Water Heater Drain Pan Drain completely cloged

[Fried Chicken]

As titled... I tried putting compressed air through it, no dice. I tried putting a vacuum on it, no dice. I tried poking at it, and it's completely full of dirt or something.

The issue is, I only have like 2 inches to get into it w/o moving the water heater, and I have absolutely no clue where it drains to. I don't expect I'll ever need it, but it's there for a reason, so I'd rather have it not be clogged.

Any ideas?

 

[Section VIII]

As titled... I tried putting compressed air through it, no dice. I tried putting a vacuum on it, no dice. I tried poking at it, and it's completely full of dirt or something.

The issue is, I only have like 2 inches to get into it w/o moving the water heater, and I have absolutely no clue where it drains to. I don't expect I'll ever need it, but it's there for a reason, so I'd rather have it not be clogged.

Any ideas?

Did you try using a wire coat hanger to poke to break up any dirt? It sounds like an object is stuck in the drain if it's completely clogged. Maybe a small ball?

The drain pan should drain to the exterior of the house. Some drain into a sump or crawl space (which they shouldn't).

 

[Fried Chicken]

Did you try using a wire coat hanger to poke to break up any dirt? It sounds like an object is stuck in the drain if it's completely clogged. Maybe a small ball?

The drain pan should drain to the exterior of the house. Some drain into a sump or crawl space (which they shouldn't).

I tried with a piece of copper romex, but it wasn't stout enough. I'll try the coat hanger, that's a good idea.

It must drain straight down, but the house sits on a concrete foundation. The pressure relief valve does drain, but also no clue where. Perhaps into the drain system? It's to a copper pipe.

 

[dwaugh]

I tried with a piece of copper romex, but it wasn't stout enough. I'll try the coat hanger, that's a good idea.

It must drain straight down, but the house sits on a concrete foundation. The pressure relief valve does drain, but also no clue where. Perhaps into the drain system? It's to a copper pipe.

Can you post a picture? This is a water heater? The pressure relief valve would typically drain down through a copper pipe on the side of the heater and into the a drain pan with an exposed end. The drain pan is hard piped? Into a slab?

 

[Fried Chicken]

Can you post a picture? This is a water heater? The pressure relief valve would typically drain down through a copper pipe on the side of the heater and into the a drain pan with an exposed end. The drain pan is hard piped? Into a slab?

I'll get a picture tomorrow, the hot water heater is soaking in vinegar right now in preparation for its first ever flush (~10 years old). I tried simply flushing, but the despots clogged the valve (I got it unstuck by backflowing water). The anode is removed.

 

[Fried Chicken]

So I've put myself into a pickle here.

The limescale buildup on the bottom is so bad the drain/flush valve immediately gets clogged. I had vinegar sit in it overnight but it's made seemingly no difference to the limescale, at least on the bottom near the drain valve.

I'd like to remove the drain valve and physically poke at the thing to clear it, but the basin drain is clogged, so if it frees the water will have nowhere to go. I can't move the unit b/c it's full of water that I can't get out, and I can't really do much to clear the basin drain b/c the unit is in the way.

Ideas appreciated, I have my own brewing I will try (Remove the hot water supply from the house, attach the garden hose, and flush it through there).

 

[Fried Chicken]

I could flush the tank through the hot water supply, but almost no calcium scale came out, and it doesn't solve the underlying issue.

Now I'm seeing this nifty gadget that I don't have:
https://www.amazon.com/Sediment-Buster-Cleaning-Draining-Flushing/dp/B0CNN19BTM

It might work for what I need it to, but I'm dubious. I did notice pushing water I could get it to work. There are other gadgets advertised on youtube.

 

[dwaugh]

Can you snake the drain line from the other direction?

 

[Fried Chicken]

Can you snake the drain line from the other direction?

I have no clue where the other end is

I checked the side of the house and found nothing. It might just go underneath the foundation? II just have absolutely no clue

 

[dwaugh]

If you have a fish tape for pulling wire in electrical conduit it will be stiffer than a spring type plumbing snake to clear the line from the pan side. Can you feel the clog with a wire coat hanger?

 

[Fried Chicken]

While I can't offer this forum a supporting membership, I feel I can offer some amusement.

I like the idea of the sediment buster, unfortunately it's not available locally today or even in the foreseeable future. Amazon has low stock, I don't have prime, it would ship from Florida via eBay and not be here until next Monday.


And so, I present my today solution:




The cherry on top? It cost exactly $40, the same as the Sediment Buster.


Wish me luck.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Wow. I think it actually works brilliantly. This might actually be a work of genius.


I would recommend the sediment buster over this abominable contraption, but it seems like it actually works exactly as advertised.

 

[Fried Chicken]

Update:

It worked perfectly. It worked better than perfectly. I legit thought "no way no sir no how", right up until I opened the compressed air valve and heard the air gushing and gurgling into the tank.

It didn't just work to flush the tank, it actually let me quickly drain the tank completely by pressurizing it and filling it with compressed air. Still took a while because of the stubborn deposits, but all the **** got a beating and the flow resumed. Wow. A++++++++ idea. Genuine American ingenuity.

I was legit stumped. I had no idea how I could get this to work whenever the first vinegar flush didn't do ****.

Here you can see all the sediments that came out:



and once I got the tank completely drained, I put another gallon of 9% vinegar in, and filled it from the top up to re-release any leftover sediment and do hopefully one final super flush.

This should significantly improve the efficiency of the hot water heater, and ensures I can easily do annual proper flushes as the valve shouldn't be clogged up. I have one more hot water heater to go, it's in a godforesaken location, so having built/tested this system to clean the hot water heaters, hopefully I can get it knocked out in not too much time.

 

[Fried Chicken]

If you have a fish tape for pulling wire in electrical conduit it will be stiffer than a spring type plumbing snake to clear the line from the pan side. Can you feel the clog with a wire coat hanger?

I can feel the clog with my finger. Now that I can drain the water heater properly, I can maybe move it to get some clearance