Clean Water Heater

I checked CLR websites and they advised that it attacks aluminum, they do not advise it be used.

Ron, sounds like it should work but filling would be somewhat tedious. Also sounds like vinegar in Suburban steel water heater tanks is not a great idea. Wonder if injecting a quantity of CLR to dissolve sediment into drain hole , leaving drain plug out, would negatively effect tank if flushed out carefully?

I have never tried this, but has anyone considered the following method of filling the HWH with solution?

Remove the aerator from the sink faucet closest to the HWH.
Attach a hose with funnel to it. (garden hose adapters are available)
Turn on only the hot water.
Fill the hot water tank.

Getting it to burp might require opening another faucet or pouring slowly with no sag in the hose.

My experience with such things is "don't disturb anything unnecessarily" like the pressure relief valve. You may be replacing it because it leaks after being disturbed.

Last year I decided to do a vinegar soak on my water heater since I could see a lot of scale in the bottom of the tank.

I think I used too much vinegar though - didn't dilute it much, and let it sit overnight.

Imagine my surprise the next day when my anode rod was about half gone (was a new one that year)!

I flushed all the vinegar out (the tank was nice and clean!) and thought all was well.

I thought I flushed everything good enough with copious amounts of water, but should have neutralized the vinegar also - now my external water heater area where the vinegar ran out/over it is a little rusty. I'm chalking that up to the vinegar reacting with the metal & promoting corrosion.

Oh well, live and learn!

CC

I decided not to go with the vinegar and water procedure which would have required removing the pop-off valve to fill the tank.( No winterizing kit) I simply removed the nylon drain plug with my handy Camco wrench, drained the tank, got drenched, and squirted the sediment loose with my handy Camco water tank rinser. Next, I hooked the hose to the city water port and flushed the tank. I repeated use of the tank rinser I got a good quantity of white sediment out of the tank and onto the driveway. Finally, I installed a new nylon plug with Teflon tape and refilled the tank with pop-off lever open, when water ran out the valve I shut off city water and shut the lever on the pop-off valve. I ran the water heater on propane and water got hot with no weeping out the pop-off valve. I figured that the Atwood aluminum tank would still be in pretty good shape, glad it's not rust-prone steel.

Learned some things about Atwood 6 gallon water heaters, there are 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch size temp and pressure (T&P) pop off valves. My 2004 rig uses the 1/2 inch size, after 2005 versions use the 3/4 inch size. The valves are somewhat awkward to remove. Camco sells a removal tool #10552 that fits over the valve and makes removal easier. Large water pump pliers (may) work after you remove the sheet metal cover that's in the way. CW and Amazon sell Camco replacement T&P valves. Cheaper standard T&P valves from Home Depot will fit, must be rated for 150 psi and 210 degrees temperature. After reinstalling the T&P valve, let tank fill with valve lever open until water runs out, then turn off pump and shut the valve. This sets the air gap in the tank and stops water flowing out of the T&P valve if it is working properly. If valve is not closing properly, repeatedly flipping the lever open and closed may dislodge foreign matter that may be keeping the valve from sealing. A little leaking from the valve is normal. Like many things in RV's, water heaters are not designed for easy DIY maintenance.

Dusty R wrote:
I've seen home water heaters where the hot water smelled like rotten eggs. When the anode rod is removed the rotten smell goes away.

Atwood RV water heaters have aluminum tanks and no anode rod (the OP says his is an Atwood).

Suburban RV water heaters have steel tanks and DO have anode rods. I think the Atwood water heater is by far, more popular with the RV manufacturers than the Suburban.

Charles

The only time I had egg smell from the hot water. I turned the water pump off Drained the hot water tank. Funnel poured some bleach into the drain hole. Put the drain plug back in. Turned on the water pump. Opened the relief valve till water came out. Shut off water pump. Waited 24 hours and then drained the tank. Ran the pump a bit to flush the bottom of the tank. Turned pump off. Put drain plug back in. Turned on the water pump. Turned on the hot water tap in the kitchen and waited for water to come out of it, done.

Oh it had a slight chlorine smell at first. About the same as when you finish de-winterizing just the pipes. The smell never came back.

DW has corrected my post about the vinegar mixture. I said 2 water to 1 vinegar. She said it was 4 parts water to 1 vinegar. Sorry for the confusion.

Per ATWOOD:
1. Turn off your main water supply. Drain you water heater tank. Reinstall drain plug. Remove the pressure-temperature relief valve. With a funnel use 4 parts white vinegar to two parts water. (In a 6 gallon tank that would be 4 gallons vinegar to 2 gallons water).
2. Cycle the water heater, letting it run under normal operation 4-5 times.
At no time do you remove the vinegar from the tank Once this has been completed, remove the drain plug and drain the water heater.
3. After thoroughly draining the tank, to remove the sediment, flush the water heater.