I have a 40 gallon GE gas water heater tank (purchased at Home Depot 2
years ago) that has a plastic drain on it. The problem is that it
drains very slow--takes 5 hours or more to fully drain. I removed the
valve to examine it and it has a tapered nylon (?) plug with two
rubber rings on it and a small hole through it where the water would
drain. The inside end does not have traditional threads. Is there a
replacement for this valve? How is the home owner supposed to flush
this tank on a regular basis? I'm in east TN where the water has a
lot of calcium in it.

Do you open a HW faucet when you drain it. is it full of scale.

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:16:37 -0600, (m Ransley)
wrote:

Do you open a HW faucet when you drain it. is it full of scale.


Yes. I opened the upstairs faucet. The value was still very slow.

But here's an update. I drained the entire tank and completely
removed the drain stem and replaced that with one that has a more
conventional shut-off valve. I used pipe dope before installing the
new stem. So, here's a tip: Save your old stem and socket from your
old water tank--it may be useful on your new tank. Also, I connected
my old washer rubber hose to the faucet to make it easier to drain
into a 5-gallon bucket twice a year.

i woul;dnt reuse a old valve, better to replace the plastic valve with
a ball valve,

if sediment builds up you can open the valve and push a wire thru the
open valve

keep a blank cover with rubber gasket in case the valve leaks