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Water heater problem.

S

steve_in_mo

Well-known Member
I have a water heater full of calcium chunks.
Has anyone devised or bought a tool to augur
the chunks out so I can replace the lower element?
 
IF your time is less valuable than money, a shop vac/pvc pipe small enough to fit in the hole will work. IF it as bad as mine was, more problems likely will follow, now a days I would just replace it. But that is me.
 
Yes replace it. With cooking equipment and boilers etc. they have water treatment systems that prvent that. If you have all of the time in the world you could fill the heater with white vinigar. That would dissolve the lime. Stop in your local plumbing supply warehouse and ask if anything is available that might help. There is supposed to be an electronic device that helps. They might recommend a treatment cartridge that is used on ice makers just for that. A house doesn't use near as much hot water as cold so for you it might be worth it. This video is the extreme but there are smaller systems. They are cost effective.
Filtration.
 
If you believe it has life remaining, drain it from the hose connection (if it will) then remove the faucet and use a stiff wire to break up and pull out the deposits. Vacuuming as described below is also good from the element hole. It will take time and effort. When you have spent 3 hours pulling deposits out choose if the progress was worth it. Getting the deposits 6 inches below the element might save it for another proportion of its time in the house. Factor in the effort it takes to replace it. some are really easy to get out, others are nasty. Jim
 
Mine was packed clear up to the bottom element. That's what burnt it out. I spent a lot of time but got it out. The shop vac with some smaller plastic tubing duct taped on worked pretty good. I also installed a full size ball valve on my drain so it can actually drain now. Been years ago. This reminds me might be a good time to crack the drain open and get some junk out.
 
Time vs money is not a serious consideration here.
It's about two hours to replace one and about two hours
to clean this one out and replace the lower element.
The calcium adds a lot of weight, requiring extra help.
The water heater is about eight years old.
 
Just replaced my 29 year old water heater. Never put a element in ever. Was twice as heavy as the new one. At my age I'll never have to do that again if it is as good as the old one. My son had good luck with his using the shop vac and taped on hose to clean it out.
 
What I do is tape metal pipe to the shop wet/dry vac and suck the stuff out. The metla pipe will break up the bigger pieces so they can be sucked out. Done this many times over the year
 
Make a small hoe like tool that will fit in element hole turn power off, remove element, put tool in element hole open a couple hot water faucets and dig lime loose draining water will wash it out.

Pete
 
Yes. Unscrew the bottom element. Get a rubber hose about 2 1/2 feet long that will just fit inside the hole. Generally either 5/8 or 3/4 ID will fit. Attach the rubber hose to the hose on a wet/dry vac with tape. You can then vacuum most if not all of the chunks out of the water heater. The rubber hose will not damage the inside of the water heater. Put a new element in and you are good to go again. Generally only the bottom element burns out and the top one is ok. I did this to mine 3 or 4 times until I installed a water softener. With the water softener there is no more calcium buildup inside the water heater.
 
I'm cheap, and I did it about 10 years back. Drain, then take both elements out. It will breath in from the top, and you can snake the bottom vac hose around and get a lot of it from the bottom. After cleaning, my bottom element went out a few weeks later. I'm guessing due to something without the calcium down there, or maybe it was just time. If you have one of those small upholstery vac tools it works but is slow. The heater worked for another 8 years before I just replaced it this spring.

BTW, I bought a new kind of water heater with 'smart economy'. It has a history of when hot water is demanded, and adjusts the thermostat to decrease power use. From about 11PM to 5AM it shuts off to an idle temp around 88F, then it ramps up in the morning, and declines during the day unless flow is detected. Pretty neat so far, but time will tell if it hold up. AO Smith unit.
 

Toss the heater . The heater exchanger surfaces are covered and it is wasting fuel .
It will cost you less $$$ to install a water softener and a new water heater .
 
I just flush it out the drain hose valve into the garden hose . I flush mine twice a year. If i don't the bottom element burns out. the water swishes it right out the hose till clean.
now to be clear, when draining while incoming water is shut off, you have to open the pop off valve to give it air to drain! 49 outta 50 people who can't figure out how to do it, miss this step. the valve has an essentric top handle and mine need to stand up straight to allow air to go in. I'm guessing if you can't figure it out, you can open a few hot water faucets in the house to allow air in that way. that's how i refill the tank, so i don't have to stand there and wait for water to rush out when tank gets full! another step i learned after messing with the drain valve to get it to shut off when done, is to install and aftermarket valve. which kind, depends on how much room you have. be sure to shut off the hot water heater when messing with it.
 

Why surprises me is so many cheap people that would rather Phart around with clogged water heater instead of installing a water softener.
 
We just got an estimate for a new water heater for a rental.
$5000 including upgrades required by code, drain pan and seismic
fastening.
 
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