TT Indirect WH question,

Unknown

I have a TT indirect Smart 40,, but there is no bottom drain for flushing the potable side.

It IS equipped with the dip-tube "back-siphon" sediment faucet drain but I can`t believe this is adequate for a proper flushing.

If a customer is on a well system, and wants to maintain his tank what`s he to do?



Even "bladder-type" well system expansion tanks have proved themselves sediment-free(if properly mounted), with bottom outlet & inlet.



These  SS tanks cost so much anyway, what would the extra cost be just to provide the tapping at the bottom? I would think it could save some warranty claims.



Opinions?   ;-)  

Ron Jr._3

Tank in tank design

With the potable water part of the indirect suspended inside the boiler water part of the tank , a bottom drain for the domestic is out of the question I'd assume .



From what I undestand , the TT is self flushing . But you're right in that you'll never get all the stuff that accumulates on the bottom if you try to siphon it out of the cold pipe . For me it's been hit and miss when I try the siphon to change out a tank . More times than not I stick a copper dip tube in there and pump it out . Lucked out a few weeks ago when my own Plus 30 started leaking . I was able to siphon it most of the way out from the outside hose bib .



Are there any types of cleaners specifically made to flush out water heaters ? We used Cascade washer soap in some stone lined tanks to get rid of cement residue and it worked pretty well .  

Steamhead

We like to install

sediment filters with new water heaters. Very few people actually drain their tanks, so this helps keep them clean. Also keeps sediment from mucking up other parts of the system. 

Jean-David Beyer

a bottom drain for the domestic is out of the question

I am not a professional, but I have studied the way my W-M indirect fired water is designed, and agree that a bottom drain does not seem practical.  These are said to be the same as Triangle Tube indirects. Mine was made in Belgium.



It is a tank within a tank design, with the domestic hot water in the inner tank. The inner tank is built like an accordion so it can expand and contract a bit as the water pressure difference between the tanks varies. So unless you have some kind of accordion flex pipe between the bottom of the tank and the drain valve, you are in trouble.  Maybe some manufacturer could make a heater that way, but mine does not.



One advantage of this design is that the flexing dislodges the scale that might form on the walls of the inner tank on the domestic side, and lets it fall to the bottom, so it is sort-of self cleaning. But other than siphoning the water out, I do not know how to get the scale out. Perhaps less scale forms because the temperature in the outer water jacket is only about 190F, a lot lower than the temperature of a gas flame in a gas-fired direct hot water heater. Perhaps the scale is fine enough that if you force the water out; i.e,. hook a drain hose on the drain cock at the top and turn the cold water input full on, it could agitate the sediment enough that it would flow out the drain. Perhaps the sediment accumulates slowly enough that the as a maintenance procedure.



Your idea of putting a copper dip tube in there (as close to the bottom as practical) and pumping it out seems to be a good one. As a homeowner, I would not care to do that, but as part of an annual service for my boiler, I could request that that be done.

LeadvilleGuy

IDHW WM VS TT

They W-M and the TT IDHW are exactly the same, I was at the TT facility in New Jersey last week and they were doing both off the same assembly line.

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)

shedding tank

The tank grows/shrinks and is supposed to, therefore, not allow sediment to cling or build up. A bottom drain would be an anchor-point subject to shipping and operational stress. If one would fail, a pony-pump could be used with its own attached tubing to suck out any remaining liquids. For toss-aways, a hole drilled through the tanks would make short work of the process!

hot_rod

bottom drains

really don't allow heavy sediment to flush out any ways. It tends to just plug the valves. Best to keep the sediment out to begin with or clean them with a Muck Vac every so many years if you are not treating the water.



With a tank in tank design the heat transfer may not be as compromised as it is in a finned coil design that can trap the scale in the fins..



hr