Plumbing: Water heater question

Forum: Plumbing Replies: 6, Views: 51 Print -

Author Content BjsBloomers Lewiston, CA (Zone 7b) January 25, 2006 1:34 PM Post #1999562 We have a gas water heater & we are on a well. All of our "house" water runs through a filter. When we had the house built, our plumber didn't say anything about draining the W/H & how often. Is that something that should be done & is it done with it off? I remember my Dad draining one when it was bad, to replace it, but I don't ever remember anyone just draining them for cleaning. I also have a pressure tank, should that be drained? How often? Thank-x, Bj rootdoctor Hartselle, AL (Zone 6a) February 23, 2006 5:13 PM Post #2066366 How old is the tank?and is the filter purifier or softener? BjsBloomers Lewiston, CA (Zone 7b) February 23, 2006 9:24 PM Post #2066854 5 years & it's a sediment filter. rootdoctor Hartselle, AL (Zone 6a) February 23, 2006 9:40 PM Post #2066884 Shoot,you should not be near needing a cleaning or new heater. Is your pressure good? I could see it if it was 15 yrs old maybe it needed a clean. texasmasterplum San Antonio, TX July 8, 2007 3:56 PM Post #3711675 I disagree with root doctor, and here is why. If you have dissolved solids (calcium, lime, salt or potassium from a water softener, etc...) that are in solution in your water, your sediment filter will not keep up with them. It is only designed to remove sediment up to a certain size (read the micron rating on your filter). When the water is heated up in your water heater, these dissolved solids are excited and come out of solution, and fall to the bottom of your tank. This is why all water heater warrantees are voided if the tank is not drained at least once a year. The amount of solids that are separated from your water in the tank increases at an exponential rate every one degree in temperature rise above 120 degrees farenheit!!! But if you are still on the fence about this, there is one foolproof way to find out. Drain your tank and see what comes out. And when you are done draining the tank, shake it a bit to find out if there is more stuff in it that after five years is to big to come out of your draincock. BjsBloomers Lewiston, CA (Zone 7b) July 10, 2007 11:33 AM Post #3718817 Thankx for answering. OK, it's gas, not likely I can "shake" it is all hooked up to all those pipes, & besides it's a 50 gal. So... do I shut it off & turn the incoming water off? I have never drained a water heater. The only one I have helped replace had drained its self. (big leak!) It was in a rental & no one bothered to let me know it was leaking! I did drain the pressure tank once & it didn't have anything in it. but I don't remember exactly how i did that either. & while I'm picking your brain... I'd like to put in a sand seperator down @ the pump so it helps keep the sprinkler systems in better running order. I use individule filters on each line & it is a real pain. We also have an iron problem which the seperator won't help with but we get a lot of silt in our sprinkler pipes. I have looked @ several on-line & am not sure of what size to get. We get about 17 GPM out of the well. The pipe out of the well is 2". If you read about the seperators it says you don't have to match your pipe size, but it would make sense to be that it wouldn't restrict the water staying with 2" & not going down to 1 or 1.5 I don't think our plumber was very informative about wells, & all of their potential problems. texasmasterplum San Antonio, TX July 10, 2007 9:04 PM Post #3721166 Shut off the gas valve per manufacturers instructions (turn the temperature control to the lowest setting, then turn the control knob to the off position) Then turn off the water supply off to the heater. Then hook up a water hose to the drain cock at the bottom of the water heater, run the hose out of your house and open the drain cock. You need to let air into the water heater so it can drain, and I usually disconnect the hot and cold flex connectors at the top of the water heater. Remember to buy washers for these before you do the job, so if they are bad you can replace them. When the water heater is finished draining, and with the flex connectors disconnected, you should be able to give it a push from the top and shake it back and forth a small amount, to see if it has sediment or lime in it. If nothing moves, but it feels real heavy, then it probably still has a large amount of sediment or lime in it. Reverse the procedure to fill it back up. Re-light the pilot last. As far as you filtration goes, you really don't have to match your pipe size, because the filter itself is going to restrict the flow. The finer the filter, the more it will restrict. But, as a plumber, I would not decrease it much more than one pipe size. You may have trouble finding a filter that doesn't cost a ton that will work for Iron, lime, sand, etc... That is the problem with well water, but once you get the right one, you will be very happy. The best filtration companies will send someone to your house to test the water, and give you all the options, and prices, and information. Keep trying.

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