I have a gas hot water heater that is approximately 7 years old and has always worked perfectly. This past weekend, I noticed a drip had developed at the hot water outlet located at the bottom of the water heater. There was plenty of pressure and hot water before "my fix"...

At the top of the water heater, I tried to turn off the water supply but the knob would not close the valve, it just spun. So, I cut the old valve off and replaced with a Sharkbite valve, that solved that problem.

So with the water turned off to the water heater, I hooked up a hose to the drain fitting to empty the tank. Water barely trickled out. I removed the lower fitting which looked like a cast or galvanized material and noticed it was very clogged with rust (?). I poked the rust out with a screw driver, poked out the clog on the water heater outlet pipe.

After I hooked everything back up, I had almost no water pressure or hot water after allowing time for the tank to refill and heat up several hours. The next morning there was still no pressure or hot water, only cold water with strong pressure.

I drained the tank again, let some ewater flow through the tank and out the outlet, looked clear. So I figured it was now working good.

This morning the problem still existed... Very little pressure and room temperature water...

After reading several posts, it sounds like a clog somewhere in the system.

Can someone tell me how to purge the hot water line or maybe if something else to try to restore my hot water?

Thanks!
Rich