Clogged Hot Water Lines

[carpmike]

The down rod in my old water heater (I recently replaced it) began corroding and leaked into the hot water lines. Many people in my neighborhood had the same problem with their water heater (installed by the builder). I was able to flush the corrosion out of all but 2 of my lines by removing the screens from the faucets and running the water until they cleared. However, this didn't work for my kitchen sink and master bathroom shower. I only get a trickle of hot water from the kitchen sink, and the master bathroom is reduced but not too bad (we still use it). What I'd like to know is should I start taking things apart to find the problem? Is it possible to snake the lines to remove the clog?

FYI - I have limited plumbing experience - I can fix a toilet or replace a water heater, but haven't done much else.

Thanks very much for any help!

mike

[HayZee518]

by the "down rod" do you mean the sacrificial anode that screws into the tank? this is nothing more than a zinc rod that "coats" the tank if a scratch develops on the inside of the liner. or do you mean the "dip tube" that channels the cold water to the bottom of the tank? free ions of zinc in solution wouldn't block your faucet, I'd be more inclined to believe mineral deposits from hard water. are your lines galvanized iron? this would explain clogs inside. scale builds up within galvanized pipes. the mineral deposits wouldn't have much effect on copper lines.

[carpmike]

Thanks for the response HayZee518.

It is the dip tube. The stuff coming out of my faucets almost looked like broken up pvc (flakes). Others in my neighborhood had the same problem - there was even a class-action lawsuit against the builder for putting in bad water heaters but this was before I owned the house.

The lines in my house are copper.

[HayZee518]

ok, this is probably "after the fact" but shut off the gas or electric to your tank. open all the faucets in your house and open the tank drain. when all the water is out of the tank, unscrew the "boiler" drain that's the valve you just opened and run the cold water only to flush out any remainder of dip tube out. those broken up pieces get swirled around in the tank and eventually makes its way into the hot water lines. this may flush out those particles.

[carpmike]

Thanks again for the response.

I have actually replaced the water heater with the problem (about a month ago) and have since flushed all the lines - I took all the screens/attachments off the faucets and ran both the hot and cold through them. The hot water line for my kitchen sink did not improve (it still trickled out). The other lines cleared the gunk out and are ok.

[HayZee518]

OK, so let's unclog your kitchen fixture. Shut off both angle or striaght stops. Those are the valves under your sink. Loosen and remove the sink tailpieces. (3/8" chromed tubes) rod it out with a small coathanger wire. Next take apart your sink fixture. A delta faucet requires a 1/8" allen wrench to remove the handle. Use a channel lock plier with some tape over the jaws and unsrew the bonnet cap. be careful of the "O" rings and remove the ball. Look inside and remove the rubber seats and springs. Now blow some air through the faucet to blow out anything inside the ball seat. use the coat hanger wire and see if anything comes out of the ball seat area. try it on the ball itself. now reverse assemble it and try it with water pressure.