Hot Water Heater Draining - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Angel · 11-21-2022, 12:01 AM

Hello everyone,

I have a 2589 Classic which I replaced the water heater (I installed a Suburban SW6DE), Is there a way to drain the tank or the entire system without removing the Anode Rod plug? I know there is a valve under the trailer to drain the fresh water tank; so is there a valve or something similar under the trailer that will allow the water heater or the entire system to drain out? Temperature here in So.Cal. doesn't drop much below 40 deg. so its not a winterizing issue, but I think I would prefer an empty tank/system when stored. Plus traveling with a full 6 gallon H.W. tank just adds more weight. I don't want to take a chance on maybe stripping the threads on that anode rod plug from too many removals and install.

Any thoughts are appreciated,
Thanks.

JackandJanet · 11-21-2022, 10:11 AM

Angel, I don't have your water tank so I can't offer any advice re an alternate way to drain it. My OEM tank does not use an anode rod and the drain is a nylon plug that I remove to drain the tank each winter. Since it's nylon, there's no danger of stripping threads in the tank.

I don't really think an RV tank needs an anode rod. It is not used like a home water heater, constantly 24/7. My advice would be to replace the anode rod plug with a nylon plug, you can buy them at ACE hardware, among other places, and just drain the tank that way.

- Jack

Angel · 11-22-2022, 12:16 AM

Jack, thank you for replying. My new water heater came with an anode rod that is recommended on this model H.W. tank; but for whatever reason (and I don't remember why) I didn't install it, I was maybe trying to save the rod until our first outing with new water heater. So instead I installed a nylon plug that was supposed to be temporary allowing me to fully flush the new tank once we're at campground.

We went camping and once I was hooked up I totally forgot about the nylon plug that I had put there temporarily to clean and flush the tank, and where afterwards I would replace it with the recommended anode rod plug.

Well I must have been having brain fog because the W.H. started heating up the water pretty good but once pressure developed, I heard this "Pop" and sure enough it was the Nylon plug that had shot out of there like a bullet!

I then realized my mistake; I forgot to install the anode rod!! I also had no Teflon tape to properly seal it. And by then the campground maintenance crew had already left for the day and no other campers had any Teflon tape. I used duct tape instead as thread sealer until the following day when I was able to get Plumber's Teflon tape.

A nylon plug would probably work OK, maybe I didn't have it tight enough.

Also here is an article I found regarding Suburban RV water heaters where it is recommended to use an Anode Rod on these model H.W. heaters, article is from Truck Camper Magazine and others:

“If you have a Suburban water heater, the tank is porcelain-lined steel and requires an anode rod to prevent corrosion of the steel tank. If you have an Atwood water heater, your water heater tank is aluminum and does not require one.”

I may not have no other choice but to remove the plug anytime I need to drain system.

Thanks again.

JackandJanet · 11-22-2022, 09:39 AM

That clarifies things, Angel. My tank is an Atwood and the nylon plug it came with fits very securely. Yes, I think you should probably just stay with the anode rod plug and, as long as you thread it in by hand carefully and then don't over tighten it, you shouldn't have thread stripping problems.

- Jack