How to Flush a Water Heater? | Flushing Will Probably Not Fix Your Problem

hi I'm Jordan I saw the grumpy plumber cuz I'm lucky enough to have a dad who's a amazing plumber he's been a plumber for 48 years and since I bought my house five years ago he has saved us tens of thousands of dollars with his experience and his advice so he started this channel to help people out with some great plumbing advice and for those who really care about credentials he's been a master plumber in Michigan and he's also a c36 plumbing contractor in California 40 years of plumbing he knows something it also makes him a little bit grumpy when he's sharing advice don't piss him [Music] hi I'm Jordan this is my dad Jim the plumber today we're going to talk about flushing a hot water heater so how do you flush the hot water heater but first my dad has some strong opinions about flushing hot water heater so dad how do you flush a hot water unit well you don't flush your water as far as I'm concerned actually take your money out in the front yard and set it on fire because you'd get more out of it than you will flush in the water here a water heater has a drain on the bottom of it and I know that the utility companies tell you to flush and stuff like that but this is how it works the drain on the bottom you open it up and first if it's not a good drain like if it's what we call a globe elf drain where the doesn't have a full port and directly out it's just gonna clog up and you're not gonna get the water out then you need to have new hot water heater no then you're gonna try to take that drain off it's gonna break and you're gonna flood the house and then you're gonna be mad as hell okay what the other water heater is how if you drain the heater you open up the valve on the bottom and in all this sediment which is not usually a lot of sediment as you think there is because I drained lots of water heaters which I take people's money and just tell them they're crazy but it just the sediment only like it's like a river just cuts a hole through the sediment or line through it and then all the settlement you can't get out you have to get in and spray it out or put chemicals in to break it down and you don't want to do that and it doesn't extend the life of the water union another thing people think they need to drain the water because they hear the noise this the term is percolating they hear this bubbling sound like that that is usually caused according to the manufacturer like the metals in the heater okay 10 eating elements the know the the the tank is made of steel okay and when they years ago the terms used to be to sell water here this is glass line well it's really not blast line there's a glazing on it and that's what protects the steel liner and another thing that's inside of a water heater is called a magnesium rod and that magnesium rod supposably is supposed to flake off and patch all these little pieces of glass line the glazes to come on so really it really is not necessary to drain at water it's a waste of money and another thing too is there's what they call it T&P valve it's a pressure temperature valve that is located either on the top of the side of the water heater and that's to protect the you the homeowner that if it was if it was bad and then water heater overheated or something it could blow up well when it blows up the usually levels house so you won't be like a rocky about the wood thing that's like a rye Joseph so just leave it alone and one thing you don't want to do is take that little lever that's on that temperature pressure belt and pop it every once in a while and it'll spit out water well sometimes they'll spit a lot of but won't stop so somebody in to change this they don't touch that Bell don't touch it okay you know don't talk to you don't flush don't touch don't flush okay water heater say in California probably has an average life of about five years okay the Midwest where I used to live has an average life of maybe 15 years why is that difference you don't have us highest water pressure in California they have all these reservoirs high in the mountains and when that water pressure gets to your house it's usually at about a hundred and fifty pounds so I always look at it this way what are the interests have a hard time living because you have 150 pounds of a pressure on the heater and then you have this burner on a gas water you're heating up the bottom of that heater and what do you think you know pressure and heat you know will cause that metals to attract it's like you know putting heat on the bottom of your but see how long it's gonna last okay all right so I vote for flushing doesn't matter if it's electric or to natural gas-powered water heater know it doesn't really matter either one electrics are usually a lot harder to to drain which is sometimes not a bad idea on electric here the harder drink is the crud in them well they get more credit because electric water heater has what we call elements that's what heats the water in the heater well the thing is both the heater elements do not come on at the same time the top heater element comes on and heats 75% of the heater and then that turns off when that satisfied and then it switches to the bottom of element and that's only about six inches off and that heats all the water well that using will over the years lay into a lot of sediment down okay in there and it usually is the first one to burn out is if it burns out okay and you will have water if that burns out but you won't have very much water okay how long are hot water but you won't have much and usually people would call and say I have hot water but don't last very long well it's electric water here I just say at the bottom elements here in South Emily oh so you can take it out and clean it when you take it out try to get much rounded as you can which is very hard to do because you're dealing through about an inch and a half hole if you try to get things out of there and you can't get a vacuum in there and see pretty good but cleaning out no cleanup put another element in really okay and you know they they can go I mean cost wise you know goes many years you can electric heaters tend to last a lot longer they will last you know they can last twenty years of them well even in California even the California so it's more of a gas one California gas it's ten step more okay now because there's heat on the gas where the elements inside the water and heating the water gotcha so you don't you don't know it doesn't get a sediment no doesn't get it okay here's another little thing if somebody asks is I am taking a shower and I'm smelling rotten eggs mmm I'm taking a shower that's caused from the magnesium rod inside the water heater it's in a gas heater and it's an electric heater and you can pull that out it's a lot of work but it takes a big socket with a with a big long bar on the end of it but it can be screwed out and you could pull it out moderator manufacturers say they void the warranty on it if it's out what but that points probably an old water heater any well even if it's a new water if it's a we go house a lot of here manufactures gonna know that that element has ever been okay you take it out and you put a 3/4 inch plug in it and your back you don't replace it yeah expensive God why would you do something that probably gonna start stinking again a little while and smell it but it's not worth you draining the heaters not gonna get rid of the smell got you okay watching it won't get rid of smell it smells in your eyes and it's in this note there's no sense in flushing your water that's stupid the flushing water here okay no save your money so you don't need a flush and every year frequently Ernie don't question oh hi guys save your money if you see me in a bar you can buy me a drink all right thanks so much daddy appreciate it if you got any questions for the plumber leave them in the comments below if you want some more of these videos and more tips on plumbing and how much it cost and how not to get ripped off hit the subscribe button right now and if you like the video hit the like button if you didn't like it go to hell [Music]

Channel: The Grumpy Plumber

Views: 2,213,089

Keywords: flush hot water heater, plumbing, plumb, home plumbing, when to flush hot water heater, how to flush hot water heater, do i need to flush a hot water heater, hot water heater problems, my hot water smells

Id: rzbFYUabi3o

Length: 8min 6sec (486 seconds)

Published: Sun May 10 2020