No mud when water heater drained

Posted by on October 20, 2009, 10:24 pm

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:20:59 -0700 (PDT), "hallerb@aol.com"

>> >I drained my 3 year-old gas water heater last night, for the first
>> > time. ?I drained it into a sump pump pit that is in the basement at a
>> > lower level than the water heater, through a piece of garden hose that
>> > I screwed onto the drain output. ?There was no sign of anything other
>> > than clear water throughout the entire 40 gallon draining process.
>> > After it finished draining, I turned the input water back on and put a
>> > couple of gallons of fresh water into the heater to see if I could
>> > stir up anything on the bottom. But the new water drained out clear
>> > also. ?I guess I should be happy, but I am wondering if I missed
>> > something.

>> Probably not. ?If everything goes right, the water passes through and leaves
>> little or nothing behind. Mud comes from solids the precipitate out when
>> standing. ?If you have good water, there will be little solids. ?Some water
>> supplies have lots of sediment. ?If you have a whole house filter in line,
>> that helps too.

>my heater never has sediment of any type, so i quit draing it after
>one drsaining where the thermocouple failed after turning tank off.
>to me water heaters are install and forget till they fail or get old
>and i replace them as preventive maintence.
>if you divide the purchase cost per year of service its less than a
>buck a week, or one cheap candy bar per week.
>not worth messing with, espically risking premature tank failure

So far mine is down around 45 cents a week and dropping. One
thermocouple replacement at about 5 years or so. We have pretty
agressive water, but use a water softener. The original in the house
lasted about 12 years, and was just a cheap contract house unit. Top
of the line GSW this time.

Posted by Cliff Hartle on October 20, 2009, 9:37 pm

All the water heaters that I have installed recently have had a dip tube
that was curved at the end so as the cold water comes in, it swirls the
water constantly cleaning the bottom.

>I drained my 3 year-old gas water heater last night, for the first
> time. I drained it into a sump pump pit that is in the basement at a
> lower level than the water heater, through a piece of garden hose that
> I screwed onto the drain output. There was no sign of anything other
> than clear water throughout the entire 40 gallon draining process.
> After it finished draining, I turned the input water back on and put a
> couple of gallons of fresh water into the heater to see if I could
> stir up anything on the bottom. But the new water drained out clear
> also. I guess I should be happy, but I am wondering if I missed
> something.

Posted by hr(bob) hofmann@att.net on October 20, 2009, 10:41 pm

> All the water heaters that I have installed recently have had a dip tube
> that was curved at the end so as the cold water comes in, it swirls the
> water constantly cleaning the bottom.

> >I drained my 3 year-old gas water heater last night, for the first
> > time. =A0I drained it into a sump pump pit that is in the basement at a
> > lower level than the water heater, through a piece of garden hose that
> > I screwed onto the drain output. =A0There was no sign of anything other
> > than clear water throughout the entire 40 gallon draining process.
> > After it finished draining, I turned the input water back on and put a
> > couple of gallons of fresh water into the heater to see if I could
> > stir up anything on the bottom. But the new water drained out clear
> > also. =A0I guess I should be happy, but I am wondering if I missed
> > something.- Hide quoted text -

> - Show quoted text -

Interesting about the curved tube, I don't have a clue if mine has
onbe or not. Thanx for the idea.

Posted by on October 20, 2009, 10:14 pm

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:21:32 -0700 (PDT), "hr(bob) hofmann@att.net"

>I drained my 3 year-old gas water heater last night, for the first
>time. I drained it into a sump pump pit that is in the basement at a
>lower level than the water heater, through a piece of garden hose that
>I screwed onto the drain output. There was no sign of anything other
>than clear water throughout the entire 40 gallon draining process.
>After it finished draining, I turned the input water back on and put a
>couple of gallons of fresh water into the heater to see if I could
>stir up anything on the bottom. But the new water drained out clear
>also. I guess I should be happy, but I am wondering if I missed
>something.

Tanks with a "turbulator" very seldom have any sediment build-up.

Posted by Jerry - OHIO on October 21, 2009, 1:32 am

Pick it up and shake it for ten min. and drain again.

Jerry

http://community.webtv.net/awoodbutcher/MyWoodWorkingPage

http://community.webtv.net/awoodbutcher/1974RuppCentair

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No mud when water heater drained - Page 2