Is water heater empty ?

[jimbo55]

Hi all..

If I remove the drain/anode plug on the water heater there will be a small amount of water left in the tank. Will the heater be damaged when this small amount of water freezes? If so, how does one remove the remaining small amount of water from the tank. In reading the comments about winterizing on this forum it is said "Remove the drain plug to drain the water heater".
I have pumped the pink stuff for the rest of the trailer.

Thank you

[Jack R]

JimBo

There is less than a quart of water left in the heater after draining. Even if this quart freezes it will not expand enough to hurt the tank.

Jack

[NLOVNIT]

I see this is your 1st post.

When we winterize, after draining our HWT by removing the plug (as well as draining everything else by opening faucets, low point drains, opening dump valves...etc), we close everything back up & Dave puts the plug back in the HWT. Then we pressurize the system with an air compressor. Once the max pressure is reached (I don't know what it is, Dave does), then he takes out the HTW plug again (stand back - it really shoots outta there!) & a bit more water will spew out because our drain plug is very near the bottom of the tank. What, if any, water left behind has never damaged our tank.

I suppose you could siphon more out with a small hose if you want to be sure every last drop is out of there.

Don't forget to shut the by-pass valve to the HWT before you run antifreeze through your RV. Otherwise you'll use up anywhere from 6-10 gallons (depending on the size of your HWT) of the pink stuff just filling the tank & you don't want that stuff in there.

Lori-

[Funkmoney]

All I do is remove the plug from the HWT and drain the tank. I have never had a problem with whatever water remained in the tank.

[jimbo55]

Hello People

Thanks to you all for the reply. Jack, I thought maby a quart might be left also. How about the anode rod? Would the +- quart of ice damage the anode if i place it back into the tank for the winter? Will the ice crack or bend the anode. What do guys you think?

[NLOVNIT]

Back when we had RV's with anode rods in the HWT's (our current RV's HWT doesn't have one), when we winterized, we took the anode rod out & threw it away. It would be shot by the end of the season - sacrificed for the tank's sake. Dave would just put a plastic plug in the hole & we'd get a new rod come spring. That is what I'd suggest you'd do.

Lori-

[jimbo55]

Thank you all for the responses. Very helpful information from all.
We got our new Flagstaff the first part of May after my retirement; "TTP" [Time To Play]; on 4th of April this year and this is our first time to winterize.
We found this forum last Sept or Oct when we started looking at travel trailers and we found a lot of good information to help us choose the right rig for us [DW and I].
We are so grateful for this forum's family.

jimbo

[ChrisNiemann]

drain the HWT.............??? why? JUST LIVE IN IT OVER THE WINTER AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO DRAIN IT! LOL

cold months this old girl gets used more than any other time of the year! i'm thinking about taking the A/C unit off the top and sealing up that hole and using the breaker for the microwave or something else... it hardly EVER gets used. LOL

when it does get extreme cold here, i close my HWT off and save my propane, after draining it, i use a small hose to insert into the tank, attach small hose to funnel and hold funnel higher than tank, then i add about a 1/2 qt of pink stuff directly to the tank. some pours back out but i leave it in just to mix with the water left in there (makes me feel better) then when i need to use it, i flush out the tank, fill with water, and heat. kind of a waste but its only 1/2 qt....... and piece of mind... I STILL SAY LIVE IN IT! LOL

[94-Newmar]

I blow the remaining water out with my air compressor.

[Mopar1973Man]

Like today I fired up my water system for the first time and checked all the plumbing over for leaks and so forth. I used my homemade blow out plug and life was easy...



As for the water heater in bother me a bit but I'm going to create a solution to getting the water out of it... Something like a small tube hook to a shop vacuum... No water no problems...

Same with the p-traps I'm going to suck the water from them too...

I got 1 more day of mild weather and back to the freezer we go... (New Meadows, ID)

[NLOVNIT]

Hey, Dave made the same type of blow out plug after seeing a pic of it on the Bounder site. It worked really slick - no more having to stand there holding the fitting to the inlet.

Lori-

[Mopar1973Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NLOVNIT Hey, Dave made the same type of blow out plug after seeing a pic of it on the Bounder site. It worked really slick - no more having to stand there holding the fitting to the inlet. Lori-

Yeah... But note to self...

"Make sure the toilet lid is down before pulling the flush lever"

Yeah it cost a bit more for thiskind of plug but... Oh so easy to dry out the system quick!

[Roy W.]

After I have drained the system and the water heater, while pumping RV antifreeze through the system, I open the water heater bypass valve for just a few seconds and pump maybe a pint of antifreeze into the water heater. I figure this dilutes the remaining water in the heater and will keep the water remaining in the heater from freezing.

[jimbo55]

Great replys! Thanks again. I am pleased to have this many replys to my first post. Mopar1973Man your thought about a small tube on the shop vac sounded like the greatest idea until i remembered that i have no elect at the storage facility. I might try the small tubing on the bulb type thing my wife uses to baste the turkey. Should be able to get most of the remaining quart or so of water out of the water heater.

And Lori..I did get a pvc plug for the drain. Will get a new anode for next spring. Any suggestions for local stores to purchase anode? I really do not want to order from mfg unless i have to.

Jimbo55