Atwood Nylon Plug

[Spur]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

Here's a picture of what I did to mine. Got a 1/2 nylon nipple from Amazon, and the braided water line and valve from Home Depot.

I drain down the water heater after every trip, I don't want the water to ferment in the tank between trips.

This is genius! Ok, so all I need is a 1/2 nylon nipple from Amazon, a 1/2 inch braided water hose and then a 1/2 inch valve?

[Spur]

Originally Posted by Colorado

If that happens again to someone, take a can of compressed air, turn it upside down and freeze the plug. It’ll shrink and should easily come out.

What a great idea! Hopefully I’ll never have to take out the plug again.

[jloco]

I've wrecked a few nylon plugs by over tightening them.. I only remove my plug once a year at the end of the season. We are seasonal and use the camper 3-4 days a week all season.

[Route 66 Traveler]

Originally Posted by TCNashville

Probably but it may clog the outlet flow. Also if you have an electric side to the water heater the plastic plug could be melted to it. We had a member who had a plastic flush out tip get stuck inside and he drained his tank, removed the electric element which provided a larger hole, and fished it out with a pair of hemostats, I believe. Good luck.

Yea, that was me...what a nightmare. I don't think the nylon plug will be a problem compared to the plastic wand, which was just thin walled plastic. On the Atwood 6 gallon water heater the cold water enters from the bottom and the hot water comes out the top, so there is no chance of the plug blocking the water coming out of the heater.

Depending on how much access you have to the back of your water heater you may be able to remove the electric heating element and look inside with a flashlight and see if you can see the plug. I put the light in the drain hole which lit up the interior of the tank. The plug is smaller than the hole, but it will still be tricky trying to get it out. I used two pairs of 12" hemostats to get my wand out of the heater...it wasn't a fun job because I had very limited access to the rear of the tank.

I never tighten my nylon plug. Just a few wraps of Teflon tape and then screw it in about 1/2 way does the trick for me.

Good luck.....

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by jloco

I've wrecked a few nylon plugs by over tightening them.. I only remove my plug once a year at the end of the season. We are seasonal and use the camper 3-4 days a week all season.

Same here. The first time or two I cross-threaded more than one plug. I bought a couple of packs of extra plugs for good measure. Now, I use Teflon tape and hand-tighten, snugging up just a touch more with a socket. No leaks and haven’t had to use any of the “spares.” Thought about installing a permanent drain hose/valve, but I like being able to insert a small hose to flush and pump the tank out as dry as possible at the end of the year.

[skids]

On my last Jayco, I used one of those brass petcocks that look like an old radiator drain for a car. You can find those online (Camco?) If you decide to use one of these, use a lot of teflon tape because there might be issues with dissimilar metals. Dissimilar metals can chemically "weld" themselves together and destroy threads.

On my new camper, I decided to just use the nylon plugs. They drain do much quicker and make rinsing the tank a lot easier. PS, I do not use pipe dope or teflon tape with nylon plugs...no need.

[deano]

I have a 16 jayco jay feather 23rbm. There are two low point drain knobs in the rear under trailer near the water heater. I open both up and hear the water heater tank drain. I've taken the nylon drain plug out of tank to confirm is drained twice and nothing is left in the tank.I must be lucky with the design on this model. I do remove the plug after winterizing thru the off season. Just a precaution I guess. Does anyone else able to do this ?

[Spur]

Originally Posted by Route 66 Traveler

Yea, that was me...what a nightmare. I don't think the nylon plug will be a problem compared to the plastic wand, which was just thin walled plastic. On the Atwood 6 gallon water heater the cold water enters from the bottom and the hot water comes out the top, so there is no chance of the plug blocking the water coming out of the heater.

Depending on how much access you have to the back of your water heater you may be able to remove the electric heating element and look inside with a flashlight and see if you can see the plug. I put the light in the drain hole which lit up the interior of the tank. The plug is smaller than the hole, but it will still be tricky trying to get it out. I used two pairs of 12" hemostats to get my wand out of the heater...it wasn't a fun job because I had very limited access to the rear of the tank.

I never tighten my nylon plug. Just a few wraps of Teflon tape and then screw it in about 1/2 way does the trick for me.

Good luck.....

Man, I really don’t want to mess with trying to get it out. Seems nearly impossible. I don’t use the shower so not having hot water isn’t that big of a deal. I’m only concerned with two things. 1) will the nylon plug contaminate my water? 2) Can I use my heater? Will that plug melt in there and contaminate the water or do some other damage?

[Colorado]

Originally Posted by Spur

Man, I really don’t want to mess with trying to get it out. Seems nearly impossible. I don’t use the shower so not having hot water isn’t that big of a deal. I’m only concerned with two things. 1) will the nylon plug contaminate my water? 2) Can I use my heater? Will that plug melt in there and contaminate the water or do some other damage?

It’s not gonna melt, if the water got that hot it would melt the plug when it was actually installed. The concern would be if it touches the heating element, that could melt it, giving your water a nasty taste. I would just embrace the suck and dig it out. Most hardware stores carry a grab tool that can snake its way in and grab the plug. Gently install the new plug, add a few gallons of water, then drain, the plug should float then follow the water out the drain. Hopefully it’ll come to rest next to the drain, simply grab a pull it out. You could put the camper off camber, WH on low side, using your leveling blocks to lift the opposite side of camper up. This will encourage the plug to move towards the drain.

[skids]

Originally Posted by deano

I do remove the plug after winterizing thru the off season. Just a precaution I guess. Does anyone else able to do this ?

Yes sir, I do.

[Woodworker]

Originally Posted by skids

Yes sir, I do.

Mines left out to

[Lake Huron]

Mine is plugless, but I leave the valve partially open.

[curver900]

Originally Posted by skids

On my last Jayco, I used one of those brass petcocks that look like an old radiator drain for a car. You can find those online (Camco?) If you decide to use one of these, use a lot of teflon tape because there might be issues with dissimilar metals. Dissimilar metals can chemically "weld" themselves together and destroy threads.

On my new camper, I decided to just use the nylon plugs. They drain do much quicker and make rinsing the tank a lot easier. PS, I do not use pipe dope or teflon tape with nylon plugs...no need.

if the outlet is stainless steel then there will be no reaction. Both SS and AL don't react with brass... I know because we have them on our docks and all the nuts are brass and all the bolt SS and it is an all AL dock and in 4 years never had any reaction.

[RichR]

A tip to everyone that works with plastic fittings. DO NOT over tighten! Go hand tight and then if there is a leak gently tighten with a tool until the leak stops. If it doesn't stop leaking you probably have a bad or damaged fitting.