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    mogeye's Avatar
    mogeye Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #1

    Jun 16, 2006, 04:38 PM
    Water heater deposits
    I have a clear gel type substance in my water heater
    I would like to know what it is
    Any help would be appreciated

    mogeye
    letmetellu's Avatar
    letmetellu Posts: 3,151, Reputation: 317
    Ultra Member
     
    #2

    Jun 16, 2006, 09:46 PM
    What part of the country are you in?? I have seen this or something similar on several occasions only what I saw was not clear it was a slightly tan color.
    If you run some of this into a pan and it has water with it does it come to the top or does it settle to the bottom of the pan.
    On the heaters I found it in I replaced them and I never heard from the people if the stuff came back or not. If it did I think they would have complained.
    I took this to the water department they did not know what it was and did not show much interest in finding out what it was
    mogeye's Avatar
    mogeye Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #3

    Jun 17, 2006, 05:54 AM
    I am in north Florida
    The substance is a clear gel that doesn't float and is in small chunks
    speedball1's Avatar
    speedball1 Posts: 29,301, Reputation: 1939
    Eternal Plumber
     
    #4

    Jun 17, 2006, 06:17 AM
    Quote Originally Posted by mogeye
    I have a clear gel type substance in my water heater
    I would like to know what it is
    any help would be appreciated

    mogeye
    Greetings from Sarasota,
    Have you flushed your heater to get it out? For long life and fewer troubles you should keep your heater clear of mineral build-up by flushing on a regular schedule. Let me show you how. Attach a hose to the boiler drain at the bottom of the tank. With the pressure on, open the boiler drain and let it run until the water runs clear. This shouldn't take more then a few minutes. Do this monthly to keep it clear.
    While I haven't run across this in waterheaters I have found in in AC condensate drain lines. Full strength bleach did the trick. If flushing didn't help try this. Shut off all power to the heater, shut the cold water supply off and drain the heater. Open a hot water faucet close to the heater to relieve air-lockwhile draining.
    Now poiur a gallon of bleach into the heater. You may do this by opening the boiler drain and attaching a washer hose to it and while holding it up pour the bleach into a funnel attached to the hose. Shut off the boiler drain and turn the water back on and fill the tank. Let it set and work for a while then drain and flush the tank.
    You should now be able to fill the tank and turn the power back on. Don't forget to open a hotwater faucet when you're filling the tank to exhaust the air.
    Good luck, Tom
    mogeye's Avatar
    mogeye Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
    New Member
     
    #5

    Jun 17, 2006, 08:30 AM
    I had already replaced the water heater
    The substance in question was in the bottom of the old water heater

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