Tank manufacturers should design tanks so they are easier to service.

THANK YOUUUUU!  I did this friday 5/15 at noon.  Put in new elements at top and bottom and BAM! HOT WATER IN ABOUT AN HOUR! Of course I had some plumber come out and say we need to replace the entire unit at $2500...but thanks to this video...we are back in business!

Worked for me, thanks for making this video!  One extra tip: i went ahead and removed the top element too and shined my light there.  i could then peek into the bottom hole and it would be easy to see what was left in there.

My landlord does this to all the apartment water heaters and told me he’s not had to replace a total water heater in over a decade because of this...and it reduces the amount of elements burning out as well...one of these water heaters can last for a lot longer if properly maintained ....exactly like this guys doing

I've been using this method a few years now. To help break up the large pieces I add warm vinegar to the bottom of the tank with a funnel and let it sit a while. Then alternate between the shop vac and flushing with water straight from my pressure tank and out the drain port on the tank to my sump pump. I replaced the drain port with a 3/4 valve

GREAT work. You just saved that lady about 1500 bucks. Good job!

I found your video the morning after we did something similar. We sacrificed the end of a garden hose and connected it to my shop vac with a lot of tape. It worked the same and cleaned out years worth of junk!

Beats the heck out of listening to that senseless popping and crackling every time you use hot water.

The only part I think is sketchy is using the prybar to poke around in there.  If it chips the enamel/glass coated interior, you are looking at a early failure.  Otherwise, great idea with the shop-vac.

Glad I saw this video. Had to do exactly what you showed today because there was so much sediment that barely any water was flowing out of drain spigot.

I just turn power or gas and water supply off.  Then remove supply line, drain about 2 gallons out with the t&p valve. Replace with distilled vinegar, let stand for a few hours. Flush with fresh water until no more vinegar smell, easy and simple ever couple years depending on how hard the water is.

I wish you show how you made the adaptor to fit on the hose.  I’ll figure it out. Very ingenious.  👍🏻

This is the best video I have seen yet.

Thanks for posting this. It worked better than anything else I’ve tried. Cleanest my water heater has been since I bought it!

That looks like what my urologist did one time with my kidney stones

Good trick with the 3/4" clear tube and shop vac!

I've been doing that for over 30 years but my last clean out had been 10 years worth and it was over 24" deep and had even burned the upper element out and also had solidified so even if you tried to break it up it just clogged the hose up. I ended up trying 5 gallons of white vinegar and letting it soak for 24 hours occasionally breaking up lime and it dissolved it enough that I could even get the bottom element out too which was frozen in the tank for 10 years. I saved the price of a new 35 gallon hot water tank because it then vacuumed out completely with only an occasional clog in the hose. It now works as new with both element again.

Putting CLR in the water Heater will help dissolve the lime chunks After vacuuming it out  then flush water through the water heater to remove the CLR residue

Funny, we have a lot of the same tools and shop vac.  Best preventative maintenance is to actually drain the tank occasionally.  I haven't been diligent about doing that on mine and my tank is about 4 years old at this point.  I probably need to give it a good inspection one day.  I don't even own the house, just a renter, but I still try to keep up on things so I don't have to wait on the landlord to fix it if it breaks.

very clever! soak the element in white vinegar and it will look brand new.