Water Heater Drain

[JosephC]

I have a Jayco Eagle HT 24 RE and I cannot loosen and remove the drain plug in the water heater. This is a 2021 six month old unit.

I opened the low point drains, opened the pressure release valve in the water heater to break the vacuum, pumped all the water out of the system and than blew out all the lines with50 psi. Water no longer exits the faucets and exterior hose out let, only air from the compressor.

My plan is to visit my brother in Florida in February where he will have a large enough wrench or socket that will enable opening the drain plug.

In your experience, do you think not opening the valve has compromised the heater allowing it to freeze when the weather gets below 32 degrees here inside he northeast?

[RedHorse1]

Did you experience freezing weather before or after you drained the WH? If before then it depends on how cold and for how long. If you’re asking about freezing weather after draining, no problem.
I use a socket, extension and ratchet handle to remove my plug.

[JFlightRisk]

snip...

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

I use a socket, extension and ratchet handle to remove my plug.

X2. And only a 6 point socket. I've bought spares, and there's a couple of different size hexes on them.

[norty1]

If you have 4 sided lug wrench, one of the ends will fit the plug unless it's rounded.

I have drilled one out with a large bit and then cut it until one side barely touches the threads, then grab it with needle nose pliers and twist it. It will break loose.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by JosephC

I have a Jayco Eagle HT 24 RE and I cannot loosen and remove the drain plug in the water heater. This is a 2021 six month old unit.

I opened the low point drains, opened the pressure release valve in the water heater to break the vacuum, pumped all the water out of the system and than blew out all the lines with50 psi. Water no longer exits the faucets and exterior hose out let, only air from the compressor.

My plan is to visit my brother in Florida in February where he will have a large enough wrench or socket that will enable opening the drain plug.

In your experience, do you think not opening the valve has compromised the heater allowing it to freeze when the weather gets below 32 degrees here inside he northeast?

My drain is a plastic plug, I think it's 15/16 socket on mine. I use a socket and a wobble extension they aren't much more than hand tight

[Jim Davis]

For draining my water heater I simply open the low point drains and all faucets. Normally I do this when leaving the last campsite and heading for home. By the time I get home the system is essentially empty. Just make sure the water heater is cold and turned off, also the hose disconnected or pump turned off. It appears to actually get more water out of the heater than the drain plug.



I will also drain this way if the system is active before any freezing weather.



An interesting side note - the water heater actually drains from the cold side.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Jim Davis

An interesting side note - the water heater actually drains from the cold side.

I've noticed that too and always thought something was wrong with mine. I wonder why that is?

[Jim Davis]

The reason is the cold feed is at the bottom ant the hot out from the top. Convection when in use, gravity for draining.

[TWP723]

First off, is it a plastic or metal plug? If it's plastic, do as others have noted. If it's a metal hex head, that's your heater element. If you drained the system at the low point drains, you should be fine. It takes more water than what's left in the tank to damage it. My unit has low point drains and pretty much drains the entire tank. I don't have a plastic drain plug. Where the plug is usually located is my heating element.

[deepsea5]

I installed a drain on my water heater, same as Bob K did on his 185RB Baja:

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...s-75556-3.html

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Jim Davis

The reason is the cold feed is at the bottom ant the hot out from the top. Convection when in use, gravity for draining.

That makes sense. Thanks Jim!

[billcf7]

Originally Posted by TWP723

First off, is it a plastic or metal plug? If it's plastic, do as others have noted. If it's a metal hex head, that's your heater element. If you drained the system at the low point drains, you should be fine. It takes more water than what's left in the tank to damage it. My unit has low point drains and pretty much drains the entire tank. I don't have a plastic drain plug. Where the plug is usually located is my heating element.

The metal hex is notyour electric heater element, the heater element will have wires screwed on the end. If you have a Suburban water heater you will have a metal hex drain plug which is also the anode rod which needs to be changed every year or two. An Attwood water heater has a plastic drain plug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjEPy21nIrQ

[TWP723]

Originally Posted by billcf7

The metal hex is notyour electric heater element, the heater element will have wires screwed on the end. If you have a Suburban water heater you will have a metal hex drain plug which is also the anode rod which needs to be changed every year or two. An Attwood water heater has a plastic drain plug

I have the Suburban. The metal hex is my anode, my bad. No plastic plug.

[thenne1713]

Originally Posted by JosephC

I have a Jayco Eagle HT 24 RE and I cannot loosen and remove the drain plug in the water heater. This is a 2021 six month old unit.

I opened the low point drains, opened the pressure release valve in the water heater to break the vacuum, pumped all the water out of the system and than blew out all the lines with50 psi. Water no longer exits the faucets and exterior hose out let, only air from the compressor.

My plan is to visit my brother in Florida in February where he will have a large enough wrench or socket that will enable opening the drain plug.

In your experience, do you think not opening the valve has compromised the heater allowing it to freeze when the weather gets below 32 degrees here inside he northeast?

The 3/4" pipe thread is tapered and calcium/ rust inside can be an influence, but likely tightened too tight by installer, if telflon tape used? Go to Harbor Freight and BUY a 24" pull bar ($10+/-) for your sockets (27mm/ 1-1/16" for WH), you will need for emergency tire service anyway; alternate is a piece of pipe as handle extension on ratchet handle? WH that freezes usually split wide open. Good Luck

[RichCarter]

You really need to drain your water heater before you get a hard-freeze. I'd be very surprised if draining off the cold water low point empties your water heater. It's not supposed to. The cold water comes in at the low point but there's supposed to be a check-valve on the line to prevent hot water from flowing back into the cold water lines. Even if there is no check valve. I wouldn't guarantee that the thing completely drains from the cold side. If there is a bit of water left in there, you are at risk for cracking the water heater tank when the water freezes.



I have a 24RBS. It probably came with the same setup you have. One of the first things I did was to replace the cheap and difficult to remove drain plug with a valve made for that purpose, a Camco ½" RV Water Heater Replacement Drain Valve purchased from Amazon.



If you can't get the plug removed, drain it as best you can and then unscrew the cold water intake line on the back of your water heater to insure that you get all the water out. Open the pressure relief valve on the outside to allow the water to drain.

[steve.jurnigan]

Mine has plastic plug. My manual says to winterize, it needs to be drain. I drain the heater and also insert a small plastic tube in the hole. This allows it to siphon out the last little bit of water assuming the bottom is concaved. I re install the plastic plug with teflon tape on the threads. I think it is 15/16 socket.

[mikehoots]

Originally Posted by TWP723

First off, is it a plastic or metal plug? If it's plastic, do as others have noted. If it's a metal hex head, that's your heater element. If you drained the system at the low point drains, you should be fine. It takes more water than what's left in the tank to damage it. My unit has low point drains and pretty much drains the entire tank. I don't have a plastic drain plug. Where the plug is usually located is my heating element.

If it is metal it is a suburban water heater and then needs to be placed yearly because it is an anoid rod. It keeps the tank from rusting through. Suburban heaters have a porcelain covered steal tank. While Atwood now dometic is a aluminum tank that uses the white plastic / nylon cap

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

Plugs are a pain to get out. I used a CPVC nipple and SS water supply with ball valve as a quick and easy permanent drain. I believe a small amount of water in the aluminum tank will not damage it when frozen.

[spoon059]

Originally Posted by RichCarter

I'd be very surprised if draining off the cold water low point empties your water heater. It's not supposed to.

Its pretty easy to verify yourself. Its worked on every camper I've tried it on. And FYI, when draining a water heater, if a small amount sits on the bottom of the water heater, it won't damage it. There is plenty of room for the minor expansion that would occur if that miniscule amount of water did freeze.

Its just another thing for RV owners to unnecessarily fret about though, so you guys do what you want to do. I've been draining the water heater this way for 12 years now without a problem.

[jimmoore13]

A tip on removing a stubborn plug...or nut or bolt for that matter. (...this may not be the case here, but it's an opportunity to mention the technique...)

An impact driver (not an air powered impact wrench for something delicate like a drain plug) can breake loose a "stuck" plug with relative ease.

A simple adapter can connect your impact driver to the socket of your choice.

Sheer brute strength may break it free, but often times this can lead to rounding off the corners of the plug's hex head. The impact driver, instead, applies a zillion tiny hammer blows per second (I exagerate) that apply force then release it, then apply force again...and avoid damaging the plug while overcoming the resistance to rotation.

This is why they work so well with Phillips-head screws. The operator needs only concentrate on holding the tool in position and applying a bit of force into the screw head, and the tool does the rest. And unlike a simpler drill that applies continuous force, the impact driver hammers home the screw.

While some hot water heaters use nylon plugs with no anodes, the plugs with anodes have metal plugs, and these are sometimes prone to a bit of corrosion. The impact driver can overcome this stiction and back out the plug without damage.

The common battery powered impact driver is FAR less powerful that an air powered impact wrench, but adequate for this task. It even does a good job with lug nuts...up to a point, after which you apply another roughly 1/4 turn of torque (to spec) by hand.

And to beat the dead horse further, an air impact wrench is an excellent tool for breaking free mildly rusted nuts from bolts or backing off over-tightened lug nuts.

More than you wanted to know, perhaps, but worth knowing nonetheless.