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 ...
Forum Discussion
mobeewan wrote:
She said her son was a mechanical engineer so he should very well knowledgeable about dissimilar metals. As long as the valve has a plastic or brass body she is ok. Steel or stainless would be a huge problem since there would be way more galvanic reactivity. Aluminum and brass are way lower reactivity. Even a plastic valve that could take the heat would be fine.
I did similar with an Atwood WH. Replaced the plug with a brass nipple and brass ball valve. Never had any problem. I could unscrew them if I needed to flush the tank.
I screwed the nipple in and screwed the valve onto the nipple. I had to remove the valve handle for clearance so I could turn the valve to tighten everything. Kept the valve handle in the silverware drawer so I didn't loose it and could find it when needed. I even had about a foot of clear tubing with a plastic hose barb i could thread into the ball valve I kept inside the water heater access door to let the WH drain onto the ground instead of running down the inside of the door.
LOL I have a M.S. in Chemistry and would never put 2 dissimilar metals together without lots of teflon tape.
We flushed the tank thoroughly before putting this fitting in so it's good for a while.
I don't mind taking this out for an annual flush but this makes for a really fast way to drain, which I expect to do 3-4 times a year given my location and travel plans.
