Squintz
Senior Member
Hey guys,
I just wanted to give you guys a little safety tip and reminder. I am a new home owner and was not aware the it is recommended that you shut off your water heater and drain it once a year.
Here is why... Just last week I ran out of hot water while taking a shower. I thought nothing of it and went just got out and went to bed as usual. The next morning I noticed the while brushing my teeth the water never got hot but again I thought that maybe I just did not have the water running long enough and ignored it again. Then while at work I got a call from my wife telling me that there was no hot water.
When I came home to check on it the circuit break was not triped. I started looking around for any signs of problems and did not see any. So I took the covers off where the elements are located and the top element was fine.
Then I took the bottom cover off to access the bottom element. I nearly fainted when I realized what I was looking at. My element had actually started a fire behind that plate and burnt all of the insulation. It apeared that the fire lasted a minute or two before losing oxygen and putting its self out.
After doing a littler research I learned how to drain the tank and remove the element. While draining the tank it was very noticable why the element started a fire. There must have been 2 or three inches of sediment building up on the bottom of the tank and it had eventually reach the element and caused the resistance of the element to change from about 10 ohms to nearly 0 ohms. This cause the element to get very hot and set the wires on fire. This fire could have just as easily started inside of the wall and burned my house to the ground.
So take my advice and drain the tanks of your water heaters. Get the nasty crap out of the bottom of your tank. You may even want to consider adding a whole house filtration system if its an option.
I just wanted to give you guys a little safety tip and reminder. I am a new home owner and was not aware the it is recommended that you shut off your water heater and drain it once a year.
Here is why... Just last week I ran out of hot water while taking a shower. I thought nothing of it and went just got out and went to bed as usual. The next morning I noticed the while brushing my teeth the water never got hot but again I thought that maybe I just did not have the water running long enough and ignored it again. Then while at work I got a call from my wife telling me that there was no hot water.
When I came home to check on it the circuit break was not triped. I started looking around for any signs of problems and did not see any. So I took the covers off where the elements are located and the top element was fine.
Then I took the bottom cover off to access the bottom element. I nearly fainted when I realized what I was looking at. My element had actually started a fire behind that plate and burnt all of the insulation. It apeared that the fire lasted a minute or two before losing oxygen and putting its self out.
After doing a littler research I learned how to drain the tank and remove the element. While draining the tank it was very noticable why the element started a fire. There must have been 2 or three inches of sediment building up on the bottom of the tank and it had eventually reach the element and caused the resistance of the element to change from about 10 ohms to nearly 0 ohms. This cause the element to get very hot and set the wires on fire. This fire could have just as easily started inside of the wall and burned my house to the ground.
So take my advice and drain the tanks of your water heaters. Get the nasty crap out of the bottom of your tank. You may even want to consider adding a whole house filtration system if its an option.