I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't get
water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected garden
hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot water poured
out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up faucet.
Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I just
don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump all over
the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

On Jun 25, 8:17 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:
I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't get
water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected garden
hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot water poured
out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up faucet.
Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I just
don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump all over
the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

Turn off the cold water supply to tank, then open pressure relief
valve to allow air to get into system. The only problem with that is
the pressure relief valve may not fully close again.

On Jun 25, 8:37?pm, dashawn42000 wrote:
On Jun 25, 8:17 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:





I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't get
water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected garden
hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot water poured
out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up faucet.
Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I just
don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump all over
the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

Turn off the cold water supply to tank, then open pressure relief
valve to allow air to get into system. The only problem with that is
the pressure relief valve may not fully close again.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

install ball valve as drain valve, its likely a plastic valve designed
to be used just once to drain the tank at end of life. the ball valves
nice unobstructed opening allows eaier drain water flow.

personally I QUIT draining my tank many years ago. after getting
little sediment out and having leaks, opening that pressure relief
valve can cause a leak.

Only begin this project first thing in orning you have entire day off!

Be prepared to replace valves and perhaps the entire tank.

to me its not worth the effort

On Tue, 26 Jun 2007 01:31:48 -0000, "
wrote:

On Jun 25, 8:37?pm, dashawn42000 wrote:
On Jun 25, 8:17 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:





I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't get
water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected garden
hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot water poured
out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up faucet.
Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I just
don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump all over
the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

Turn off the cold water supply to tank, then open pressure relief
valve to allow air to get into system. The only problem with that is
the pressure relief valve may not fully close again.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

install ball valve as drain valve, its likely a plastic valve designed
to be used just once to drain the tank at end of life. the ball valves
nice unobstructed opening allows eaier drain water flow.

personally I QUIT draining my tank many years ago. after getting
little sediment out and having leaks, opening that pressure relief
valve can cause a leak.

Only begin this project first thing in orning you have entire day off!

Be prepared to replace valves and perhaps the entire tank.

to me its not worth the effort

In 10 years, I have not drained my tank.

I do get a gallon of hot water out the drain about once a year - to
use to add freon to my car. The cheap plastic faucett still works
fine - just be gentle with it.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I just
don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump all
over the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

Opening the pressure relief valve may cause it to leak if it does not
re-seat properly.

No need to drain the tank, just flush it out on the bottom a bit to get any
sediment out. OTOH, if you have good water it may never need flushing.

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:48:29 -0500, ValveJob wrote:


I do get a gallon of hot water out the drain about once a year - to
use to add freon to my car.

?? You heat the freon can so more goes in?


The cheap plastic faucett still works
fine - just be gentle with it.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't get
water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected garden
hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot water
poured out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up faucet.
Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I just
don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump all
over the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?
Like I suggested the first time, turn off the water and hook the system up
to an air compressor.
Or not, as you wish.

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:18:48 -0400, mm
wrote:

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:48:29 -0500, ValveJob wrote:


I do get a gallon of hot water out the drain about once a year - to
use to add freon to my car.

?? You heat the freon can so more goes in?


The cheap plastic faucett still works
fine - just be gentle with it.


Exactly. The 12 oz cans have printed instructions on them to do
just that.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't
get water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected
garden hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water
flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot
water poured out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up
faucet. Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then
stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the
system in order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer
suggests? I just don't want to do that, considering all the water
that's gonna dump all over the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

It sounds to me like the outlet is blocked. You could try reverse
flushing the valve by shutting off the cold supply, and releasing
pressure as well as you can, and leaving a hot tap open. Then connect
the garden hose to the drain valve with an adapter or washing maching
hose, open the drain valve, and turn on the hose to flush it. I
wouldn't run it long - just enough to clear obstructions.

Bob

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't get
water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected
garden hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water flow
at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot water
poured out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up faucet.
Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I
just don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump
all over the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

It sounds to me like the outlet is blocked. You could try reverse flushing
the valve by shutting off the cold supply, and releasing pressure as well
as you can, and leaving a hot tap open. Then connect the garden hose to
the drain valve with an adapter or washing maching hose, open the drain
valve, and turn on the hose to flush it. I wouldn't run it long - just
enough to clear obstructions.

Bob



Well and here's my thing, with both your and Toller's remarks. If I'm
getting water from it when I turn the cold water tap on, wouldn't it stand
to reason that the opening isn't plugged? I'm not getting rusty water, I'm
not getting cold water, I'm getting nice clear hot water from the drain when
the cold water tap is turned on. It's certainly not coming out at a deluge
amount, but its isn't a trickle either - it's about the same amount that I
get when I turn on the outside faucets.

It's almost like water is being pushed up a drain tube at the top of the
tank and out the drain spout, and since the tank isn't under pressure it has
to fill for the water to overflow into the drain tube. Kind of see what I
mean, like the drain tube is at the top of the tank instead of the bottom.

"dashawn42000" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jun 25, 8:17 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:
I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I can't get
water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets, connected
garden
hose to drain spout, opened drain spout. Nothing, no water flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot water
poured
out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up faucet.
Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the system in
order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer suggests? I
just
don't want to do that, considering all the water that's gonna dump all
over
the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

Turn off the cold water supply to tank, then open pressure relief
valve to allow air to get into system. The only problem with that is
the pressure relief valve may not fully close again.


Well the manual asks me to operate the pressure release valve 2 times year,
so I might as well bite the bullet and go for it. Seems odd that I'd have
to do all this arm waving to drain the stupid tank, it's not like I have
some weird setup or something.

But before I do that I have to find a fitting to attach to the pressure
release valve so I can redirect the water away from the burner. The
pressure release valve fitting give me no room to attach pipe elbows.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
I posted a quick question a couple weeks back, this is a follow up.

I'm trying to drain my water heater, Sears PowerMiser 9, and I
can't get water to come out when its supposed to.

Here is what I have done.

Shut off cold water supply, opened all hot water faucets,
connected garden hose to drain spout, opened drain spout.
Nothing, no water flow at all.

Did all the above, turned on cold water supply. Nice clear hot
water poured out of garden hose at a reduced pressure.

Removed garden hose, obvious vacuum breaking sound, opened up
faucet. Nothing, water heater gurgled for a couple of seconds then
stopped.

Am I gonna have to totally disconnect the water heater from the
system in order to do the bi-annual draining that the manufacturer
suggests? I just don't want to do that, considering all the water
that's gonna dump all over the place when that happens.

What about opening the pressure release valve?

It sounds to me like the outlet is blocked. You could try reverse
flushing the valve by shutting off the cold supply, and releasing
pressure as well as you can, and leaving a hot tap open. Then
connect the garden hose to the drain valve with an adapter or
washing maching hose, open the drain valve, and turn on the hose to
flush it. I wouldn't run it long - just enough to clear
obstructions.

Bob



Well and here's my thing, with both your and Toller's remarks. If
I'm getting water from it when I turn the cold water tap on,
wouldn't it stand to reason that the opening isn't plugged? I'm not
getting rusty water, I'm not getting cold water, I'm getting nice
clear hot water from the drain when the cold water tap is turned on.
It's certainly not coming out at a deluge amount, but its isn't a
trickle either - it's about the same amount that I get when I turn
on the outside faucets.

It's almost like water is being pushed up a drain tube at the top of
the tank and out the drain spout, and since the tank isn't under
pressure it has to fill for the water to overflow into the drain
tube. Kind of see what I mean, like the drain tube is at the top of
the tank instead of the bottom.


You suggested the flow was slow even with the supply on, and my
suggestion was based on that.

If the valve is clear, you should be able to turn off the cold supply,
open a hot water tap somewhere above the tank, open the drain valve,
and get a reasonable flow from the tank.

If it's a siphon problem, Start the flow with the supply on. Open one
hot tap and the drain valve, so water comes out of both. Then turn off
the supply and see if the flow continues. Get the end of the drain
hose as low as possible to help the siphon.

Bob

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:50:35 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:



Well and here's my thing, with both your and Toller's remarks. If I'm
getting water from it when I turn the cold water tap on, wouldn't it stand
to reason that the opening isn't plugged? I'm not getting rusty water, I'm
not getting cold water, I'm getting nice clear hot water from the drain when
the cold water tap is turned on. It's certainly not coming out at a deluge
amount, but its isn't a trickle either - it's about the same amount that I
get when I turn on the outside faucets.

You make sense. That's why I didn't post. I can't account for this.

It's almost like water is being pushed up a drain tube at the top of the
tank and out the drain spout, and since the tank isn't under pressure it has
to fill for the water to overflow into the drain tube. Kind of see what I
mean, like the drain tube is at the top of the tank instead of the bottom.

You've lost me. What drain tube, especially since I think you
yourself are saying there isn't one!

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...

Well the manual asks me to operate the pressure release valve 2 times
year, so I might as well bite the bullet and go for it. Seems odd that
I'd have to do all this arm waving to drain the stupid tank, it's not like
I have some weird setup or something.

It's very good advice. A 5 gallon water heater that explodes will tear a
huge hole in a cinder block wall, big enough to walk through. Imagine what
would happen with a 40 or 50 gallon heater. Many here say the T&P valve may
leak, as if that's a reason to not test it. So what! If it leaks, tap it
with a hammer and the leak will probably stop. If not, they're not that hard
or expensive to replace.



But before I do that I have to find a fitting to attach to the pressure
release valve so I can redirect the water away from the burner. The
pressure release valve fitting give me no room to attach pipe elbows.


It should go straight down to about 6" off the floor. No elbows or anything
unless the thing is on the top of the tank, which is unlikely.

Eigen,

Something ain't right with your story. The system is pressurized so when
you open a faucet water should come out until the pressure equalizes. May
not be a lot of water but some must come out. You open a bunch of faucets
and get nothing?
When draining this tank with a garden hose are you trying to get water to
flow up hill? I own a similar heater. It's on the first floor. I run a
garden hose out across the deck and down about 4 ft, to the ground, turn off
the electricity, open the drain valve, open a sink faucet and then turn off
the water supply valve. Opening the relief valve isn't necessary since the
sink faucet allows air to enter the tank.

Dave M.

I do get a gallon of hot water out the drain about once a year - to
use to add freon to my car. The cheap plastic faucett still works
fine - just be gentle with it.

I have yet to be able to close a WH drain (or PT valve) to the point of
being leak tight.

In the case of the drain valve, I end up screwing on one of those valves
used to shut off water at the business end of a garden water hose. Works
every time.

In the case of the PT valve, I just put a small bucket to catch the drips.
After a month or two the crap in the water plugs the leak.

So what was the solution - open up the pressure release valve. I didn't
even have to open a hot water tap, I simply opened it up, opened up the
drain valve, and voila!

Nice clear water came out - just as I hoped.


"Bob M." wrote in message
...

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...

Well the manual asks me to operate the pressure release valve 2 times
year, so I might as well bite the bullet and go for it. Seems odd that
I'd have to do all this arm waving to drain the stupid tank, it's not
like I have some weird setup or something.

It's very good advice. A 5 gallon water heater that explodes will tear a
huge hole in a cinder block wall, big enough to walk through. Imagine
what would happen with a 40 or 50 gallon heater. Many here say the T&P
valve may leak, as if that's a reason to not test it. So what! If it
leaks, tap it with a hammer and the leak will probably stop. If not,
they're not that hard or expensive to replace.



But before I do that I have to find a fitting to attach to the pressure
release valve so I can redirect the water away from the burner. The
pressure release valve fitting give me no room to attach pipe elbows.


It should go straight down to about 6" off the floor. No elbows or
anything unless the thing is on the top of the tank, which is unlikely.