Ask Me Help Desk - Tips for draining a water heater?

Tips for draining a water heater?

Hello all,

I'm running a new supply to my water heater. However, there is no drain valve at the base of the tank, or at the cold water inlet. There seems to be no way to drain the tank, short of just cutting the copper supply line.

I really need to get a hose on it somehow to get the water outside. Any tips on how I might approach this?

Thanks!

Can't imagine how old your tank is if there is no valve near the bottom to drain it. Usually, there is a bib at the bottom of the tank where you can attach a garden hose to run outside.

If you find it, shut off the water supply and open an upstairs hot water tap, then open up the drain valve.

Short of that, simply shut off the inlet water and cut the pipe. You'll be able to get it out with 4 friends and a case of beer.

Good luck

Maybe one of the older(really old) experts on this site will know about water heaters without a drain at the bottom of your tank. Are you possibly talking about a indirect fired hot water tank(boiler heated domestic water) Only water heaters I know of(other than afore mentioned) that don't have drains, would be five gallon or less water heaters.

What brand is your water heater? Gas or electric? What size?( gallon capacity)

It is indeed an indirect water heater. The brand is "Superstore Ultra". It's pretty new, I'd guess 6 years (I've been here 4). The capacity is 45 gallons.

I don't want to remove the tank, just run a new supply line. Guess I can keep the case of beer for myself ;-)

Anyway, there's no hose bib of any kind. Just trying to think of a way to drain the tank without making a huge mess so I can get on with my plumbing...

[QUOTE=;][/QU

Ok, so if it is indirect, there should be four pipes coming into the tank, one is cold potable coming in, one is hot potable going out, one is boiler supply and one is boiler return. Please describe where all pipes connect to heating tank.

That's right. Pics below.

Why are you replacing supply pipe? All you should need to do is shut off main water supply into house, replace supply pipe to water heater and turn water back on to house.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77

why are you replacing supply pipe?

Relocating some items upstream (water softener & filter) and up-sizing from 1/2 to 3/4.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77

ll you should need to do is shut off main water supply into house, replace supply pipe to water heater and turn water back on to house.

Certainly I will turn off the supply, but the problem is the 45 gallons that are in the tank now. Just thought someone might have some tips on how to deal with draining the tank in the absence of a drain valve (since there is no way to connect a hose).

Here is a picture of the water heater.
The inlet is shown here, on the left:
http://www.low-tide.com/gallery2/d/87-1/tank2.jpg
(the boiler loop is on the right)

There's the hot side:
http://www.low-tide.com/gallery2/d/85-1/tank1.jpg

Ouch, do you have a floor drain in proximity?

Hi all...

Here is what I've done in similar circumstances... ;)

I have taken a screw and screwed it into the cold water copper pipe to make a small hole... in this case I would screw into pipe about 3 inches AFTER the cold water copper pipe turns to 1/2" copper... then I have taken a large wet vac. and put it up to the hole and sucked that tank dry! You MUST open the T&P valve while doing this or at least open a hot water faucet to allow air into system...

At first, flow rate will be quite forceful... will taper off as you go.

Expect to have to drain the wet vac. Many times... just screw the screw back into the hole as you empty the wet vac. to control mess in basement.

This takes some time, but the suction of the wet vac. Will increase the speed with which this drains!

After that, install the line you need to install, but also INSTALL A NEW BOILER DRAIN!!!

Should only take about 20 minutes or so... ;)

Let me know what you think here...

PS...may be a good idea to let the water cool off a bit before doing this (shut power to this zone if possible).

MARK

Quote:

Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77

ouch, do you have a floor drain in close proximity?

If only... :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by massplumber2008

Here is what I've done in similar circumstances...;)

I have taken a screw and screwed it into the cold water copper pipe to make a small hole...

This sounds like a good idea, and fortunately I have a pretty large wet-vac. I'll give it a try.

Quote:

Originally Posted by massplumber2008

After that, install the line you need to install, but also INSTALL A NEW BOILER DRAIN!!!

Amen to that! I can't believe that my predecessor (whoever s/he was) didn't think it needed one.

Thanks for the advice.

I cannot imagine a tank w/o drain. Did you look thoroughly around the heater? It may be just a plug covered with same patch as the vinyl case of the heater making it hard to find. Look better, I bet you it is there...

Hi Milo...

Superstor indirect water heater does NOT come with a boiler drain installed... installation requires the installer to install the drain on the cold water inlet.

I guess the installer missed that in the instructions on this one... huh?

Installation manual is available here:

http://www.jupiterheating.com/pdfs/s...ion-manual.pdf

I remember the first time I installed one... I was so pissed off... had to run BACK to the supply house just to pick up a boiler drain!!

Good day all...

MARK

I can't believe the plumber never wondered why there was no drain installed. Or maybe he just didn't want to invest in another fitting.

There is only one way I can think of that will at least minimize the amount of water spillage.

Buy a 'Shark Bite' 90 and pre-install a hose bib adapter.

Cut the pipe with a pipe cutter as quickly as possible and jam the shark bite fitting over the end. You will then have control of the flow until the tank is empty.

You could use a Tee, instead of a 90 if you want to be able to re-use the fitting in your new installation, but then you will need to insert a piece of pipe with a cap to plug the open end.

Hope that helps

Hey bullet777, I didn't see your post until I was done, but that is very similar to what I ended up doing. I was in the plumbing aisle at the local hardware store and when I passed the Shark Bite display I had one of those "eureka" moments!

So I took a length of pex and stuck one end in a 1/2" shark bite coupling. The other end of the pex goes out to the yard.

Now I take a deep breath and cut the pipe. Quickly pushed the shark bite over the business end. Didn't spill much. Here's a shot of the contraption while the draining was in progress:

http://www.low-tide.com/gallery2/d/89-1/tank3.jpg
(later I rotated the whole thing CCW 90 degrees to get the last drops)

Success!

BTW, before I started I turned off the boiler and ran the water a while to get it cooled down.

Here's a photo of the new supply (and drain!) all finished:

http://www.low-tide.com/gallery2/d/91-1/tank4.jpg

Thanks everyone for all your help, you guys are great!

Cheers,
Roy

Glad you figured it out on your own. Great job on the new install by the way.

I agree, you did a great job.