Why am I having so much trouble draining water heaters?

[farmerjohn1324]

I remember being told on here to open a hot water valve in the house when draining the water heater. I did that this time. I hooked up the hose, turned off the water supply, open the relief valve. The water was coming out of the hose at a medium speed. Slower than I would have liked, but faster than a trickle. I waited 15-20 minutes and checked the hose again and it had stopped. I assumed this meant the water heater was empty. I went to replace the top element, and as soon as it was unscrewed, water came pouring out.

 

[nealtw]

I would guess the bottom of the tank is full of stuff that plugged the outlet. A friend had a hose with a tee in it with a shut off on the out end with another hose hooked to a water line so he could push water in to blow it clear but it will just plug again and again and so on.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

I would guess the bottom of the tank is full of stuff that plugged the outlet. A friend had a hose with a tee in it with a shut off on the out end with another hose hooked to a water line so he could push water in to blow it clear but it will just plug again and again and so on.

So basically a sediment problem? Is there a way to get all the sediment out? Or maybe it's more serious than just sediment, perhaps it has hardened. Is there any solution other than changing the tank? I could see in a little when I changed this element... It looked like barnacles in there.

 

[joecaption]

How old is the heater?
Sometimes you can get lucky and poke a piece of wire (coat hanger) into the valve to knock the sediment loose
Water ever been tested to see if it needs treatment?
Anide ever been changed?
If I was going to keep the heater I would change the anode, remove the old drain valve and replace with a new brass 3" nipple, full flow ball valve and a hose adaptor

 

[farmerjohn1324]

How old is the heater?
Sometimes you can get lucky and poke a piece of wire (coat hanger) into the valve to knock the sediment loose
Water ever been tested to see if it needs treatment?
Anide ever been changed?

Don't know the age of the heater. I should have tried when I had the chance, but I put in the new element and everything is working fine.

It looked like it was growing like a stalactite stretching 2-3 feet from the top of the heater.

https://goo.gl/images/xhfrdr

 

[joecaption]

Should be able to figure out how old it is by the serial #.
Over 10 years old it's on borrowed time.

 

[farmerjohn1324]

Should be able to figure out how old it is by the serial #.
Over 10 years old it's on borrowed time.

What goes wrong with them that can't be fixed by changing the components?

 

[nealtw]

Rust from the inside out.

 

[maxdad118]

Change it!