Hot Water Heater Drain Faucet

handy man88

Went to drain the gas hot water tank yesterday because I don't know how good the previous owner of the house (9 years old) took care of it. There's a roiling sound whenever the fire is on. Managed to drain the tank but didn't see too much sediment.

Refilled the tank, but now there's a slow drip coming from the faucet on the bottom. Wondering if the seal did not reseat properly.

Any ideas on what to do? Can this faucet be replaced?

Mike Swearingen

You probably just have some sediment in the bottom drain faucet that isn't allowing it to seal. Attach a hose and flush it out again.
Yes, it can be replaced, but you have to turn OFF the gas and completely drain the tank to replace it, of course.
Good luck!
Mike

handy man88

How much life do you think is expected from a 9 year old AO Smith hot water heater, assuming moderate amount of maintenance was done for it?

Marlin

Ten years is considered a good run for a water heater although they can run for years longer than that.
The easiest solution is to get a cap for the boiler drain. You can get a brass one at any plumbing supply. Replacing the valve is pretty easy though. The only tricky thing about it is some water heaters use an elongated drain which no plumbing supply seems to stock. As easy solution to that is a brass nipple and a female boiler drain.

majakdragon

Hopefully, while you had the tank drained, you also flushed it. This is done by draining and then turning on the supply valve with the drain valve still open. The diptube, which takes the cold water to the bottom of the tank, will then clean the sediment from the bottom of the tank. Since the sediment is heavier than the water, it will sit on the bottom while draining. You need to get it "flowing" so it will drain.

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handy man88

Good point. I did a little bit of that, but didn't emphasize running the cold water thoroughly.

sz8

Can you just change the washer/seal?