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coolmom42's avatar
coolmom42
Explorer II
Dec 02, 2020

water heater drain mod

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.
  • garyemunson's avatar
    garyemunson
    Explorer II
    Dec 02, 2020
    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.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Dec 02, 2020
    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)
  • Bobbo's avatar
    Bobbo
    Explorer II
    Dec 02, 2020
    I bought a flex-head ratcheting box end wrench.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Dec 02, 2020
    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
  • bukhrn's avatar
    bukhrn
    Explorer III
    Dec 02, 2020
    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.
  • K_Charles's avatar
    K_Charles
    Explorer
    Dec 02, 2020
    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.
  • coolmom42's avatar
    coolmom42
    Explorer II
    Dec 03, 2020
    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.
  • Bobbo's avatar
    Bobbo
    Explorer II
    Dec 03, 2020
    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.
  • C_Schomer's avatar
    C_Schomer
    Explorer
    Dec 04, 2020
    I put a M X F ball valve in my drain. That kind of valve is close coupled and fits in the space, nicely. If you have ball valves, leave them halfway open after winterizing and they won’t break when freezing. Craig

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