Hot Water Flush

DutchmenSport wrote:
The same thing happens in our home water heater too. That lime build up can grow several inches deep in the bottom of a home water heater. That's why is recommended to flush your home water heater every so often. If that lime build up gets high enough to touch the bottom heating element, the heating element will short out. That's usually the sing its time for a new water heater, as that lime build up is almost impossible to flush out once it gets that high.

Then what once started out as a 75 pound water heater, now weighs 175 pounds because of all the lime in the bottom.

In an RV, flushing that lime build up out regularly is a good thing, and should not be overlooked. If the build up reaches the heating element, it will short out in an RV too. And the distance between the bottom of the tank and that element is not very much.

I flush mine with an old water hose used on the back of a washing machine. I simply cut it about 12 inches long. It's the perfect size to fit in the RV water heater drain hole.

And oh... by the way ... Lime is in water everywhere. It's just in some places, it's more concentrated than others. So if you think being on city water opposed to a well reduces the lime and calcium in the water, sorry to bust your bubble, it might be less, but it's still there. It just takes longer to build up in your water heater since its not so concentrated.

Our water heater in our last home was a Jackson one with a lifetime warranty. I replaced the heating elements a couple of times, all covered with lime. It was using a lot of energy to heat water.
Had to replace it. It weighed near 500 lbs and was all we could to get it out. Looking through the heating rod holes and drain port, you could see a vry large solid white mass of lime, or one huge rock.
We had excellent well water. Put a whole house filter on it which won't stop dissolved lime but will get the tiny flaks you see and they will gather some dissolved lime and it ends up on the filter.