Atwood water heater drain plug tightening

I don't remember make or type of water heater, but a I put a quarter turn valve on our mh water heater, then all I have to do is open the valve to drain it. Down side, can't close cover with drain open.

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Just a tip: If you need a new drain plug for a Dometic/Atwood water heater and there's no RV shop handy, a CPVC plug from a hardware/big box store will work fine as a substitute.

Oh, and another tip: Always buy two plugs and store one right in the water heater cabinet. Otherwise you'll never remember where you put it when you need it. ;)

It seems like whatever I REALLY need is never available ?? in a "store"

I could not find cpvc in this fitting size at the big box!

Missionstreet wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Just a tip: If you need a new drain plug for a Dometic/Atwood water heater and there's no RV shop handy, a CPVC plug from a hardware/big box store will work fine as a substitute.

Oh, and another tip: Always buy two plugs and store one right in the water heater cabinet. Otherwise you'll never remember where you put it when you need it. ;)

It seems like whatever I REALLY need is never available ?? in a "store"

I could not find cpvc in this fitting size at the big box!

^^^THIS^^^

Man, where is the "like" button?

Needed a fitting while camping out of town once, visited every single big box store I could find and not once could I find what used to be a standard stocked fitting.. Started fitting a whole bunch of different fittings together in the stores but still was not able to make it work..

Wasted a lot of camping time, a lot of fuel and a lot of brain cells and finally resolved myself to the fact that I would need to continue camping without water to my toilet for the rest of the week until I was able to go home and order the correct piece needed from Amazon..

Retail stores have removed pretty much anything the computer system deems as "slow moving" from inventory. If it sits on the shelf too long, it no longer gets reordered after the last part sells.

Often takes visits to both Home Depot and Lowes in order to get most of the parts needed to do a project but there almost always is one or two items that both stores do not carry.. A very sad state of affairs..

I have always had to use tape to get a good seal between nylon plugs and my Atwood water heater. It seems to me like the nylon plugs would not need tape, but every season when I go over the system and don't tape the plug, water slowly leaks from the plug. Depressurize, remove, tape, reinstall plug, no leak. I've gone through a handful of plugs over the years, so it's not like it was one janky one that leaked.

ewarnerusa wrote:
I have always had to use tape to get a good seal between nylon plugs and my Atwood water heater. It seems to me like the nylon plugs would not need tape, but every season when I go over the system and don't tape the plug, water slowly leaks from the plug. Depressurize, remove, tape, reinstall plug, no leak. I've gone through a handful of plugs over the years, so it's not like it was one janky one that leaked.

That has been my experience exactly. Old or new plugs have made no difference. Two or three wraps of thin teflon tape ends the leaking.

Missionstreet wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Just a tip: If you need a new drain plug for a Dometic/Atwood water heater and there's no RV shop handy, a CPVC plug from a hardware/big box store will work fine as a substitute.

Oh, and another tip: Always buy two plugs and store one right in the water heater cabinet. Otherwise you'll never remember where you put it when you need it. ;)

It seems like whatever I REALLY need is never available ?? in a "store"

I could not find cpvc in this fitting size at the big box!

I've found them for myself and other folks several times over the years in Ace or TrueValue hardware stores.

JimK-NY wrote:

ewarnerusa wrote:
I have always had to use tape to get a good seal between nylon plugs and my Atwood water heater. It seems to me like the nylon plugs would not need tape, but every season when I go over the system and don't tape the plug, water slowly leaks from the plug. Depressurize, remove, tape, reinstall plug, no leak. I've gone through a handful of plugs over the years, so it's not like it was one janky one that leaked.

That has been my experience exactly. Old or new plugs have made no difference. Two or three wraps of thin teflon tape ends the leaking.

Nope, GDE says that won't work. Doesn't seal threads...lol.