Flushing suggested once a year to avoid corrosion in your tank
If you have an older water heater and you haven’t performed any maintenance on it, now is the time to take action to help extend the life of your system. One of the best things that you can do is to clean out your tank at least once a year. If corrosion eats through your tank, there will be no chance of performing a repair. You’ll need to purchase a new appliance. This is a relatively simple job. If you want to try this yourself, here’s how:
Turn off your water heater. If you have an electric model, turn it off at both the unit and the circuit breaker.
Attach a hose to the drain valve and run the other end to a basin or outside. Disconnect the water supply and open the valve to empty the tank. This could take 30 minutes or more. Close the valve once the water has drained.
Pour a gallon of a calcium, lime and rust remover – about a capful at a time – into the inlet pipe. Make sure you pour carefully so that the pipe does not overflow. It will take about five hours for the cleaner to do its job. You can put a plastic bag over the pipe to see if it inflates. If it doesn’t, the cleaner has been neutralized and has finished its job.
Rinse out the heater, open the drain valve to let the water flow out, close the drain valve and turn the water supply back on. Then, turn on the appliance.
Call Essig Plumbing and Cooling today if you want us to handle your water heater tank flush job.
