An electric or gas water heater uses electricity (or natural gas) to heat water on demand. This means you don’t have to wait until hot water comes out of the tap before using it. In addition, water heaters come equipped with built-in thermostats that regulate the flow of warm water throughout the house.
However, suppose you are looking for another option that offers similar efficiency and convenience. In that case, you might want to check out the new line of tankless models from A.O. Smith. These efficient units feature advanced heating elements that allow them to deliver instant hot water at high temperatures. They also include automatic shutoff valves that prevent the overuse of energy during peak hours. Dig in to learn how to drain and flush the water heater:
Follow the steps to drain the water heater:
Step 1: turn off the recirculation pump
To find the recirculation pump, this is. This wire right here is connected to the pump in line at the bottom. You’re going to unplug the pump. You’ll hear it stop now you’ve heard it stop, so we’ve will that off.
Step 2: turn the gas to the pilot setting
Come over here and put the water heater on a pilot; that way, the flame doesn’t start up, and everything’s safe. Next thing we’re going to do, we’re going to come up, and we’re going to find the shut-off valve at the top of the water heater and what that.
Step 3: shut off water supplies.
Top of the water heater and what that will be on your cold side. Which is on the right; you’re going to shut that water off there, then find the drain valve at the bottom of the water heater, the strain. The valve is right here and what you go to do is you should take the hose.
Step 4: Connect the hose to the drain value.
We’re just going to connect the drain of the hose to the drain valve at the bottom, and as you’re putting this on, go ahead and give it a turn or two with your channel locks just to make sure it’s secure, and we’re going to take our hose, and we’re going to stick it inside. of a five-gallon bucket that way you can see that result.
Step 5: bring the hose outside and put a bucket.
See our results on this, so now you’re going to come to the drain valve at the bottom of the tank and get your screw. Driver on there could be a thumb turn open that up your little movement and tell you to let some air in the system.
We know, like letting your finger off the straw, it’s not going to drain, so now we have to get some air movement going. There are two ways to do it if you have a pressure relief valve going into your pan; in this situation, you can pop this and hear the air movement.
Step 6: let the air into the tank.
The nice feature is that you don’t have to disconnect it at the top. f your drain line is going outside, and it’s trapped, it won’t let this happen; then you’re going to have to disconnect at the top one of these nuts to get the air movement, same theory allows you here.
This one here is draining on its own now if you go. Trip this to get your air movement in. there, when you go to put it back, it’s a spring-loaded valve; just let the lever down; it’s nice to give it a tap kind of seats the valve so after you’ve hooked your hose to the drain valve.
You got that draining; you must come up to the top. Either side will work; we just have to get air into the system to let it drain, so here I’m going to come to the cold side, and also I’m going to do is on this top nut I’m gonna loosen that up. You can hear it sucking air now. I wouldn’t pull it off. Just go ahead and loosen it to you here to draw air that way; you can just tighten it back up, lovely.
Step 7: drain the water.
Put a five-gallon bucket at the end of your hose because then you can see what’s actually coming out of it; this one’s in Thousand Oaks, and it’s not been in too long, so we’re getting good results, so this straight out is fairly clean, It’s working well it’s not always the case some of them are horrible if you look at the situation we have on tape here oh it’s insane the water quality is just very low. There’s a lot of stuff in it the water.
That coming out of this tank here is incredibly bad and filthy, and it’s an older tank, so you’ll see the difference. If we were to drain this regularly, this could not happen, but as you see from what’s coming out of this. It’s just it should have been done more, and I wouldn’t be here replacing this tank, and we’re going to tighten the nut.
Step 8: tighten the connection
The top clockwise tightens it again; if your flexes are old might be a good idea to replace them; this is your water flex as I bet on each side, one here, one down here. Good to replace if it’s an older flex. That’s what happens to be pretty new; I put a confrontation seal so now that your tank is fully evacuated.
Step 9: flash the tank.
The open position now what we want to do is we want to come to the main valve to the water heater and open that up like so. Now we’re just going to cycle it through the tank and get rid of any loose setup at this there. I just tend to run that for approximately five minutes. All right now, we’ve cycled the water heater tank for five-seven minutes just to get anything to lose out.
So we’re good to go ahead and shut this valve off here; pull unconnect arose, and anytime you disconnect any of these. connections and reconnect them, definitely make sure you check your water heater serval times.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Outlet valves: what are they?
Two valves are near the water heater’s top and bottom: the temperature relief valve and the drain valve.
If the gas supply is cut off, what happens?
Ensure the tank’s hot water cools down after some time.
Hard water: what is it?
A water supply with a high concentration of minerals can be referred to as “hard water” if it contains many minerals.
Steam Bubbles: What Causes Them?
A “knocking” or “popping” noise is created when steam bubbles rise through the sediment after a gas burner or heating elements heat the water.
If the drain valve leaks, what should I do?
A new pressure relief valve should be installed if the drain or pressure relief valves leak significantly.
Conclusion
Please ensure that your residential electric water heater is maintained regularly and has been checked and tested beforehand. Do not use the water heater until a professional plumber has inspected it. We hope you enjoyed our article about how to drain and flush your a.o. Smith electric water heater. I can tell now you can quickly drain your water heater.
