Water heater won't drain

[Flyover]

I went to drain/flush my water heater last week and when I opened up the spigot at the bottom nothing happened. (Yes, the hot water faucet on the other side of my house was open. I've done this many times, but this was the first time at this house.)

My water heater is only a few years old, although I'm sure it was never drained or flushed by the previous owners, who apparently were knuckleheads. Still, I can't believe it would only take that long for scale to build up so bad it completely clogs the spigot! Is that possible?

And if that is the problem, is there an easy way to fix it?

 

[Sparky617]

How hard is the water at this house? In my first house in southcentral PA the water was really hard. I helped a neighbor replace a burned out element when the house was only about a year old. It was pretty encrusted with scale. I put in a water softener about that time.

Here is a recent thread on the same subject. http://www.houserepairtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28269

 

[joecaption]

Before trying this go buy a garden hose cap because it's likely it will not shut off all the way.
Try opening the valve and stick a pipe cleaner in the drain hole.

 

[nealtw]

Before trying this go buy a garden hose cap because it's likely it will not shut off all the way.
Try opening the valve and stick a pipe cleaner in the drain hole.

That gets messy just about the same time as it works.

 

[Flyover]

That gets messy just about the same time as it works.

I had an idea to do this but in a way that potentially might control the mess a bit: I'd connect a funnel to the end of the garden hose going out of my garage, then place the wide end of the funnel under the water heater spigot, then go into the spigot with a pipe cleaner (or wire coathanger).

 

[Flyover]

How hard is the water at this house? In my first house in southcentral PA the water was really hard. I helped a neighbor replace a burned out element when the house was only about a year old. It was pretty encrusted with scale. I put in a water softener about that time.

Here is a recent thread on the same subject. http://www.houserepairtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28269

On my city's website it says they soften the water 120ppm: "This is considered moderately hard by national standards and is optimal for corrosion control. Very soft water can be corrosive to home plumbing."

 

[zannej]

I wasn't aware that soft water could cause corrosion. I hope you can get it sorted out soon.