I have never drowned my water heater in 15 years. Is that going to cause trouble. I can not get it to drain.?

Question

I thank its over heated twice this week. I had to relight it. What can i do?

Answer 1

You obviously have a gas water heater, and so the problem is probably not overheating of the water, but a problem in the thermostat controlling the gas flow. This can be a problem with a bad thermocouple or it could be a gas leak somewhere. Most modern gas water heaters or heaters of anykind have 100 percent shutoff to prevent even small leaks from causing explosions. A 15 year old water heater is essentially at it's end of life.

Now to answer your question about draining the water heater.....naturally occuring hardness in most public water systems and also well water, will cause scaling in the bottom of the water heater. This scale can result in fouling or plugging of the drain valve. In addition to that, it has been my experience that once you drain a water heater, the drain valve will never reseat 100 percent. So after you refill it, the valve will leak and you will see a drip coming out of the drain pipe.

Before you call out a plumber, you might as well go to the local hardware store and buy a new water heater.

Answer 2

How do you know it overheated? Relighting should have nothing to do with draining it periodically. It does make it more efficient by reducting the amount of sediment on the bottom of the tank.

Since you have never done this, if you open the drain valve, it may leak. I have seen this happen. At 15 years, it might be best to just let it alone.

Why can't you get it to drain, what happens when you open the drain valve? Are you opening it all the way? If so, perhaps sticking a coat hanger in it will break through the crud.

Answer 3

Don't for the love of god do what these people are telling you to do. Leave it alone. Even if you turn the water off, the tank is still full of hot water. When you take that valve out all of the water in that tank is going to come rushing out at you. You won't be able to stop it. It's best to just leave it alone. Draining it now would not benefit you in any way. 15 years is a long life for a water heater. Be glad it hasn't sprung a leak and let it be.

Answer 4

not sure what your water conditions are...but 15 years is a long life for most water heaters....if it will not drain you probably have a build up of rust, shale (or whatever minerals are in your water).
Bottom of tank is probably full of rust, shale, whatever. A gas unit usually does not shut down due to build up, however, if you have this big of a build up you are wasting a LOT of energy might be time to think about a new one and make sure that you flush it every year, its important to do so.
As for re-lighting it is probably the thermo-coupler ( term may not be exactly correct) if this is the case the thermo-coupler should be changed. If its over heating for safety reasons I myself would buy a new unit.

Answer 5

It is probably time for a new one. Try taking the drain valve off, turn off the water to the heater first. Slowly turn the water back on and if water starts to flow, put the valve back on and flush the crud out of it.

Answer 6

check the chimney and flue pipe for obstructions first. then open the drain valve, its probably full of sediment , you`ll need to use a push pull sequence to free the obstructions and build up in the tank drain, use the two sides of a shop vac, you may have to remove the drain valve completely and insert a coat hanger or cleaning ram rod to get things moving, once they do move, stand back, theres a lot thats coming at you real quickly, be prepared for a big mess, have fun

Answer 7

here's what you do. Turn off the water and the heater. remove the valve. use a bottle brush and shove it in the hole to break the sediment away from the hole. then get a flush kit and run a long course of acid wash. after that rinse toroughly with clean water. put it back together and reflood it. Check for leaks and fire it up.
All done.

Answer 8

If your hotwater tank has lasted 15 years you should be very happy its time to replace it probally they are not that expensive and are pretty easy to change not even worth getting someone to look at it they will just tell you it needs to be replaced

Answer 9

time to replace it anyway. Pilot lights usually go out because somebody left the breeze cover off the pilot area unless it has an electronic pilot.