I broke the gas water heater

Joined
Apr 15, 2010
Messages
11,700
Location
Atlanta,GA
Performed my semi-annual drain/wash out of the water heater and once refilled I could not get the pilot to re-light.

The funny part is that I was told that I broke it and it would've been fine if I hadn't messed with the WH.

ROFL.


On an aside, I pulled out the burner assembly, cleaned dust off the ignitor, thermocouple, and pilot with 2000 grit sand paper. Re-assembled and fired it up.
 
We just had to have ours replaced two weeks ago. It was installed in 2015 but even with flushing/draining, sediment was horrible. The kids bath water had an amber tinge to it. Got new Bradford White with hydrojets (yesssssssssss) for $1200 installed. Didn't lift a finger, the two guys took old one out, brought new one in, piped it up and everything. Not bad.
 
This post was timely for me. I just did the same thing on my GE branded Rheem heater from Home Depot. As usual, I had to play around with the pressure relief valve to get it to quit dripping. Opening several hot water faucets in the house doesn't break the vacuum to allow the heater to drain, but opening the relief valve does. I installed it in 2007 so it probably doesn't have much life left. I was going to be super conscientious and replace the anode rod every five years. Nothing would budge the one that came installed in the heater. Breaker bar only succeeded in moving the entire heater. My electric impact wrench wasn't powerful enough, either.
 
I have had the same issue after shutting down the flame when I once did a complete drain. Couldn't get the pilot lit. I removed the burner assembly and genltly narrowed the gap between the ignitor electrode and the ground by bending the bracket holding the ignitor electrode. That solved my problem with the ignitor.
I have always drained mine twice yearly. It's a good practice to keep sediment from building up. My tank is 14 years old and the previous one was 18 and going strong. I changed it as a preventive measure. I also have a heavy copper wire connecting the inlet and outlet together, which minimizes corrosion.
 
How urgent would the replacement of a water heater be if it broke down today? I mean, it's not as urgent as a furnace, which could be life threatening if it quits in winter. You pretty much only need hot water for showering, so you could put that off for a few days or a week until you find a good deal on a new one. Although I suspect if you have a wife, she might have a different opinion on that.
 
I have opened the water tank drain into a bucket several times over the last 10 years and nothing comes out but clean water…
Is this unusual? Very Unusual?
 
To the people who drain their H.W.T. and get sediment out.
Do you have a water well or Municipal water ?
I have County water and only get the slightest discoloration when draining the first quart.
I see no reason to drain the whole tank.
 
I have opened the water tank drain into a bucket several times over the last 10 years and nothing comes out but clean water…
Is this unusual? Very Unusual?

Depends, if you still have the original plastic valve or even metal valve, then the cruds plug it up and never flow out.
Then you need to break those cruds first.
You need to replace that valve with full port valve to let most of the cruds out.
If you already replaced it then the clear water is really clear.

Some people never drain but just run the water heater out of the valve and let the cruds flow out.
 
The water here is moderately hard (around 180 ppm TDS). I drain about a gallon or so. I get initial gritty sediment followed quickly by clear water. The heater that came with the house became noisy and performed poorly at about 11 years. It had a lot of scale in it. The one I installed was higher end and is supposed to create some kind of circular movement of water to minimize buildup. I should probably leave it alone at this point and watch for leaks.
 
Some homes have the pole transformer a long way from the home. Couple that with a poor ground rod at the home...like in dry sand...and the gas waterheater ends up being a partial ground out the gas line. That will chew up the anode faster..sometimes a lot faster. It just takes a microamp to do this.

The hotter ya keep the water the longer it will last. I have a couple elderly customers who still have a 1960 vintage homart water heater that is kept at 160f.

The anodes are often glued in with an epoxy material so they will not come out even with power tools. The ...crap can't remember the proper name...ring with the treads will just tear out. Been there...

If i know the customer will actually blow it down I will install a full port ball valve to facilitate the effort. The juice is not worth the squeeze.

The heat exchanger is the vent tube up the middle not the crown sheet at the bottom.

The tanks are glass lined not to keep the tank from rusting but to make the anode last longer. Higher differential pressures cause more cracks in the glass lining shortening the anodes life.

The so called turbo jet dip tube just shifts the crap that would end up in the tank to the faucet aireators.

Water PH is a factor on anode life.
 
How long will a water heater last with your semi-annual drain/wash out? 10-12 years? How long will a water heater last without doing anything to it? 10-12 years?
I have a couple water heaters where they're 20 and 22 years old. I changed out the anode rod about 10-12 years ago in both of them, then I changed them again 2 years ago and they were still in decent shape. Never flushed either of them.

The anodes are often glued in with an epoxy material so they will not come out even with power tools. The ...crap can't remember the proper name...ring with the treads will just tear out. Been there...
Have you tried the Milwaukee 2767? I think they have even more powerful 3/4 inch and 1 inch impact wrenches, but the 2767 is 1/2 inch and rated for 1400 foot pounds in reverse. Used that a couple of years ago to replace a bunch of anode rods. Didn't break any of them. I did spray them first with Kroil though. Those other 3/4 to 1 inch ones are rated for 1500-2000 foot pounds.
 
I have a couple water heaters where they're 20 and 22 years old. I changed out the anode rod about 10-12 years ago in both of them, then I changed them again 2 years ago and they were still in decent shape. Never flushed either of them.


Have you tried the Milwaukee 2767? I think they have even more powerful 3/4 inch and 1 inch impact wrenches, but the 2767 is 1/2 inch and rated for 1400 foot pounds in reverse. Used that a couple of years ago to replace a bunch of anode rods. Didn't break any of them. I did spray them first with Kroil though. Those other 3/4 to 1 inch ones are rated for 1500-2000 foot pounds.
Power was not the issue...the threaded ring tore off the tank...
 
Back
Top