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pasusan's avatar
pasusan
Explorer
Oct 05, 2020

Water left in Suburban water heater - UPDATE!

Do you leave water in your Suburban water heater? I did and I paid.

For years I have left the water in my Atwood WH (which is in our trailer) all season. I would drain the FW tank between trips, but left the WH alone.

This summer we haven't done a lot of camping - but we have taken a few day trips with our B - which has the hateful Suburban WH - and I do mean hateful. We went camping last week and the hot water coming out of the tap was brown - very brown. My dish rag went from white to brown and my Corian sink got stained. :( Drained the WH when we got home and actual flakes of rust came out. Yuck.

If I could replace that dirty thing with an Atwood, I would - but it won't fit.

So - what do you do when you've got one of these hateful tanks? Drain the WH after each trip? Do you put the Anode rod back in right away to keep oxygen out, or leave the hole open to air dry the tank till next trip?


***Edit - added an update to the end of the thread.
Seeking Advice

28 Replies

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  • Powertour's avatar
    Powertour
    Explorer II
    Oct 05, 2020
    I drain mine after each trip & we average about 1 weekend a month using the RV.

    I have left the anode out between trips but now I put it back in after draining the tank as rust/sediment deposits made the threads a bit tricky to engage.
  • BB_TX's avatar
    BB_TX
    Nomad
    Oct 05, 2020
    Brown water indicates rust, and that means a rusty tank. And usually because the anode rod wasn't doing it job of protecting the tank. How old is this water heater?

    Don't understand the "hateful Suburban" bit. I have a Suburban in our 2007 5er and never any brown water. I have often left water in it between trips, sometimes as long as a couple months. But I do monitor the anode rod and change it yearly. Full timers keep water in them year round.
  • schlep1967's avatar
    schlep1967
    Nomad
    Oct 05, 2020
    The only thing I can think of that would turn your water brown over time would be rust. And if it rusted once it will continue to rust. You need to find out if you have a steel fitting going into your water heater and get rid of it. If not that I would try contacting suburban with your information/serial number for your water heater and ask them what might be causing the problem. They may have had a run of bad stainless or wrong welding rods used when putting together the burner tube.
  • midnightsadie's avatar
    midnightsadie
    Explorer II
    Oct 05, 2020
    ohio , our rv is now 12years old I always drain the system, each time we come home. 12years no problem. I put a valve on my water heater to make it easy.
  • jrs1871's avatar
    jrs1871
    Explorer
    Oct 05, 2020
    We drain ours after every trip. Instead of putting the anode rod back in, we put a cloth that has been liberally coated with Vaseline in the hole. This keeps critters out and keeps the threads from rusting.
  • cpaulsen's avatar
    cpaulsen
    Explorer
    Oct 05, 2020
    I drain and flush mine all the time and replace the anode rod twice a year. Does not take a lot of time to make sure the water is good. Have had a Suburban water heater in all the rigs I have had and never had a problem with any of them. Maintenance is so easy to do and no excuse not to do the keep it clean.
  • wildtoad's avatar
    wildtoad
    Explorer II
    Oct 05, 2020
    My manual says to drain the tank when not in use. I don’t do that every time so when I do white specs of stuff comes out. Once the thing is drained I flush it out then reinstall the anode rod. That hole may be inviting for critters you don’t want in your water.

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