# Draining Water Heater - Minimal Clearance at drain



## kdrymer (Jul 1, 2015)

Hello - I have an electric hot water heater that has a drain pan underneath it (to catch any water leakage) and has a drain pipe attached to discharge water. I would like to flush the water heater to remove old sediment and I would like to hook a garden hose up directly to the faucet (spigot) at the bottom of the tank, however with the drain pan underneath, I do not have enough clearance to connect the male end of the garden hose to the faucet. I have been looking for some type of flexible male connector that may fit given the tight space I have to work with but haven't come across anything that will work. 

I realize the drain pan may seem like the obvious choice to use to discharge the water given that it has a discharge pipe, but I wanted to try to avoid getting any water in the drain pan that may seep under the water heater and eventually cause corrosion, the drain is about 1.5 inches higher than the bottom of the pan, so the pan would need to hold water until it reached that point.

I purchased a 90 degree elbow hose connector to make it easier to connect a hose to the spigot, do you suggest running a small hose over to the drain connected to the pan to discharge the water? I would rather run the garden hose out of the house through a window however then the hose would be elevated upward through a window and wouldn't flow out. I see there are manual siphon pumps (http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_14357522753058&key=a8b3db45c5a4f36e59ba21e41d544c09&libId=ibkpmblv0100zhv3000DA1g6qxw2f7uwvw&subId=66&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.doityourself.com%2Fforum%2Fwater-heaters%2F530456-flushing-hot-water-heater-drain-pan-no-clearance-spigot-connection.html%23post2432044&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.simplygoodstuff.com%2Fslide_n_pump.html&title=Flushing%20Hot%20Water%20Heater%20with%20drain%20pan%20-%20No%20clearance%20for%20spigot%20connection%20-%20DoItYourself.com%20Community%20Forums&txt=Slide%20N%20Pump%20-%20Manual%20Water%20Siphon but not sure how well it would work in this situation, or if there is a better solution...

Any recommendations on either a pump that would work well in this situation or another approach to draining the water heater would be appreciated!


----------



## CallMeVilla (Jul 2, 2015)

Have you considered simply turning the hose bib 180 degrees to make it accessible to your drain hose?  Just put your wrench to it and turn it clockwise.


----------



## frodo (Jul 2, 2015)

after you drain the heater,  unscrew the drain, disgard the cheesey plastic crap

buy a 3/4''x6'' brass nipple and a boiler drain...install..this will bring drain out past pan

or

set water heater on 4 bricks


----------



## beachguy005 (Jul 3, 2015)

You have a couple of issues.  The pan and drain isn't for draining the the tank but there to drain any water the drips out of the pressure relief valve.
Running a hose out the window is ok but the debris from the bottom of the tank would need to be forced out with the water supply pressure open.
Your tank should be sitting on bricks, I prefer the round patio block about the same diameter as the tank.  That way any water in the pan won't rust the bottom of the tank and your drain valve will be above the pan making it easier to connect a hose.
You may be able to siphon any left over water out but with the supply off you'll need to vent the tank through the pressure relief valve so air can displace the water.


----------



## frodo (Jul 4, 2015)

do not use the  P&T valve to vent the heater, open a sink faucet.


----------



## slownsteady (Jul 5, 2015)

if possible, get a hose that's long enough to reach a door rather than run it thru a window (assuming the WH is on a slab or walk-out basement). Or possibly run the hose to your sump if you have one. If you can get a wrench on it, CMV's idea will get it done. You only need to turn it 90 degrees to make it work, and even if it leaks a little, it would be ok for this purpose. You could always tighten it back up afterwards.


----------

