Boat has been on the hard for 5 months. Water heater was winterized. The last two years we now get foamy, smelly water from the hot water taps for several minutes, Then it clears. Hot water temperature is fine. Is there a way to flush the water heater to get rid of the smelly water? Is the winterizing the cause of the problem? Any thoughts?
The cause of it is that no new water has circulated in it.
Yes, it can be cleaned.
I had that problem. I opened the sink hot water faucet to let air into the water heater, then opened the valve at the bottom of the water heater to drain the water into buckets to dump overboard. This does not remove all the water. To remove the remaining 1 gallon I removed the electric heater element.. This makes a mess as there is no way to catch the water.
Then I reassembled the heater element and filled the water heater with 5 gallons of water that I had added 2 table spoon of chlorox. I let it sit there for an hour and drained the water as above. I repeated 2 more times.
Then I flushed it with fresh water 3 times. The smell went away .
Now add one table spoon of chlorox to the water tank when I fill with water to kill any bacteria.
Sail La Vie 1999 Catalina 36 MKII, M35B-17031, Coyote Point, San Mateo, CA
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