Hot water tank drain hole is stripped

Charlie D. wrote:
One can always/should run water to clean out the system. Same as you would do using Chlorine to sanitize.

Chlorine bleach is water soluble. Don't know about navel jelly, but never seize is oil based and won't rinse. It will leach, however. Like I say, yum.

fj12ryder wrote:

Dusty R wrote:
For cleaning female pipe threads you can take a short piece of pipe of the same size and cut 2 or 3 slots across the threads with a hack saw or cur off wheel in a side grinder. This will save the price of a tap.

I've tried this and you might as well bite the bullet and get/borrow a tap. It doesn't work very well. I was going to say it doesn't work at all, but it may have done something, just couldn't tell.

Worked for me. Was a totally different situation. I had a plastic electrical component, slip rings on a silo unloader, that I needed to screw a conduit fitting into, and the threads were cut way too shallow.
I cut slots in a pipe and it cut the threads to where I could screw the fitting in.

Dusty

Dusty R wrote:
For cleaning female pipe threads you can take a short piece of pipe of the same size and cut 2 or 3 slots across the threads with a hack saw or cur off wheel in a side grinder. This will save the price of a tap.

I've tried this and you might as well bite the bullet and get/borrow a tap. It doesn't work very well. I was going to say it doesn't work at all, but it may have done something, just couldn't tell.

stevenal wrote:
Never Seize? Navel Jelly? Sounds like yummy stuff for a potable water system. Personally I think I'll stick with Teflon or other sealants intended for water systems.

Teflon is now banned by the EPA for use in food-contact products, due to one of its constituent ingredients suspected of causing birth defects and possible links to cancer: WaPo.

Naval Jelly's main (active) ingredient is phosphoric acid, which is among other things, widely used as a food additive. I concede there's likely other stuff in the rust remover product that wouldn't be good to eat - rinse thoroughly after use I guess.

Don't know about Never Seize...

For cleaning female pipe threads you can take a short piece of pipe of the same size and cut 2 or 3 slots across the threads with a hack saw or cur off wheel in a side grinder. This will save the price of a tap.

One can always/should run water to clean out the system. Same as you would do using Chlorine to sanitize.

Never Seize? Navel Jelly? Sounds like yummy stuff for a potable water system. Personally I think I'll stick with Teflon or other sealants intended for water systems.

Thanks to everyone that replied to my question. I have many good suggestions to put to the test. I hope this helps others that may encounter this type of problem. Did not want to replace a working hot water tank because of a drain/anode plug issue. Mark

I also use a wire brush in my drill to clean up the threads. This works really well, but if your threads are actually stripped, you will need to follow up with a pipe tap. You can get these wire brushes, meant to clean up copper pipe, at any hardware plumbing section. I got mine at Menards.

Jerry

i got a good (for that job) tap from ebay. heck of a lot cheaper than Ace and dropped in the mail box.

As far as hard starting the rod, the weight of the rod tends to misalign the threads. I stick mine in a shallow well socked on the end of an extension and it seems to align quite easily that way.

I also take plumbers grease and coat the threads when the tank remains empty with the plug out for long periods of time.