OK, so Mr. compulsive here drains a little bucketful out of the drain
valve on the hot water heater every month or so, because that's
supposed to keep the sludge from building up on the bottom and that's
the right thing to do and I'm certainly going to maintain my equipment
so it lasts a long gime. Now, of course, the drain valve drools,
enough to see some wetness on the floor underenath, but not enough so
that I can detect exactly where it leaks.So, I'm not sure at this
point if it's through the valve or up the stem; tightening the valve
as far as I dared without breaking it (seems to be cheap nylon) didn't
help, so I tightened the packing nut a hair, and ended up getting a
cap to screw over the end of the drain valve; haven't looked at it
since. But are these rebuildable like a normal faucet, replacable
faucet washer and such, or are they specialized in design?

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
z wrote:

OK, so Mr. compulsive here drains a little bucketful out of the drain
valve on the hot water heater every month or so, because that's
supposed to keep the sludge from building up on the bottom and that's
the right thing to do and I'm certainly going to maintain my equipment
so it lasts a long gime. Now, of course, the drain valve drools,
enough to see some wetness on the floor underenath, but not enough so
that I can detect exactly where it leaks.So, I'm not sure at this
point if it's through the valve or up the stem; tightening the valve
as far as I dared without breaking it (seems to be cheap nylon) didn't
help, so I tightened the packing nut a hair, and ended up getting a
cap to screw over the end of the drain valve; haven't looked at it
since. But are these rebuildable like a normal faucet, replacable
faucet washer and such, or are they specialized in design?



IMHO those plastic "hose bib" drain valves which come mounted on most
water heaters are all POS. I think the manufacturers count on very few
owners ever bothering to use them.

Best to replace it with a brass one of the same style, or if you want to
do the job extra-right then get a ball valve and appropriate nipples and
a male hose connector. The ball valve gives you a nice big opening to
let crud flush through.

No big deal to shut off the supply and drain the tank if you can run a
hose from the bib to a spot lower than the bottom of the tank. And
PUHLEEZE remember to turn off the electricity (or gas) to the heater
before you empty it or "yooooole be soooory". G

Jeff

Having just replaced the drain valve on our electric water heater, I
can safely say that you do not have to drain the tank to replace the
drain valve. Sure you drip a couple of cups of water, but advance
preparation controls that. The secret is to be sure that the cold
water inlet valve is closed and that all hot water faucets are also
closed. When you remove the old nylon valve a little bit of water
escapes, but without a way for air to get to the top of the tank,
there is nothing to displace the water and let it out. Just have
your nipple and ball valve pre-assembled and unscrew the old and
insert the new. Of course, you need to turn off your heat source
before starting this project. But I had it done in less than a
minute after preparation.
--
Grandpa

I have also used the replace while it's full deal on elements. Of
course, make sure the sucker is cooled off!

z wrote:

OK, so Mr. compulsive here drains a little bucketful out of the drain
valve on the hot water heater every month or so, because that's
supposed to keep the sludge from building up on the bottom and that's
the right thing to do and I'm certainly going to maintain my equipment
so it lasts a long gime. Now, of course, the drain valve drools,
enough to see some wetness on the floor underenath, but not enough so
that I can detect exactly where it leaks.So, I'm not sure at this
point if it's through the valve or up the stem; tightening the valve
as far as I dared without breaking it (seems to be cheap nylon) didn't
help, so I tightened the packing nut a hair, and ended up getting a
cap to screw over the end of the drain valve; haven't looked at it
since. But are these rebuildable like a normal faucet, replacable
faucet washer and such, or are they specialized in design?



IMHO those plastic "hose bib" drain valves which come mounted on most
water heaters are all POS. I think the manufacturers count on very few
owners ever bothering to use them.

Best to replace it with a brass one of the same style, or if you want to
do the job extra-right then get a ball valve and appropriate nipples and
a male hose connector. The ball valve gives you a nice big opening to
let crud flush through.

No big deal to shut off the supply and drain the tank if you can run a
hose from the bib to a spot lower than the bottom of the tank. And
PUHLEEZE remember to turn off the electricity (or gas) to the heater
before you empty it or "yooooole be soooory". G

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:18:21 -0500, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:


No big deal to shut off the supply and drain the tank if you can run a
hose from the bib to a spot lower than the bottom of the tank. And
PUHLEEZE remember to turn off the electricity (or gas) to the heater
before you empty it or "yooooole be soooory". G

And not to turn it on again until *after* it is fully full with water.

Jeff

On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:35:21 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Having just replaced the drain valve on our electric water heater, I
can safely say that you do not have to drain the tank to replace the
drain valve. Sure you drip a couple of cups of water, but advance
preparation controls that.

After getting advice from a supply house guy, I was able to change my
electric water heater heating element while only dripping a tablespoon
or two of water. I had a screw in element. A bolt-on might be a bit
slower to do.

The secret is to be sure that the cold
water inlet valve is closed and that all hot water faucets are also
closed.

Yes, I closed the main water supply to the house.

But what he told me to do was to OPEN the water faucet, only the
lowest one in the house I'm certain. And to let it stay open the
whole time and wait until the water stopped coming out of the faucet
before removing the element. I would think the procedure for the
drain valve would be the same. It only took 5 or 10 seconds for teh
water to stop dripping from the faucet, because of air pressure, etc.

(If it didnt' stop drippping at all, it would have likely meant that I
hadn't turned the water supply off sufficiently)

When you remove the old nylon valve a little bit of water
escapes, but without a way for air to get to the top of the tank,
there is nothing to displace the water and let it out. Just have
your nipple and ball valve pre-assembled and unscrew the old and
insert the new. Of course, you need to turn off your heat source
before starting this project. But I had it done in less than a
minute after preparation.

Absolutely. It only took me 3 to 4 seconds to get the element back in
and somewhat longer of course to screw the thing in to where it
stopped leaking. I hurried but don't remember how long that part
took. Actually I probably leaked some added water at that time, but
it was flowing very slowly when nothing was there, so I assume it was
even slower when most of the hole was plugged.

WE NEED PEOPLE HERE TO RESOLVE WHETHER ALL THE HOT WATER FAUCETS
SHOULD BE CLOSED, AS YOU SAY, OR WHETHER THE LOWEST ONE IN THE HOUSE
SHOULD BE WIDE OPEN, AS I SAY.

On 21 Mar 2007 11:39:51 -0700, "z" wrote:

OK, so Mr. compulsive here drains a little bucketful out of the drain
valve on the hot water heater every month or so, because that's
supposed to keep the sludge from building up on the bottom and that's
the right thing to do and I'm certainly going to maintain my equipment
so it lasts a long gime. Now, of course, the drain valve drools,
enough to see some wetness on the floor underenath, but not enough so
that I can detect exactly where it leaks.So, I'm not sure at this
point if it's through the valve or up the stem; tightening the valve
as far as I dared without breaking it (seems to be cheap nylon) didn't
help, so I tightened the packing nut a hair, and ended up getting a
cap to screw over the end of the drain valve; haven't looked at it
since. But are these rebuildable like a normal faucet, replacable
faucet washer and such, or are they specialized in design?


I haven't started to drain my water tank, but I was warned before
doing so, get a screw on cap. So if the valve leaks by you can cap
it. I don't know if this advice works, but before I start, I'll have
that cap.

tom @ www.NoCostAds.com

WE NEED PEOPLE HERE TO RESOLVE WHETHER ALL THE HOT WATER FAUCETS
SHOULD BE CLOSED, AS YOU SAY, OR WHETHER THE LOWEST ONE IN THE HOUSE
SHOULD BE WIDE OPEN, AS I SAY.
..
Depends:
Our lowest faucet is ABOVE the hot water tank on the main floor of the
house
The hot water tank (or 'cylinder' as some Europeans call them) is in
our basement.
Well below everything except the basement located washing machine with
its cold and hot water inlets at a level about half way up the hot
water tank.
In other words. No hard and fast rule; depends on physics and the
house plumbing?

mm wrote:
On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:35:21 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Having just replaced the drain valve on our electric water heater, I
can safely say that you do not have to drain the tank to replace the
drain valve. Sure you drip a couple of cups of water, but advance
preparation controls that.

After getting advice from a supply house guy, I was able to change my
electric water heater heating element while only dripping a tablespoon
or two of water. I had a screw in element. A bolt-on might be a bit
slower to do.

The secret is to be sure that the cold
water inlet valve is closed and that all hot water faucets are also
closed.

Yes, I closed the main water supply to the house.

But what he told me to do was to OPEN the water faucet, only the
lowest one in the house I'm certain. And to let it stay open the
whole time and wait until the water stopped coming out of the faucet
before removing the element. I would think the procedure for the
drain valve would be the same. It only took 5 or 10 seconds for teh
water to stop dripping from the faucet, because of air pressure, etc.

(If it didnt' stop drippping at all, it would have likely meant that I
hadn't turned the water supply off sufficiently)

When you remove the old nylon valve a little bit of water
escapes, but without a way for air to get to the top of the tank,
there is nothing to displace the water and let it out. Just have
your nipple and ball valve pre-assembled and unscrew the old and
insert the new. Of course, you need to turn off your heat source
before starting this project. But I had it done in less than a
minute after preparation.

Absolutely. It only took me 3 to 4 seconds to get the element back in
and somewhat longer of course to screw the thing in to where it
stopped leaking. I hurried but don't remember how long that part
took. Actually I probably leaked some added water at that time, but
it was flowing very slowly when nothing was there, so I assume it was
even slower when most of the hole was plugged.

WE NEED PEOPLE HERE TO RESOLVE WHETHER ALL THE HOT WATER FAUCETS
SHOULD BE CLOSED, AS YOU SAY, OR WHETHER THE LOWEST ONE IN THE HOUSE
SHOULD BE WIDE OPEN, AS I SAY.

Did you open the hot or cold valve? If it was the lowest cold valve,
I can understand that - check to make sure the water is off and
relieve the residual pipe pressure from the tank.

Common sense tells me that if I provide an air path to the top of
the tank from an open hot water faucet, then I can empty that water
tank quickly. Try it yourself with a soda straw in a tall glass of
water. Put the straw in the water, put your finger over the top of
the straw and remove it from the glass. The straw will be full of
water, except for a little bit that the weight of the water will
pull down before the vacuum created below your finger stops it. Pull
off your finger and the straw will empty out.

Still don't believe me? Try he
http://www.maytagwaterheaters.com/ideas/mainttips.html
Look at item 3 under "How To Flush & Drain Your Water Heater"
Now stop yelling.
--
Grandpa

On Mar 22, 11:25 am, Just Joshin wrote:
On 21 Mar 2007 11:39:51 -0700, "z" wrote:

OK, so Mr. compulsive here drains a little bucketful out of the drain
valve on the hot water heater every month or so, because that's
supposed to keep the sludge from building up on the bottom and that's
the right thing to do and I'm certainly going to maintain my equipment
so it lasts a long gime. Now, of course, the drain valve drools,
enough to see some wetness on the floor underenath, but not enough so
that I can detect exactly where it leaks.So, I'm not sure at this
point if it's through the valve or up the stem; tightening the valve
as far as I dared without breaking it (seems to be cheap nylon) didn't
help, so I tightened the packing nut a hair, and ended up getting a
cap to screw over the end of the drain valve; haven't looked at it
since. But are these rebuildable like a normal faucet, replacable
faucet washer and such, or are they specialized in design?

I haven't started to drain my water tank, but I was warned before
doing so, get a screw on cap. So if the valve leaks by you can cap
it. I don't know if this advice works, but before I start, I'll have
that cap.

tom @www.NoCostAds.com

Well, as of this AM after a day with the cap on, there's more drool
than ever on the floor, so it's got to be coming up through the
packing around the stem, despite my having tightened the packing nut
as much as I dared. Either that, or the crummy nylon valve is cracked
or something. Hard to see the water on the white semitranslucent
plastic.

z wrote:
[...]

Well, as of this AM after a day with the cap on, there's more drool
than ever on the floor, so it's got to be coming up through the
packing around the stem, despite my having tightened the packing nut
as much as I dared. Either that, or the crummy nylon valve is cracked
or something. Hard to see the water on the white semitranslucent
plastic.


AFAIK, there is no way to repair those valves. Make one like shown
on this page:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2esavf
and replace it. If you have to replace the water heater later, then
remove the one you make and put it on your new heater when you
install it.
--
Grandpa

On Mar 22, 1:29 pm, Grandpa wrote:
z wrote:
[...]

Well, as of this AM after a day with the cap on, there's more drool
than ever on the floor, so it's got to be coming up through the
packing around the stem, despite my having tightened the packing nut
as much as I dared. Either that, or the crummy nylon valve is cracked
or something. Hard to see the water on the white semitranslucent
plastic.

AFAIK, there is no way to repair those valves. Make one like shown
on this page:http://preview.tinyurl.com/2esavf
and replace it. If you have to replace the water heater later, then
remove the one you make and put it on your new heater when you
install it.
--
Grandpa

Thanks. I didn't realize the drain valve was replacable.

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:45:03 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

mm wrote:
On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:35:21 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Having just replaced the drain valve on our electric water heater, I
can safely say that you do not have to drain the tank to replace the
drain valve. Sure you drip a couple of cups of water, but advance
preparation controls that.

After getting advice from a supply house guy, I was able to change my
electric water heater heating element while only dripping a tablespoon
or two of water. I had a screw in element. A bolt-on might be a bit
slower to do.

The secret is to be sure that the cold
water inlet valve is closed and that all hot water faucets are also
closed.

Yes, I closed the main water supply to the house.

But what he told me to do was to OPEN the water faucet, only the
lowest one in the house I'm certain. And to let it stay open the
whole time and wait until the water stopped coming out of the faucet
before removing the element. I would think the procedure for the
drain valve would be the same. It only took 5 or 10 seconds for teh
water to stop dripping from the faucet, because of air pressure, etc.

(If it didnt' stop drippping at all, it would have likely meant that I
hadn't turned the water supply off sufficiently)

When you remove the old nylon valve a little bit of water
escapes, but without a way for air to get to the top of the tank,
there is nothing to displace the water and let it out. Just have
your nipple and ball valve pre-assembled and unscrew the old and
insert the new. Of course, you need to turn off your heat source
before starting this project. But I had it done in less than a
minute after preparation.

Absolutely. It only took me 3 to 4 seconds to get the element back in
and somewhat longer of course to screw the thing in to where it
stopped leaking. I hurried but don't remember how long that part
took. Actually I probably leaked some added water at that time, but
it was flowing very slowly when nothing was there, so I assume it was
even slower when most of the hole was plugged.

WE NEED PEOPLE HERE TO RESOLVE WHETHER ALL THE HOT WATER FAUCETS
SHOULD BE CLOSED, AS YOU SAY, OR WHETHER THE LOWEST ONE IN THE HOUSE
SHOULD BE WIDE OPEN, AS I SAY.

Did you open the hot or cold valve? If it was the lowest cold valve,

Until you asked , I was sure it was the hot water.

I can understand that - check to make sure the water is off and
relieve the residual pipe pressure from the tank.

And start to create a partial vacuum above the water in the water
heater.

Common sense tells me that if I provide an air path to the top of
the tank from an open hot water faucet, then I can empty that water
tank quickly. Try it yourself with a soda straw in a tall glass of
water. Put the straw in the water, put your finger over the top of
the straw and remove it from the glass. The straw will be full of
water, except for a little bit that the weight of the water will
pull down before the vacuum created below your finger stops it. Pull
off your finger and the straw will empty out.

Still don't believe me? Try he

I believe you except that I'm trying to figure out why opening the
cold water wouldn't do the same thing. The path from the cold faucet
to the wh is only a bit longer than from the hot faucet. The fact
that hot would let water and then air in at the top and cold would let
water and then air in at the bottom seems an unimportant difference to
me.

http://www.maytagwaterheaters.com/ideas/mainttips.html
Look at item 3 under "How To Flush & Drain Your Water Heater"
Now stop yelling.

I wasn't yelling. In fact I'm glad to have this come up now, since I
may need a new element in my wh. I have to measure things and find
out. The 5500 watt element burned out, so I move the wire to the 3500
watt element. I was sure that would be fine, but now it seems to take
2 or 3 days for the water to heat after a bath, instead of what I had
thought was less than 6 hours. Do you think maybe it was 23 hours, if
I took a bath at the same time every day, and now it is 40 hours, and
all I have to do is turn the thermostat up, which I turned down when I
went from the broken to the good heater (I had turned it up all the
way when I didnt' ssupspect the element was bad, so I had to turn it
down..)

On 22 Mar 2007 08:26:36 -0700, "terry"
wrote:


WE NEED PEOPLE HERE TO RESOLVE WHETHER ALL THE HOT WATER FAUCETS
SHOULD BE CLOSED, AS YOU SAY, OR WHETHER THE LOWEST ONE IN THE HOUSE
SHOULD BE WIDE OPEN, AS I SAY.
.
Depends:
Our lowest faucet is ABOVE the hot water tank on the main floor of the
house
The hot water tank (or 'cylinder' as some Europeans call them) is in
our basement.
Well below everything except the basement located washing machine with
its cold and hot water inlets at a level about half way up the hot
water tank.
In other words. No hard and fast rule; depends on physics and the
house plumbing?

Maybe it's the cold water I'm supposed to open, as Grandpa says, and
then I don't see why your situation would be different.

mm wrote:
On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:45:03 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

mm wrote:
On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 19:35:21 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
Having just replaced the drain valve on our electric water heater, I
can safely say that you do not have to drain the tank to replace the
drain valve. Sure you drip a couple of cups of water, but advance
preparation controls that.
After getting advice from a supply house guy, I was able to change my
electric water heater heating element while only dripping a tablespoon
or two of water. I had a screw in element. A bolt-on might be a bit
slower to do.

The secret is to be sure that the cold
water inlet valve is closed and that all hot water faucets are also
closed.
Yes, I closed the main water supply to the house.

But what he told me to do was to OPEN the water faucet, only the
lowest one in the house I'm certain. And to let it stay open the
whole time and wait until the water stopped coming out of the faucet
before removing the element. I would think the procedure for the
drain valve would be the same. It only took 5 or 10 seconds for teh
water to stop dripping from the faucet, because of air pressure, etc.

(If it didnt' stop drippping at all, it would have likely meant that I
hadn't turned the water supply off sufficiently)

When you remove the old nylon valve a little bit of water
escapes, but without a way for air to get to the top of the tank,
there is nothing to displace the water and let it out. Just have
your nipple and ball valve pre-assembled and unscrew the old and
insert the new. Of course, you need to turn off your heat source
before starting this project. But I had it done in less than a
minute after preparation.
Absolutely. It only took me 3 to 4 seconds to get the element back in
and somewhat longer of course to screw the thing in to where it
stopped leaking. I hurried but don't remember how long that part
took. Actually I probably leaked some added water at that time, but
it was flowing very slowly when nothing was there, so I assume it was
even slower when most of the hole was plugged.

WE NEED PEOPLE HERE TO RESOLVE WHETHER ALL THE HOT WATER FAUCETS
SHOULD BE CLOSED, AS YOU SAY, OR WHETHER THE LOWEST ONE IN THE HOUSE
SHOULD BE WIDE OPEN, AS I SAY.
Did you open the hot or cold valve? If it was the lowest cold valve,

Until you asked , I was sure it was the hot water.

I can understand that - check to make sure the water is off and
relieve the residual pipe pressure from the tank.

And start to create a partial vacuum above the water in the water
heater.

Common sense tells me that if I provide an air path to the top of
the tank from an open hot water faucet, then I can empty that water
tank quickly. Try it yourself with a soda straw in a tall glass of
water. Put the straw in the water, put your finger over the top of
the straw and remove it from the glass. The straw will be full of
water, except for a little bit that the weight of the water will
pull down before the vacuum created below your finger stops it. Pull
off your finger and the straw will empty out.

Still don't believe me? Try he

I believe you except that I'm trying to figure out why opening the
cold water wouldn't do the same thing. The path from the cold faucet
to the wh is only a bit longer than from the hot faucet. The fact
that hot would let water and then air in at the top and cold would let
water and then air in at the bottom seems an unimportant difference to
me.

http://www.maytagwaterheaters.com/ideas/mainttips.html
Look at item 3 under "How To Flush & Drain Your Water Heater"
Now stop yelling.

I wasn't yelling. In fact I'm glad to have this come up now, since I
may need a new element in my wh. I have to measure things and find
out. The 5500 watt element burned out, so I move the wire to the 3500
watt element. I was sure that would be fine, but now it seems to take
2 or 3 days for the water to heat after a bath, instead of what I had
thought was less than 6 hours. Do you think maybe it was 23 hours, if
I took a bath at the same time every day, and now it is 40 hours, and
all I have to do is turn the thermostat up, which I turned down when I
went from the broken to the good heater (I had turned it up all the
way when I didnt' ssupspect the element was bad, so I had to turn it
down..)

Leaving the lowest cold valve open will usually work because the
cold water inlet is actually down at the bottom of the tank via the
dip tube. There is a really small hole in the side of the tube at
the top for relief purposes, but its probably too great a
restriction. However, after you've relieved the tank pressure, it
makes sense to me to close off all the valves to keep that vacuum
working for you.
BTW, typing in all capitals is usually considered yelling in the
usenet community. Seems to me that having all the elements working
in your heater would be more efficient that trying to heat with only
part of them working. Common fallacy is thinking that the higher a
temperature is set to will make it heat faster. The fact is that
there is a fixed rate at which heat can be transferred from the
element to the water (look up the definition of BTU), and the
thermostat only turns the element on or off. The more watts, the
more heat transferred per unit of time. Expecting a lower wattage
element to get the water in the tank to the same temperature in the
same amount of time is a false economic mindset. So I'd check out
the elements and replace them if needed as you plan.

--
Grandpa

On Fri, 23 Mar 2007 15:30:52 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

mm wrote:
On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:45:03 GMT, Grandpa wrote:

mm wrote:
WE NEED PEOPLE HERE TO RESOLVE WHETHER ALL THE HOT WATER FAUCETS
SHOULD BE CLOSED, AS YOU SAY, OR WHETHER THE LOWEST ONE IN THE HOUSE
SHOULD BE WIDE OPEN, AS I SAY.
Did you open the hot or cold valve? If it was the lowest cold valve,

Until you asked , I was sure it was the hot water.

I can understand that - check to make sure the water is off and
relieve the residual pipe pressure from the tank.

And start to create a partial vacuum above the water in the water
heater.


I believe you except that I'm trying to figure out why opening the
cold water wouldn't do the same thing. The path from the cold faucet
to the wh is only a bit longer than from the hot faucet. The fact
that hot would let water and then air in at the top and cold would let
water and then air in at the bottom seems an unimportant difference to
me.

http://www.maytagwaterheaters.com/ideas/mainttips.html
Look at item 3 under "How To Flush & Drain Your Water Heater"
Now stop yelling.

I wasn't yelling. In fact I'm glad to have this come up now, since I
may need a new element in my wh. I have to measure things and find
out. The 5500 watt element burned out, so I move the wire to the 3500
watt element. I was sure that would be fine, but now it seems to take
2 or 3 days for the water to heat after a bath, instead of what I had
thought was less than 6 hours. Do you think maybe it was 23 hours, if
I took a bath at the same time every day, and now it is 40 hours, and
all I have to do is turn the thermostat up, which I turned down when I
went from the broken to the good heater (I had turned it up all the
way when I didnt' ssupspect the element was bad, so I had to turn it
down..)

Leaving the lowest cold valve open will usually work because the
cold water inlet is actually down at the bottom of the tank via the
dip tube. There is a really small hole in the side of the tube at
the top for relief purposes, but its probably too great a
restriction. However, after you've relieved the tank pressure, it
makes sense to me to close off all the valves to keep that vacuum
working for you.

Maybe, but the guy at the plumbing supply house said to leave it open
until I was done, and barely any water came out, so I'm sticking with
that. I'll use the cold water faucet. Thanks for correcting me.

BTW, typing in all capitals is usually considered yelling in the
usenet community.

Yes, I know, and I *was* yelling, to try to make sure readers heard
me. Oh, I get it. I"m sorry. That's why you said I could stop
yelling. Yeah, I was planning to, now that two people had replied on
that issue.

Seems to me that having all the elements working
in your heater would be more efficient that trying to heat with only
part of them working.

They were never all working. The default design on this heater is
that only the top and bottom 5500 watt elements work, and if someone
has a special need he can connect the bottom 3800 element in parallel.
The water heater comes with a heavy jumper to do this and there is a
place on the metal label to mark that one has connected both.

Common fallacy is thinking that the higher a
temperature is set to will make it heat faster. The fact is that

That's not whaat I meant either. I meant that if the water is hotter,
then pure hot water will be hotter than what I have been getting,
which is not hot enough. It's also true that if the water is hotter
and one needs to use cold water to get a desired temperature, he uses
up less hot water, less cold water enters the water heater, and it
takes less time to get the whole tank hot again.

there is a fixed rate at which heat can be transferred from the
element to the water (look up the definition of BTU), and the
thermostat only turns the element on or off. The more watts, the
more heat transferred per unit of time. Expecting a lower wattage
element to get the water in the tank to the same temperature in the
same amount of time is a false economic mindset. So I'd check out

Good advice in general, but that's not the situation here.

I don't expect it in the same time, but it seems the time has gone
from 6 hours to more than 36 hours even though the wattage only went
from 5500 to 3800. (Not counting the upper element which has stayed
the same but only runs for 20 minutes, and only when the water at the
top has gotten sufficiently cold.)

I just don't want to have to wait 2 days until I can take the next
bath. I wasn't keeping close track, but I have a feeling it once took
three days.

But maybe it had been 20 hours for years and now it is 30 hours. I'll
try to check, but will probably get impatient and just raise the water
temp. It's definitely set too low now because even pure hot water is
barely hot enough.

the elements and replace them if needed as you plan.

On 22 Mar 2007 10:14:47 -0700, "z" wrote:

On Mar 22, 11:25 am, Just Joshin wrote:
On 21 Mar 2007 11:39:51 -0700, "z" wrote:

OK, so Mr. compulsive here drains a little bucketful out of the drain
valve on the hot water heater every month or so, because that's
supposed to keep the sludge from building up on the bottom and that's
the right thing to do and I'm certainly going to maintain my equipment
so it lasts a long gime. Now, of course, the drain valve drools,
enough to see some wetness on the floor underenath, but not enough so
that I can detect exactly where it leaks.So, I'm not sure at this
point if it's through the valve or up the stem; tightening the valve
as far as I dared without breaking it (seems to be cheap nylon) didn't
help, so I tightened the packing nut a hair, and ended up getting a
cap to screw over the end of the drain valve; haven't looked at it
since. But are these rebuildable like a normal faucet, replacable
faucet washer and such, or are they specialized in design?

I haven't started to drain my water tank, but I was warned before
doing so, get a screw on cap. So if the valve leaks by you can cap
it. I don't know if this advice works, but before I start, I'll have
that cap.

tom @ www.NoCostAds.com

Well, as of this AM after a day with the cap on, there's more drool
than ever on the floor, so it's got to be coming up through the
packing around the stem, despite my having tightened the packing nut
as much as I dared. Either that, or the crummy nylon valve is cracked
or something. Hard to see the water on the white semitranslucent
plastic.


IMHO,

If water is coming up around the packing glad the valve seat is really
not seated. Globe valves protect packing glands by having them
downstream of their seats. Guessing there was leak throu and when you
put the cap on, it pressurized it forcing leakage pass the packing
gland.

If this was me, I know I would be in the process of cycling it several
hundred times (atleast till I was tired) to clear any sediment from
the seating surfaces. After that I might look into replacing the
valve with something made of some metal. But I'm not in your shoes.

tom