needed to make this a viable, useful function, is a 3/4″ ball valve that will open completely and allow full flow. This valve will allow chunks of lime, calcium, the size of a man’s thumb to be flushed out with no problem. I’ve been installing and repairing these things for 20 some odd years and always recommend to my customers that they let me install a decent valve if they intend to take care of the unit properly. Most are happy for the help.

6. Jerry Dee
   May 15th, 2010 @ 9:07 pm

   Corkey’s got it!

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