Water Heater Drain Upgrade

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by Trapper2020

X2
I drain all lines between trips just like this. Never need to remove drain plug. Safe travels

Enjoy the journey

That will work and leave all the sludge in the bottom of the WH.

[Quantum]

Here's mine.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by Quantum

Here's mine.

So, to those of you with these hose-drain setups, how do you get that last bit of water out? The tank bottom is about an inch below the opening with the plug, so it doesn’t drain out completely. I’ve used a small Harbor Freight siphon hand-pump with flexible tubing to suck out the last of the water. Do you just leave it? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

So, to those of you with these hose-drain setups, how do you get that last bit of water out? The tank bottom is about an inch below the opening with the plug, so it doesn’t drain out completely. I’ve used a small Harbor Freight siphon hand-pump with flexible tubing to suck out the last of the water. Do you just leave it? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

Following.

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

So, to those of you with these hose-drain setups, how do you get that last bit of water out? The tank bottom is about an inch below the opening with the plug, so it doesn’t drain out completely. I’ve used a small Harbor Freight siphon hand-pump with flexible tubing to suck out the last of the water. Do you just leave it? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

Generally I don't worry about it. The small amount of water will not cause any damage.

In the fall at the end of my last trip, I tend to drain the water heater before going home. This will drain a bit more of the water from the tank.

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

Generally I don't worry about it. The small amount of water will not cause any damage.

In the fall at the end of my last trip, I tend to drain the water heater before going home. This will drain a bit more of the water from the tank.

Eventually, the crap in the bottom of the heater will wind up going thru the Water lines and aerators, showerheads and anything else. Not this boy. I drain and flush.

[eow]

Originally Posted by Cavie

That will work and leave all the sludge in the bottom of the WH.

That is NOT what I am witnessing. Only sludge is on the plug when I check and flush the tank each fall.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

So, to those of you with these hose-drain setups, how do you get that last bit of water out? The tank bottom is about an inch below the opening with the plug, so it doesn’t drain out completely. I’ve used a small Harbor Freight siphon hand-pump with flexible tubing to suck out the last of the water. Do you just leave it? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

When I've got the air compressor hooked up to the city water supply, I'll open the HWT drain valve and then rock the trailer. That'll slosh around the water and most of it will get blown out by the compressed air.

For my Atwood G6A-7 HWT, Atwood indicates the last bit won't cause any harm. The oval shape of the bottom of the tank doesn't allow ice to expand in any way that that would cause problems.

[MikeInMaine]

Originally Posted by eow

There really is no need to do a hardware upgrade to drain your hot water heater since the cold water line is typically at the lowest point, even lower than the drain.

To drain the hot water tank without modification, leave all the hot water faucets and hot low point drain closed, then open your COLD low point drain followed by opening the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank. All the water in the HWT will drain.

Brilliant!

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Bob K

When I've got the air compressor hooked up to the city water supply, I'll open the HWT drain valve and then rock the trailer. That'll slosh around the water and most of it will get blown out by the compressed air.

For my Atwood G6A-7 HWT, Atwood indicates the last bit won't cause any harm. The oval shape of the bottom of the tank doesn't allow ice to expand in any way that that would cause problems.
Attachment 70560

Step three address the issue of sediment in the bottom of the tank after draining and how to get that sediment out of the tank.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Cavie

Eventually, the crap in the bottom of the heater will wind up going thru the Water lines and aerators, showerheads and anything else. Not this boy. I drain and flush.

Most HWH winterizing instructions talk about the sediment in the bottom of the tank and how to get rid of that sediment while the drain plug is removed.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Step three address the issue of sediment in the bottom of the tank after draining and how to get that sediment out of the tank.

I do a vinegar soak followed by a flush with a Camco Hot Water Tank Rinsing Wand. Step 4 (and my rocking technique) addresses the water that's left over even after using the rinsing wand.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XL2IBS

[muckinfuss]

Nylon plugs are used for a reason...self sealing and non-reactive.

Campground water supplies are never ph neutral..at least I've never come across any...they are either acidic or base. Neither is good for protecting against galvanic reactions....tho it would realistically take quite a while to actually cause a problem...and even then easy to fix preemptively with pipe dope. Bigger issue with Atwood is crapping out the electric heating rod and the non-dinosaur circuit card.

Using a water filter, I've yet to see any sediment flow out of my WH at clean out with a wand.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by eow

There really is no need to do a hardware upgrade to drain your hot water heater since the cold water line is typically at the lowest point, even lower than the drain.

To drain the hot water tank without modification, leave all the hot water faucets and hot low point drain closed, then open your COLD low point drain followed by opening the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank. All the water in the HWT will drain.

Do you also have to open all the cold water faucets? Or just the cold low point drain and relief valve?

[eow]

To drain the hot water tank, only the cold low point drain and the pressure relief valve are required.

When I return from a trip, I open both low point drains and the pressure relief valve to drain the entire system.