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Old 04-27-2014, 09:37 AM   #1
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Water Heater Woes

We're currently on our first trip of the season. Before leaving home, I performed all of my annual spring maintenance on the RV, which includes flushing the water heater. While flushing, I noticed the water heater's plastic drain plug looked old and yellow. Fearing it had become brittle, I replaced it with a new one.

Day two of our trip; the new plug developed a slight leak. Every time I tried to remedy the leak, it became worse. Several times, I added extra Teflon tape to the threads of the plug and re-installed it, each time of course loosing the the contents of my water heater in the process. I finally thought I had it fixed, when the plug literally began spraying water at 10 PM. I drove to the nearest Walmart, in hopes they might have another plug in their RV section. No such luck. I bought a small container of plumbing putty to try and get us by through the night. That didn't work either. Going through my supply bin I came across an old water heater anode rod that I had for my last coach. The threads looked the same, so I decided to give this a shot. It's 11:30 PM at this point. The plastic drain plug is now stripped from being removed and re-installed so many times. The hex head of the plug broke off, leaving the threaded nipple portion inside the water heater drain spout. No showers tonight.....in tact no water whatsoever!

I got up at 7 this morning and drove to a local Home Depot. I bought a sprinkler nipple extraction tool and used it to remove the damaged drain plug. Worked like a charm (I'm going to keep this tool in my RV tool box). I inserted the anode rod into the drain spout and finally, no more leaks. Trip saved, and now we can take badly needed showers, LOL!

Now that I've typed this long story, the incident begs the question, IS THERE A BETTER DRAIN PLUG? I don't trust these cheap plastic plugs anymore.

Craig
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Old 04-27-2014, 10:00 AM   #2
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I hate to throw this in , and I may have done this myself.
You could have had cold water in the coach , by by-passing the water heater with the winterizing valves.
Some times in the panic of a repair , things get forgotten.
The tanks that use anode rods , have the steel threads ( or aluminum, depending on the type of rod ) of the rod in the aluminum threads of the tank without problems, so you could find a metal plug, or if you have an old rod , trim off the anode clean it up and use it.
Now and here's where I'll throw in a word of caution , I'm not sure if you can use a brass pipe plug , but I have seen a brass plug in use in tanks with a pet cock for draining, in it. I'll see if I can find a picture.
EDIT: Can't get a picture to load. Camping World item #6315, from the web site.
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Old 04-27-2014, 01:50 PM   #3
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I've got one of those on my 82 PA and I can't get it out of ours. It also has the pet-cock. First I can barley get a wrench on it to try to remove it.I don't want to wreck the heater.
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Old 04-27-2014, 03:29 PM   #4
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I've got one of those on my 82 PA and I can't get it out of ours. It also has the pet-cock. First I can barley get a wrench on it to try to remove it.I don't want to wreck the heater.
Tim
Was, the part installed without Teflon tape ?
Can you get the pet-cock out, then try the main plug with a six point socket ?
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Old 04-27-2014, 10:17 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip426 View Post
Was, the part installed without Teflon tape ?

Nope, I used it.
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Old 04-29-2014, 08:33 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip426 View Post
Was, the part installed without Teflon tape ?
Can you get the pet-cock out, then try the main plug with a six point socket ?
How do I get the pet-cock out? Just keep unscrewing? If I remember right if I got the pet-cock out there is nothing to remove the rod (if there is one) I don't see any way to get a wrench on it because after the pet-cock its
round there fore a wrench won't help??? Thanks for the help.,Tim
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Old 04-30-2014, 09:25 AM   #7
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OK, now that's a different set up than I've seen before.
The types I've seen, are the same as the picture in Camping World web site, pet cock threads into a plug ,that threads into the water heater; two pieces. Two wrench sizes, one on the pet cock , one on the plug.
What you've got may well be original and no longer used.
Can you see any indication of threads on the outside of the plug where it meets the tank.

Craig, sorry spritz & I , hijacked your thread.
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Old 04-30-2014, 10:54 AM   #8
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To answer the OP, I've used the plastic plug since we got the rv (7 years ago). I drain it each fall to protect it from freezing, then screw it back in with a couple of wraps of teflon tape. I lost the plug once because I didn't bleed the pressure off before removing it and as I was taking it off- it shot accross the rv park and I never found it. (Never go try and use a brass or other metal plug in it's place, you'll gall up the threads on the insert. I had to go to an rv place and the plastic ones. I've found them to be very durable.
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Old 04-30-2014, 02:16 PM   #9
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Quote:
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OK, now that's a different set up than I've seen before.
The types I've seen, are the same as the picture in Camping World web site, pet cock threads into a plug ,that threads into the water heater; two pieces. Two wrench sizes, one on the pet cock , one on the plug.
What you've got may well be original and no longer used.
Can you see any indication of threads on the outside of the plug where it meets the tank.

Craig, sorry spritz & I , hijacked your thread.
Sorry Craig, Having any luck with yours? I sure the heck am-not having any luck.

Skip426, No sign of any threads or even to put a wrench on. Its round. I wonder if I try and keep unscrewing the pet-cock it will undo the part in the heater.
again Sorry Craig.
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Old 04-30-2014, 02:37 PM   #10
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I took the plastic plug out and put a ball valve in it's place. On my latest RV I got one of the petcocks and installed it - the petcock fits better than a ball valve.

Now all I need to do to drain is open the petcock - no more wrenches!

Tim
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Old 04-30-2014, 04:53 PM   #11
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Issue may have been that plastic plugs should not have Teflon tape on them. You in all probability cross threaded it the 1st time you installed it with Teflon tape, to much tape over the threads actually covered the thread so that you could not feel it cross threading. I have a plastic plug in my water heater and have had it out half a dozen times with no issues.
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Old 05-01-2014, 09:53 PM   #12
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Quote:
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Issue may have been that plastic plugs should not have Teflon tape on them. You in all probability cross threaded it the 1st time you installed it with Teflon tape, to much tape over the threads actually covered the thread so that you could not feel it cross threading.
The replacement plug I bought was part of a kit that had two plugs, a plug wrench and a roll of Teflon tape. If Teflon tape wasn't recommended, I doubt they would have included it in the kit. You are absolutely correct, applying too much tape can cause a cross thread. This is exactly what ultimately happened after fiddling with the plug for several hours. In the end I applied a boat load of tape hoping it would stop the leaking, but it only made matters worse.

Skip426 & Spritz, no worries...it's all along the same lines. I actually didn't know there was a petcock available for the water heater. Wouldn't work for me though, as I flush out my tank annually with a wand, so I need the entire drain outlet open.

For now I am going to leave the anode rod in, even though I don't need it. It's all metal so it should be more durable than the plastic. It's not leaking anymore so problem solved for now.

Craig
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