JT! Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Basically a couple of days ago our electric water heater went out. After goggling it seemed that I just needed to replace the two elements, I suppose we've been running on one for a while now. So first thing i need to do is drain the tank so I could replace them. When I look in there, there's 3 different knobs. I'll refer to them as 1, 2 and 3. 1. Appears to turn off all the water in the house. 2. Appears to just shut off the cold water to the tank. 3. Seems to be the shutoff from the hot water pipe from the tank, although running the hot taps with this closed does not stop the (should be) hot water coming through. So naturally I shut off 2 and try to drain with a hose pipe, very very little comes out. So I open 2 and water comes out the hose very quickly as you'd expect. I think the main problem is the hose is too long, so I remove the hose and start catching the water in a tray. However with both 1 and 2 closed I think I can still feel water filling the tank back up as it empties - which it does very very slowly. If i could just get enough water out to just replace the top one that would do for now. Please help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 When you say knobs, do you mean stopcocks on the piping? Turn ALL of them off. Then look on the bottom of the tank, and there should be a drain valve. Undo that, and put the hose over this, and run the hose out (make sure the hose is lower than the tank though, or you won't empty it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD™ Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) When you're draining you have 2 closed and 1 and 3 open right? I'm no plumber, but that sounds fairly logical to me... EDIT: Erm, or what George said, which is clearly more correct. Edited March 11, 2013 by JD™ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 When you say knobs, do you mean stopcocks on the piping? Turn ALL of them off. Then look on the bottom of the tank, and there should be a drain valve. Undo that, and put the hose over this, and run the hose out (make sure the hose is lower than the tank though, or you won't empty it. Whatever one of those is. I tried what you said, very very little comes out if anything at all. When you're draining you have 2 closed and 1 and 3 open right? I'm no plumber, but that sounds fairly logical to me... EDIT: Erm, or what George said, which is clearly more correct. I don't even know what 3 does, not sure if it's open or closed right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 So with 1 and two both off and both not leaking, water is draining but only with the pressure thing in it's upright position (the position you're not supposed to have it at when in use). Only problem is I have no idea if it's refilling with water or actually draining, and I have no way of knowing the water level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arw_86 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) Is it a hot water cylinder? Do you have tanks in the loft? If you do you just need to lift out the water level arm (like the ones in your toilet) if not then I take it this water usually comes out of the taps. You are trying to drain a tank with only one a way for water to leave but no air to go in. That's why it comes out slow. First off I would say shut off feed to tank, leave exit from tank open. Open all hot taps, especially ones below the tank level. Water will only empty to same level as the lowest exit, ie-tap. Sorry if that's confusing. This is quickest way to empty a tank. At first it will seem that the taps are just running but should soon slow. Then attach a hose to the bottom of the tank to drain last bits, if you need it all empty. Also remember old taps and valves sieze a lot. So might need a tap with a spanner. Or sometimes they totally seize and never turn off. Sorry if I have confused you. I've done only a few heating systems before. Also, turn the electric off Edited March 11, 2013 by arw_86 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I'ts not in the loft it's on the ground level, I have no access to any of the internals. Once I stop the water from going into the tank the hot water taps don't work at all. I believe it's the cold water that forces out the hot water. It's still draining, but if it isn't done in the next 20 mins I'm going to turn it all back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arw_86 Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Wish I could come see it. Hard as there are quite a few variations of system. I'd still keep taps open then, and attach the hose to the bottom of the tank making sure where possible it runs down hill, or level. Just not uphill. The flow may increase a little as air can flow in through taps. If its already flowing its a bit late. But giving the hose a suck usually starts a flow (like getting fuel out of a tank) I hope I've helped but I'm no expert. Good luck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Wood Posted March 11, 2013 Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Pics might help identify it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 I turned it all back on and took a good few mins to fill back up, i'll get a multi meter from work tonight as I want to make 100% sure I'm not going to die and drain it for as long as it takes. I'll be back if I have any more problems with pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 Thanks for the help everyone, sorry for the absolutely shittiest mood ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Sounds like you need a plumber! You do know you need a special spanner to take the element out? Also, if the tank is at ground level, you are going to really struggle to empty it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 (edited) Draining now, though slowly, the problem was is I didn't lock the pressure lever into place so there was no air getting in their to replace the water. I'm now pretty sure it isn't filling back up with water. I have one of these but no idea to use it, what would I set it to to measure if the elements have power over them? I tried setting it to 20 AC but it read 0.04 then dropped to zero. Edited March 12, 2013 by JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 You really really need to get somebody who knows what they're doing to do the job dude. If you don't even know how to use a multimeter, you are going to end up hurting yourself. Plus, like I said, you need a special spanner to get the element out of the tank anyway...have you looked at that yet? If you drain the tank beforehand, and supply all the parts, it will be an hours labour at the very most. Most of the callouts I do to change elements, 90% of the callout is spent waiting for the tank to drain. I don't mean this in a nasty way, so please don't take it the wrong way...but it's people like you that are the reason Part P etc were bought in. People "having a go" often make a job a whole lot worse, and I have seen jobs which your average Joe have done themselves, which are quite frankly bloody dangerous! To the extent of one house actually burning down due to dodgy wiring. Remember; water and electricity is a BAD mix!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 (edited) I kinda know what I'm doing, i'm just being ultra cautious because I don't fully know what I'm doing. When i replace the elements, which I can get out with just a a pair of vice grips by the looks of it, I'm going to be shutting all the power off in the house, but I just wanted to make sure that the heater isn't wired in before the breaker, which is this f**ked up house could be a possibility. But I realized that I'm not going to get a 240v reading over a dead element, the reading on one wire going into an element was 1 volt, then when i shut the power off, everything is zero. So I'll just shut all the power off just to be super safe. Edit: All i'm doing is replacing two heating elements, 4 wires in total. It's not like I'm installing a electric heated shower or something. Edited March 12, 2013 by JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 You'd be surprised how tight the elements are! The spanner I use has a hexagon which slots over the element, and a handle which is a good 2 foot long, even then its an all-your-weight job. Copper and steel tend to corrode together and make a f**king tight bond! And if it really is that tight, unless you apply even pressure, you can shatter the cyliner. Be careful! A wise man once said "a little knowledge is far worse than no knowledge"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 If I have that much of an issue I'll just have to buy the correct tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 ...which would probably be more expensive than a plumber, lol! Meh, there's no telling some people. Good luck! I await the "We have no hot water" or "My house is flooded" thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 This is a "We have no hot water thread". Haha. It's not that I can't be told. But this is TF, someone wants to replace their chain we advise them to do it themselves. I think changing the elements is just something that falls under the general maintenance category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weebryan Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 I had my element out to clean and could not screw it out but mines is mounted on a flange so took that off To drain tank need to switch off cold supply to heater tank and if you look outside house you should see pipes sticking out of the wall one is the overflow for toilet and there will be one for tank to drain to outside and just disconnect wires to elements, do a resistance check over elements should be around 60-80 ohns if a 800w element Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 One is 3500W the other is 4500w. Tank has been draining for hours now, most with the hose, now I'm collecting it in a trey and scooping it out. Almost down to a trickle. There's a shitload of water in there. Wish there was some way to find the water level in the thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 If its slowed down that much, take the top element out, the air pressure will quickly push the rest of it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Sounds like a plan, I'll give that a try and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted March 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Yep you were right, they wouldn't budge, although I couldn't get enough force behind it before the spanner slipped off. Also the external echo BB tool doesn't not fit for future reference. I'll have to get the right tool. Only cost $6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george_seamons Posted March 12, 2013 Report Share Posted March 12, 2013 Hmmmm...maybe you have different elements over there...most in the uk are about 4" wide, can't imagine a BB tool being that wide! Just looked on ebay for "immersion heater spanner", seems you can get them for around £6, but they all look REALLY weedy compared to what I use (we're talking a sold 1" bar welded to the hexagon head with webbing to distribute the force. Got to be worth a go for £6 though I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.