Maybe, but there are other ways to provide the safety, like a removable handle. Little hands already have access to lots of tempting valves and dangerous knobs in the house. I think it is more likely that the water heater maker knows that most people are not going to mess with the drain valve.

Guess we will do what we have always done with our water heater, nothing. We purchased our house that was already 10 years and most likely original homeowner did what we do.

Join the crowd. If I have 10 year old water heater I sure wouldn’t open the drain valve. Why? Won’t do no good cause it won’t get the chunks out and probably leak.

Yes, couldn’t remember the name and too lazy to look it up. I can tell you didn’t Work in Oklahoma on well water.

Depends on the maker, I had some with knobs in pass years. Probably from law suit??????

:bigbow:

I went through the dilemma 6 months ago. Have Gas hot water heater and had not drained it in 14 years. Was hearing strange thumping noises when water heater started heating. Thought the worse and heard about potential leaking valve after draining. decided to drain and change valve. Watched UTUBE how tos and went to work.

To drain , you are supposed to shut off the cold water inlet, turn the gas valve to pilot, connect hose, and open drain valve, and hot water spigots. Yes it takes a screwdriver which is in fact a safety precaution to prevent accidental opening.

To my surprise, opening the drain valve did not allow any water out. After thinking fo a while I decided to open the cold water inlet. That pressure started the drain process. After it started , I again closed the cold water inlet and it continued to drain.

Recall, that my plan was to change the drain valve. Once I removed the drain valve, I used a flashlight to view the inside of the tank through the opening. I found that the bottom of the tank was still loaded with a milky sludge. It took about six 1 minute purges by turning on the cold water inlet to clear the tank.

Long story but the point is that unless you drain the tank periodically, that sludge is there mixing with your hot water. It may not be harmful , but it can't be good. Since then have helped neighbors drain without changing valve using same system. Have not encountered drain valve leaks. If one was dripping , a cap would stop a small leak.

Very good. Did you also test the T&P (temperature and pressure) safety relief valve to see if it is functional? It is at the top of the tank and you lift up the metal lever to test it. Water should flow out through the discharge pipe. When I replaced an old gas water heater a few years ago, the relief valve was frozen shut. If you don't have an expansion tank, it is especially important that the relief valve is functional.

Yep, it worked fine, as it did when my expansion tank failed. I actually opened it to help the water tank drain.

Did you get Any small chunks of calcium out? Few years back where I lived was on well water and water heaters rarely lasted 10 years. With metals In The water it created crusty rusty looking particles and eventually rotted out at bottom and caused pin holes leak. The one I cut open I didn’t know how long it was installed, it was almost half full of rocky crunchy deposits. The water was soft, but full of metals. I had system to remove the metals, but made the water hard. At time there was no system that would do both back then.

Yes have used the cap here when I drained the water heater when i brought. The valve leaked when after I drained it. After year I just replaced it cause it was doing the thumping and crackling.

I just hook hose up and open the drain valve for minute to drain. city water not bad as well water..

Supposedly the new water heaters circulate better so the calcium/ milky stuff won’t build up as bad? We see?

Don’t all water heaters down here have the expansion tanks?

No. The current plumbing code requires new houses to have an expansion tank, but there are many older houses in The Villages that were built before the current code was in effect. One problem is that, when a plumber replaces a water heater in one of those older houses, they don't automatically install an expansion tank. This is because it is a lot easier to just replace the water heater. They don't want to do the extra work required to re-pipe the system and make space for an expansion tank and/or the homeowner doesn't want to spend the extra money. But, the plumber should advise the homeowner that the expansion tank is really needed. Technically, this may satisfy the current plumbing code because replacing a water heater is not a major renovation, so they call it a repair. Even so, I would recommend spending the extra money and get an expansion tank when you buy a new water heater.