An extra 3-4 yrs in excess of whenever it needs replacement. This one is a 2014 build.
I broke the gas water heater
- Thread starter BMWTurboDzl
- Start date
The amount of sediment depends on the water among other things like maintenance/construction on the water main, etc. I could probably go longer based on what I've seen as of late.
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Not the same but I have a tankless that I have descaled every year for the past 5, will never know if it makes a difference but not a difficult job. I never did flush a tank water heater when I had them.
When you say "blow it down" do you mean drain some water out of it? I am not familiar with that phrase. I replaced the gate valve that came with the house because it was worthless. I always had to turn off the water at the meter because the closed gate valve let almost as much water through as having no valve. I installed a ball valve on the supply line. I'm not sure why opening a large garden tub faucet plus two sink faucets won't break the vacuum enough to drain some water. I'm either not going to mess with it again or replace the pressure relief valve next time I do it. I'm thinking that some mineral deposits are preventing full sealing and that opening and closing the valve repeatedly eventually gets it to seat fully. Otherwise I have a constant slow drip from the overflow line outside the house.
Yer supposed to keep the pressure on the heater while the drain valve is open.
Most gate valves ( wedge type) have no soft seat. They are okay if the valve is normally closed. If a gate valve is left open the sealing surface gets compromised. A globe valve uses a soft washer.
Those temp and pressure valves are supposed to be opened with pressure on to make sure they will pass fluid. Relief valves should not be installed horizontally but vertically. Debris can settle out in the relief valve if horz and get caught while flushing or opening it up yearly. Yea..many water heaters ignore this but insurance companies who inspect boilers yearly will fail a horz mounted relief valve.
Two houses side by side, same water can have different sediment. One can have large flakes of lime and the house next door can have a consistency of sand.
If ya really want to delime your heater use a section of 1/2 copper tube attached to your wet vac. Remove the nipple or valve at the bottom of the heater and vac it out. If electric go through the element opening and use a 3/4 tube.
Thank you, Dave. This has been very good info for me. I actually used to do the draining with the supply pressure on but at some point I was led to believe that it needed to be off. If I don't have to turn off the water supply I won't have the issue anymore. The TPR valve on my heater is mounted vertically, but the water here is on the hard side and mineral deposits are common. I think that is why some manipulation of the valve results in it finally sealing.
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