coolmom42
Middle Tennessee
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Visited my son this past weekend and he was watching me fight with the water heater drain plug. He is a mechanical engineer and always tinkering with something... so he said "DON'T have to do that every time you drain it." He got a male NPT to barb fitting, clamped a 3" section of hose on the barb fitting, and clamped the other end of the hose to a small ball valve. It all tucks up out of the way of the door and burner.
Now draining the water heater is just a matter of opening the ball valve.
We also cut some covers for the bins below floor level in the large rear storage area.
Single empty-nester in Middle TN, sometimes with a friend or grandchild on board
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garyemunson
Reno, Nevada
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Best to keep a plug so when you pull it to drain, you can insert one of the flushing wands to get the sediment out. A lot builds up in them.
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midnightsadie
ohio
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I did this 10yrs ago work fine.
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valhalla360
No paticular place.
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Depends on the model.
I've always had the combined drain plug/zinc...so you can't replace it with a ball valve without eliminating the zinc...which would be a bad idea.
Of course, once you buy the correct size socket, it's really not much of a challenge to remove unless you don't drain for a few years and it corrodes on...of course a corroded ball valve doesn't open either (or worse, doesn't seal when closed)
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Bobbo
Wherever I park
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I bought a flex-head ratcheting box end wrench.
Bobbo and Lin
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2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB
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Old-Biscuit
Verde Valley
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Joined: 06/20/2009
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Problem with 'drain valves' especially ball valves.
* water gets trapped inside the ball and can freeze...split ball valve
*after installing one folks tend to NOT remove the set up to properly flush the WH Tank of sediment/scale/crud
*Atwood drain hole is on 1/2" so installation of barb fitting/ball valve chokes the drain down and doesn't allow for good flushing...drains water OK but not the crud
*and do you know what that hose/valve set up is TEMP Rated for?
Water temp/pressure COULD go as high as 210*/150PSI should the t-stats fail
Is it time for your medication or mine?
2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
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Off the road still Debt Free Jan. '14
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bukhrn
Lanexa, Va
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I assume this is an Atwood, as on the Suburban heater, anode rod IS your drain plug, and since you should check the rod occasionally anyways, it's no problem.
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K Charles
Connecticut
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I don't know why you would "fight with the water heater drain plug" you just unscrew the plug, maybe 10 sec if you have the socket in your hand.
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coolmom42
Middle Tennessee
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K Charles wrote:I don't know why you would "fight with the water heater drain plug" you just unscrew the plug, maybe 10 sec if you have the socket in your hand.
Mine is not easy to access. It's behind a gas line, and directly above it is the burner cover, which is a big piece of sheet metal with sharp edges.
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Bobbo
Wherever I park
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coolmom42 wrote:K Charles wrote:I don't know why you would "fight with the water heater drain plug" you just unscrew the plug, maybe 10 sec if you have the socket in your hand.
Mine is not easy to access. It's behind a gas line, and directly above it is the burner cover, which is a big piece of sheet metal with sharp edges.
Yep. Standard Atwood, just like the rest of us have. Like I said, flex-head ratcheting box end wrench.
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