Flushing Hot Water Tank

[Mody n Domy]

I removed the drain plug and drained out the hot water tank and didn't get any solids out. I then took a 3/8" clear hose about 18" long and shoved it into the drain and used a water hose to flush water in to the tank 3 or 4 times pulling the hose out to drain I still didn't get any solids out. The 3/8" tube was curved so I stuck it in the tank so it pointed to the bottom of the tank and used the hose to blast water through the tube. When I took the water hose off of the tube it started to siphon water from the bottom of the tank and I was shocked at how much solids that got siphoned out I repeated this about 5 times moving the tube across the bottom of the tank. I got about 1/4 cup of junk out of the tank.

[CaptainGeezer]

If you really want to do a good job of it, fill the tank with a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water. Then heat it up and let it sit until the water cools off to a comfortable temp (so you don't get burned) and redo the procedure you did to start with. The vinegar will loosen up a lot of scale for you to flush out. I just did mine and was amazed (and a little shocked) at how much junk I got out of there.

[dons2346]

Now that you have cleaned the tank, you will have hot water quicker and it will be hotter

I clean mine once a year