Hot Water Flush

[jeeperdude10]

Wow!, just flushed my hot water heater with the wand thing I purchased somewhere along the way. The amount of crud that came out flabbergasted me, I am/was so surprised that that much could be accumulated. We are full timers and "half way" flushed in October, however at that campground we found out that it was well water...maybe I should have flushed AFTER leaving (??). Anyway, just to say if you have not done so, you may want to flush yours-you just may be amazed, as I was/am.

[Old-Biscuit]

down home wrote:
I see a lot of Folks that don't use filters or use the little ones that load up quickly, and don't filter well either, at campgrounds in the mid west with well water. You;re going to get a lot of sediment from a hundred or more RVs using water at roughly the same time or any time. Our 10 inch filter with clear casing shows the pile of dirt after jus a day or two, espcailly if we use the water.
I asked one RVer why he didn't use a filter. He said they don't drink it just wash and cook with it and flush the toilet. Hummm His white towel looked rather bad shade of yellow/brown. He was having trouble with hose fitting. It was full of dirt, in the threads.

Doesn't much matter.
Unless you have an RO system that removes minerals
Heating water causes existing minerals to settle faster and in larger quantities. As the water is heated, it becomes lighter and less dense. The solids will settle at a faster rate. The result is sediment collecting at the bottom of the tank

[down_home]

I see a lot of Folks that don't use filters or use the little ones that load up quickly, and don't filter well either, at campgrounds in the mid west with well water. You;re going to get a lot of sediment from a hundred or more RVs using water at roughly the same time or any time. Our 10 inch filter with clear casing shows the pile of dirt after jus a day or two, espcailly if we use the water.
I asked one RVer why he didn't use a filter. He said they don't drink it just wash and cook with it and flush the toilet. Hummm His white towel looked rather bad shade of yellow/brown. He was having trouble with hose fitting. It was full of dirt, in the threads.

[down_home]

DutchmenSport wrote:
The same thing happens in our home water heater too. That lime build up can grow several inches deep in the bottom of a home water heater. That's why is recommended to flush your home water heater every so often. If that lime build up gets high enough to touch the bottom heating element, the heating element will short out. That's usually the sing its time for a new water heater, as that lime build up is almost impossible to flush out once it gets that high.

Then what once started out as a 75 pound water heater, now weighs 175 pounds because of all the lime in the bottom.

In an RV, flushing that lime build up out regularly is a good thing, and should not be overlooked. If the build up reaches the heating element, it will short out in an RV too. And the distance between the bottom of the tank and that element is not very much.

I flush mine with an old water hose used on the back of a washing machine. I simply cut it about 12 inches long. It's the perfect size to fit in the RV water heater drain hole.

And oh... by the way ... Lime is in water everywhere. It's just in some places, it's more concentrated than others. So if you think being on city water opposed to a well reduces the lime and calcium in the water, sorry to bust your bubble, it might be less, but it's still there. It just takes longer to build up in your water heater since its not so concentrated.

Our water heater in our last home was a Jackson one with a lifetime warranty. I replaced the heating elements a couple of times, all covered with lime. It was using a lot of energy to heat water.
Had to replace it. It weighed near 500 lbs and was all we could to get it out. Looking through the heating rod holes and drain port, you could see a vry large solid white mass of lime, or one huge rock.
We had excellent well water. Put a whole house filter on it which won't stop dissolved lime but will get the tiny flaks you see and they will gather some dissolved lime and it ends up on the filter.

[Old-Biscuit]

John&Joey wrote:
If you really want to flush it out, take a look at this:

Kirk's HWH clicky.

As a sidebar, Kirk failed to note that you should isolate the HWH (i.e just like when you winterize) with the bypass valves turned to their closed position. Also I do not turn on the HWH to heat the solution. I just put in hot water via the funnel. YMMV

Atwood has 'vinegar soak' instructions in their water heater manuals

Here is one example.....see pg. 28
Atwood Vinegar Soak

[John_Joey]

If you really want to flush it out, take a look at this:

Kirk's HWH clicky.

As a sidebar, Kirk failed to note that you should isolate the HWH (i.e just like when you winterize) with the bypass valves turned to their closed position. Also I do not turn on the HWH to heat the solution. I just put in hot water via the funnel. YMMV

[10forty2]

I guess I gotta add flushing the water heater tank to the list of things to do before we head out for camping season this year. I usually empty the tank when we get back home unless we are immediately leaving, but I haven't flushed it since we got the coach. Never had anything but clear water come out of it, though and it seems to function just fine. I'll run a little extra water through it this time when I flush out the pink stuff from the rest of the lines.

[Tom_Barb]

Isn't this the idea behind whole house water filters?

[ScottG]

I found that just flushing left junk in the tank. So after draining mine at the end of the season, I use a smaller tube inserted into the hose of my shop vac (sealed with my hand) to vacuum anything out of the bottom of the WH.

[Old-Biscuit]

I have an Atwood and their drain hole is only 1/2" so by the time you stick wand in the drain hole is almost blocked.
Wand helps but doesn't really blow much out with wand in drain hole.
(At least Suburban has 3/4" drain hole)

I prefer to 'power flush'
Turn water supply off and open faucet hot-side to relieve pressure.
Close faucet
Remove WH drain plug
Then turn water supply back on FULL pressure
Stand back cause the crud will be blown out.

Turn water OFF/ON couple times and crud will be gone

[jplante4]

I flushed mine before heading out on the road last winter and got a lot of crud out. I figured using one of the inline water filters would help so I bought on and used it whenever I hooked up. I flushed it again at the end of last season and Got more stuff out. Now I'm thinking rather than flush at a certain time, flush after a certain number of nights hooked up.

[Trackrig]

The last time I flushed mine, I put a gallon of vinegar in it, let it sit for several hours and then flushed it again. More "stuff" came loose and washed out.

Watch out, the grass doesn't like the vinegar, be sure to flood the area with a lot of water to dilute it.

I've also gone to a three filter set up for incoming water, it does help cut down on the stuff in the tank.

Bill

[rgatijnet1]

This is one of the main reasons why the heating element will quickly fail if the water heater is not flushed when it is replaced.

[DutchmenSport]

The same thing happens in our home water heater too. That lime build up can grow several inches deep in the bottom of a home water heater. That's why is recommended to flush your home water heater every so often. If that lime build up gets high enough to touch the bottom heating element, the heating element will short out. That's usually the sing its time for a new water heater, as that lime build up is almost impossible to flush out once it gets that high.

Then what once started out as a 75 pound water heater, now weighs 175 pounds because of all the lime in the bottom.

In an RV, flushing that lime build up out regularly is a good thing, and should not be overlooked. If the build up reaches the heating element, it will short out in an RV too. And the distance between the bottom of the tank and that element is not very much.

I flush mine with an old water hose used on the back of a washing machine. I simply cut it about 12 inches long. It's the perfect size to fit in the RV water heater drain hole.

And oh... by the way ... Lime is in water everywhere. It's just in some places, it's more concentrated than others. So if you think being on city water opposed to a well reduces the lime and calcium in the water, sorry to bust your bubble, it might be less, but it's still there. It just takes longer to build up in your water heater since its not so concentrated.

[BB_TX]

Many years ago as a newby, the first time I drained my water heater for the winter I forgot to relieve the pressure first and then ease the anode rod out. The anode rod popped out and I had water along with all that crud all down my jeans. I thought something was wrong with the WH until I started reading about the need to flush regularly. And now I use a wand also.