Rusty water and debris from tub spout


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Old 06-19-13, 08:24 AM
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Rusty water and debris from tub spout

My house has a jetted tub in the master bathroom.

We havent used it because the controls dont work (jacuzzi magic touch) and I cant seem to figure out the problem.

Anyways, my wife wanted to just take a bath, but when we turned on the hot water it was very rusty, and lots of debris came out, it looked like corroded brass chunks (teal) and black/dark red specks

I had noticed that my water heater was popping/banging so I figured there was sediment buildup, so I decided to drain the water heater and then backflush the system from that tub.

Well not much came out of crud came out of the water heater, and when I backflushed it, there didnt seem to be so much water coming out of the water heater drain.

Any ideas?

Thanks
 
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Old 06-19-13, 08:30 AM
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If there was low flow out of the drain it's because there's so much build up it's plugging the valve.
How old is it?
 
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Old 06-19-13, 11:43 AM
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When I just drain the water heater, it barely flows, I have to crack teh relief valve for it to flow out normally, but when I tried to back flush it, just a little was coming out, and that tube has a lot of flow, Im curious if there is a check valve or something

The water heater is from 2004
 
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Old 06-19-13, 12:35 PM
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No check valve. What do you mean by back flush? You didn't try to force water from a garden hose into the drain to fill the heater did you?

Normally you drain with WH supply off, then turn water on and try to flush anything else you can. You always need to open the relief or a hot faucet somewhere to break the vacuum when draining.
 
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Old 06-19-13, 12:36 PM
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The drain valve on water heaters easily clogs with sediment. One method is to replace it with a 1/4 turn ball valve. Another, albeit wet method, is to stick something up into the drain valve to break away the clog. I have wire and a large plastic wire tie just for the job. Open the valve all the way and/or you can even unscrew and remove the valve cap for better access. Then poke up inside. When you clear the clog it will sputter and spray and often clog again. Just keep at it until you can get a nice steady stream for several minutes.
 
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Old 06-19-13, 12:44 PM
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Meant to say...back when I was growing up we had very hard well water. Probably once a year my Dad had to replace an element and he'd use a special tool (teaspoon riveted to a stick...real high tech) to clean out all the junk. Still have the spoon with a hole in the handle.
 
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Old 06-19-13, 02:35 PM
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Gunguy45: No check valve. What do you mean by back flush? You didn't try to force water from a garden hose into the drain to fill the heater did you?

Normally you drain with WH supply off, then turn water on and try to flush anything else you can. You always need to open the relief or a hot faucet somewhere to break the vacuum when draining.
No I didnt put water into the water heater.

what I did was completely turn off the water heater, then let it cool off
then I let the hot lines empty out, then I capped the spout and turned on the cold water for the tube and let the cold water run up the hot water lines, I think I should have let it fill up from the bottom then drain
 
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Old 06-19-13, 02:44 PM
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Thanks Pilot dave, that sounds like it might be a better alternative than the tap style valve on there right now
 
 

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