Draining Water Heater

[clonkel]

Although it was some time ago I think I remember that on our last van I just opened the drain tap and the water in the heater was emptied. On this van I opened the drain tap and nothing happened until I put the pump on. Am I getting confused and I do need to put the pump on each time to drain the water heater?

thank you

 

[Andacami]

Is it a drain tap on the boiler, or is it in line with the water feed to/from the boiler?

It sounds like it's an inline frost valve you have now which will drain what is in the pipes; turning on the pump is then pumping under pressure, the water from the tank straight out of the frost valve.

A photo would help as would mention of what boiler you have.

 

[ontheroadagain]

You will need to open a tap (at the sink) to let the air in so that the water can come out.
Make sure the tap is set to the hot position.
Ours is slow to drain too so I open the drain valve, open a tap and then take it for a drive which seems to shake the remainder of the water out.

 

[clonkel]

Andacami Thank you. The drain hole is on the water heater itself below the van. The tap is separate from the boiler so I 'guess' that means inline. Would I also need to drain the boiler? It is a Whale heater

ontheroadagain Thank you. Yes that worked great

I had to drain it slightly as when we were away for the first time this weekend I noticed a puddle when we were about to leave. It was from the water heater. I called the dealer and they said to turn the drain tap a few times to 'reseat' the drain as it was a new van. I was skeptical but it worked!

thank you

 

[Nikwilko]

Although it was some time ago I think I remember that on our last van I just opened the drain tap and the water in the heater was emptied. On this van I opened the drain tap and nothing happened until I put the pump on. Am I getting confused and I do need to put the pump on each time to drain the water heater?

thank you

Have the same whale underfloor heater and it won't drain without taps open and the pump running.
I turn off power to pump, then open both mixer taps to mid position then drain down the fresh tank till it's empty.
Open the whale drain Nothing comes out usually, then I turn power to pump back on for short time so don't overheat the pump. A few cycles of the pump gets the heater drained.

Cycling the drain valve open / closed seems a common quoted fix to reseat the valve or flush limescale/grit.
Having removed mine which got almost impossible to hold pressure when hot I found the spring loading which keeps the valve closed to be greatly reduced when compared to new part. The o-rings where not damaged or worn and the only limescale build up was on the outside of the drain. The part is fairly cheap and worth keeping a spare, once they start needing cycling it's life's limited.

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[clonkel]

Cycling the drain valve open / closed seems a common quoted fix to reseat the valve or flush limescale/grit.

Nikwilko thank you