How to drain water from the water heater.

If you installed an electric water heater (boiler) at home, then, of course, you know that from it you have to systematically drain the water. This can be caused by several reasons: your long absence at home, the onset of cold weather, the need to get rid of sediment or scale, anode replacement or routine maintenance. Although it also happens that in connection with the carrying out of any repair work, the Vodokanal can periodically turn off the water supply. And as a result, you have about 100 liters of water in your apartment, and it's impossible to get to life-giving moisture. Why does this happen and how to drain water from the water heater? The boiler arrangement is such that the outlet of hot water is often located near the lid, and the flow of hot water occurs exclusively under the pressure of cold water .

To get unhindered access to the water under the ceiling, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of draining the water through an additionally installed tap. A good option is to equip the branch before the check valve, and connect it with a tee with the hot water outlet. In this case, even if the water supply is disconnected, it is possible to temporarily open an additional tap, and the water will gravitate to the hot water outlet. Now you can use this water, for household needs, for example, for washing dishes. Agree, because it is much more convenient than using a ladle to turn off the water. However, you must be extremely careful not to allow accidental activation of the boiler with the drained water. It is necessary to take as a rule, before turning on the electric water heater, it is necessary to check the presence of water in the system.

This option is far from the only one. In principle, to drain the water from the water heater at any time, you can generally reset the check valve and, without screwing it into the inlet of the water heater, install immediately after the water meter. In this case, if there is a water shut-off, the check valve will not allow the water to escape, and it will flow into the system by gravity.

However, plumbers do not approve of such a connection at all. Since the check valve is located far away, when heating in the water system, additional heat loss can occur, and when the water heater overheats, the "cold" circuit may overheat, which is highly undesirable.

Of course, in order to better understand how to drain water from a water heater, it is desirable to first study the general principles of its design. Typically, the boiler is an enamel tank (or a stainless steel tank) into which two tubes, an automatic air vent, and a heating element with a thermostat are cut. The tank itself is wrapped with a heater and inserted into an external tin case. On some models there is a built-in thermometer and a work indicator of the heater.

If you simply open the tap and turn off the boiler's power, the water from it will not completely merge. Only the part that is in the boiler above the hot water pipe (WSP) flows, so to drain the water completely, it is necessary to make sure that the air enters the tank. So, how to drain the water from the boiler?

1. Shut off the cold water supply completely.

2. Next, open the nearest hot water tap to the water heater and drain the pressure from it.

3. Using a Phillips screwdriver, unscrew the check box located on the safety valve and, before draining the water from the water heater, raise the flag by placing a water collection container under the drain valve.

4. In the event that the pressure forces in the system are sufficient to raise water, then simply drain the water.

If the water for some reason has to be drained quite often, the best option is to install the tee and faucet inlet and outlet on the water heater. Knowing how to drain water from the water heater, you can safely leave the house for a long time and not be afraid of unplanned outages.