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Friendly reminder. Don't forget to flush........

Burque73

Burque73

Forum Sage
Past Site Supporter
..........YOUR WATER HEATER.

I spent three hours on Saturday draining and flushing what looked like aquarium sand and gravel out of my water heater. It had been making knocking and popping noises for months, even after draining it. I tried turning on the water in short bursts to stir up the crud, which helped, but still it made noise. There's actually a tool for this. I probably flushed 10lbs of calcuim and crap out of there. I never saw completely clean water come out, even after hours of water on/off/air/drain and repeat...so I'll do it again soon. If I hadn't waited so many years it probably wouldn't have taken hours to do.

https://www.amazon.com/Sediment-Bus...cphy=9030456&hvtargid=pla-2281435180738&psc=1
 
Even a new water heater will crackle, that's the water percolating on the heating element.
Did you replace the zinc rod?
 
Buffalo Bill said:
Even a new water heater will crackle, that's the water percolating on the heating element.
Did you replace the zinc rod?
Click to expand...

It's a gas unit. The cast iron tank shouldn't make any noise, certainly not this much anyway. It didn't for the few years we've had it, at least. Souds like a rock tumbler.

I did not replace the zinc rod, but do plan to soon.
 
Are you in the Marcy projects? (Don't forget to wipe, and stay off the pipe.)

I'm chillin. :cool:
 
Rob S. said:
Are you in the Marcy projects? (Don't forget to wipe, and stay off the pipe.)

I'm chillin. :cool:
Click to expand...

Nope, I'm on the Martinez project, tile demolition today. Pulled the sink already and stayed off the pipes. Hehe
 
Burque73 said:
..........YOUR WATER HEATER.
. I tried turning on the water in short bursts to stir up the crud, which helped, but still it made noise. There's actually a tool for this. I probably flushed 10lbs of calcuim and crap out of there. I never saw completely clean water come out, even after hours of water on/off/air/drain and repeat...
Click to expand...
I just changed one out for friends aunt, she had a guy come over and try some kind of operation to break up and flush, they say the particles plugged up kitchen sink and bathroom sink faucets.

So the guy who's in his late 70's swapped them out for her,
The hot water heater was gas and about 30 years old and with all the sediment build up it weighed a ton, it's was kind of a chore for me to pack it out of her basement.

I wanted to cut it open just to see the massive brick that had formed, the new one was light and easy to take down to her basement

Bet it had forty pounds of crud built up.

And I've yet to flush my ten year old water heater, guess I'd better.
 
If you have gas or propane and need to replace your tank, I suggest researching an on demand Navien hot water heater. The buy in is certainly more, but they are very efficient and last a long time, even when neglected. And if you happen to have an ancient boiler, consider their combi unit.....good stuff!
 
MikeLyon said:
I just changed one out for friends aunt, she had a guy come over and try some kind of operation to break up and flush, they say the particles plugged up kitchen sink and bathroom sink faucets.

So the guy who's in his late 70's swapped them out for her,
The hot water heater was gas and about 30 years old and with all the sediment build up it weighed a ton, it's was kind of a chore for me to pack it out of her basement.

I wanted to cut it open just to see the massive brick that had formed, the new one was light and easy to take down to her basement

Bet it had forty pounds of crud built up.

And I've yet to flush my ten year old water heater, guess I'd better.
Click to expand...

That would be interesting to see inside it. Not too many houses here have basements. My aunt has one, only one in the neighborhood. When the main sewer line backed up, her basement became the neighborhood sump.
 
I still haven't figured out the multi quote feature on this new setup. Someday I'll dig into that and also see how to get signatures back.

Vmass, those on demand tankless heaters are sweet! I've helped install a few Rinnai units, haven't see a Navien. We always had to run a bigger gas line for the Rinnai. The BTU's are way more than a tank heater.

It's crazy that some last for 15 years and others for 50. Swapped one out for the neighbor a while back when his ruptured. It had to be at least 50 years old. Too bad it ruined the wood floor I had just installed one year prior. That was a sad day.
The other neighbor still has his original Lennox furnace from 1958! Surely it can't be very efficient anymore. He's 90 years old and refuses to replace it.
 
Vmass, Everybody has different opinions. I was in the gas distribution business for a long time then retired from it. Do you use a tankless water heater? Those things use so much more gas, when running, many houses in our town had to install larger supply lines to the "Tankless" just to get enough gas to operate properly. Also the fastest I've ever seen the little hands spin on a residential gas meter was because of a Tankless water heater. Luck to the folks that have and like them, never run out of hot water, but for me, I'm out... Just my guess, within the next 6 or 8 yrs. they'll be like the solar panels on roofs 25 yrs. ago for hot water, we never see them any more.
 
Roger, not to derail your thread, but you did mention signatures. I can see yours. If you can’t see them maybe it this:
You have to be looking at POST view. Not LATEST ACTIVITY, which doesn’t show signatures.

on PC or tablet, look here:
yXv4W0ql.jpg


on mobile, look here:
yq4hDTVm.jpg
Jx7SqVYm.jpg
​

also:
In order to see/show signatures, go to My Profile/ Edit Settings/ Account tab. Make sure Show Signature and Show Avatars are checked. Make sure to save changes. Click the link under Show Avatars to edit your signature.

GxbJE34h.png
​
 
Last edited:
I'm going to buy one of those Amazon do hickies. A few years ago my hot water heater went out, and a friend, who was remodeling his house, gave me the low mileage unit out of his house since he was going tankless. Working great since, and haven't touched since. Tried to remove the anode and clean it or replace, but it was stuck fast, and I didn't want to risk breaking anything.
 
That do hickie is called a sacrificial anode, appx. the same as we put on our underground steel gas lines. Supposably the anode will corrode, and sacrifice itself, to keep, or suck the corrosion off, and away from the tank (or underground steel lines). I've never changed one nor knew anybody that changed one on a water heater, but do understand how and why it should make the tank last longer. It was a big deal on our steel gas lines.
 
We’re on a well, water quality is decent, we do have a filtration system before the water heater. I put the current water heater in about 18 years ago I think, after the old one sprung a pinhole leak. Glad I was home at the time and discovered it before it could flood the basement. I changed the anode rod in mine a few years ago after the water developed a foul odor. I do remember it being screwed in really tight. Definitely felt like I was going to break something, but it worked out. Also had to screw the new rod in really tight as well, to seal it. I’ve haven’t considered draining/flushing it in a while though. I known I should. I may get on that this weekend. I appreciate Roger’s PSA. It’s one of those home maintenance tasks that often gets overlooked, like cleaning the dryer vent. That’s overdue, too.
 
rphillips said:
Vmass, Everybody has different opinions. I was in the gas distribution business for a long time then retired from it. Do you use a tankless water heater? Those things use so much more gas, when running, many houses in our town had to install larger supply lines to the "Tankless" just to get enough gas to operate properly. Also the fastest I've ever seen the little hands spin on a residential gas meter was because of a Tankless water heater. Luck to the folks that have and like them, never run out of hot water, but for me, I'm out... Just my guess, within the next 6 or 8 yrs. they'll be like the solar panels on roofs 25 yrs. ago for hot water, we never see them any more.
Click to expand...

Philllips, I have had a few of them installed over the years, including in my primary residence. When I purchased this home in 2012 it had a 60 gallon propane HW tank in the basement. I had it removed and installed both the Navien on demand unit and a sink in the gargage...two birds with one stone! I had it serviced last year just because I thought I should. I have 3 full baths, laundry etc. and it has performed flawlessly. I don't recall having to increase my gas line on this one, but I know that is a concern. I think I may have had 3/4" already.
 
Thanks for the info, Rich. And just like that, there are signatures haha. Guess I'm a creature of habit and always have latest activity checked.
 
Well, I hope most everybody is satisfied with what they have, even the ones with the old 2 solar panels on their roof. Hopefully if not next time they find something that suits them better. There's a relatively newer thing available, a Heat pump water heater. I know little about them but there's both a local retired building contractor and a local retired electrician who have installed them and they think that's the way to go. No clue what they're basing their opinion on, but both like them a lot.
 
Nessism said:
I'm going to buy one of those Amazon do hickies.
Click to expand...

Just saw a post this morning of a "home made" one just using a garden hose Y adapter with 1/4 turn valves. Added a garden hose-to-Schrader valve adapter on one side. Air doesn't go in at the straight angle as it does on this one, but I assume it would work just the same.
 
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