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Old 11-20-2013, 02:02 PM   #1
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X17Z tip - get yourself a extra 30+ pounds of CCC

Hey Gang,

My yellow sticker lists my camper as 3100 pounds with full propane. So if I add the 50 pound battery and 50 pounds of water in the hot water heater, I'm left with only 300 pounds of CCC. Which is pretty awful all things considered.

Just thought I'd throw a tip in here. Given the woefully low amount of CCC available to us on the X17Z, I decided to install one of those brass spinner valves on my hot water heater instead of using that plastic discharge plug.

I can now open up the valve super easy and drain out the hot water heater before getting underway. Doesn't seem like much, but when you only have around 300 pounds of CCC that 30 pounds is 10% for free. Might be the equivalent of most of the fridge when loaded.

I read in the hot water heater manual that when you drain the tank there is around 2 gallons of water expected to remain. I wonder if you drain the tank w/ the water pump on if it will empty most of the remaining two gallons? That would give us closer to 50 pounds back !!!
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Old 11-20-2013, 02:47 PM   #2
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S1n,
Yeah, that's a pretty low cargo allowance. I think your water heater is an Atwood since you mention the plastic drain plug. Since the tank is Aluminum and the valve is brass do you think there will be any corrosion problems? Dissimilar metals and all that jazz. I keep a socket in the toolbox attached to an appropriate extension allowing me to remove my plug at trip-end. I also keep a couple of spares handy since they seem pretty easy to cross-thread.
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Old 11-20-2013, 02:52 PM   #3
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Yep,
I would make sure I put several wraps of teflon tape on that brass valve.
I would be surprised if there's more than 1 quart of water left after draining HW tank.

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Old 11-20-2013, 03:08 PM   #4
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Terrific idea to get our rig 30 pounds lighter ! I'm going to do this also.
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Old 11-20-2013, 08:03 PM   #5
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If you want to avoid filling the hot water heater, just turn the bypass valves to winterizing position.
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Old 11-20-2013, 08:51 PM   #6
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My wife and I do not run with any water in the 17Z. We make sure the HW tank is empty after each trip. Every pound counts!

It actually has become somewhat of a game with us. How light can we make the trailer -- what neat thing could we get to make our load lighter? I started out as an engineer in the aerospace industry, so this goes along with that thinking anyway.

It also makes us minimize. Some of our camping buddies carry all kinds of crap they don't need -- heavy stuff. We enjoy the simpler set up and that allows us to get onto the trails with the bikes that much faster!
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Old 11-21-2013, 08:18 AM   #7
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I've wrapped that valve w/ a lot of Teflon tape. I've watched it under pressure for days - I get nary a drip out of it so I'm happy w/ the mod. I learned all about the importance of teflon tape when I had a above ground pool. Lots of pressure going through those pipes; I never had any idea just how much teflon you can put on the threads until I spent a afternoon eliminating ALL the drips !!!
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Old 11-25-2013, 11:53 PM   #8
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X17Z tip - get yourself a extra 30+ pounds of CCC

Quote:
Originally Posted by RedHorse1 View Post
S1n,
Yeah, that's a pretty low cargo allowance. I think your water heater is an Atwood since you mention the plastic drain plug. Since the tank is Aluminum and the valve is brass do you think there will be any corrosion problems? Dissimilar metals and all that jazz. I keep a socket in the toolbox attached to an appropriate extension allowing me to remove my plug at trip-end. I also keep a couple of spares handy since they seem pretty easy to cross-thread.
What size socket do you need to remove the nylon plug? Thanks!
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Old 11-26-2013, 07:33 AM   #9
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What size socket do you need to remove the nylon plug? Thanks!
I can't remember - I just brought a sleeve of sockets out to the camper and went with whatever fit.
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Old 11-26-2013, 08:10 AM   #10
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Quote:
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What size socket do you need to remove the nylon plug? Thanks!
On my Atwood, it is a 15/16 socket. I use a 1/2" ratchet with an extension and it works perfectly.
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