Water heater plastic plug cross thread

Its easier and cheaper to replace a plastic drain plug than replace a broken water heater.

BillyW wrote:
Dunno if brass on aluminum is advisable..

Temp/Press Relief Valves are brass.
BUT if anti-seize dope has NOT been used they are a real PITA to remove


Not removing drain plug and just draining via a petcock....
Atwood drain hole is only 1/2" opening .......petcock is 1/4".
It will drain water BUT you can't adequately flush/rinse out tank.
Hard to do thru the 1/2" drain hole let alone a hole the size of a pencil

I remove my Atwood drain plug then turn on water supply and let if blast out full force.
Amazed at the crud that comes out.

Just saying...........

Dunno if brass on aluminum is advisable..

I've used my brass plug for over 12 years, never had a problem screwing up the threads in the tank. I guess if you have a propensity to not be able to start the plug correctly you may want a nylon plug. If you can handle the task of starting the plug correctly then I like my brass one because the wrench end seems to always getting screwed up on the nylon one. YEMV.

I found a nylon plug with a brass petcock built into it at the local hardware store. I've only removed it once in the last 10 years, but easily drain the water heater routinely.

Timtation wrote:
Why not use a galvanized plug? Pipe tape seals the connection and cross threading is no longer a regular issue.

Because Atwood water heater tank is aluminum......drain hole bung is aluminum...threads are aluminum

That is reason drain plug is high temp nylon....so IT gets messed up vs the aluminum threads

Why not use a galvanized plug? Pipe tape seals the connection and cross threading is no longer a regular issue.

midnightsadie wrote:
take a good look at your plug, if the threads are messed up a bit get a new one at lowes.

PVC or even CPVC are not the same.
Have the same 1/2" NPT threads BUT are NOT same when it comes to TEMPERATURE ratings.

The NYLON drain plug Atwood uses is rated for 400*F +

PVC Sch 80........140*F
CPVC Sch 80.......200*F

Atwood normal temp ----140*F T&P Relief valve 210*F
Best to use OEM Nylon plug.......come 2 to package

Bumpyroad wrote:

pawpaw47 wrote:
I purchased this from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-11633-Water-Heater-Wrench/dp/B00BMRRZ94/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464002050&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=rv+water+hater+wrench

works great!

that is similar to the wrench I bought at Sears IIRC only mine is ratcheting. as you say, works great.
bumpy

That wrench fits BOTH drain plug HEAD sizes Atwood used.
Head sizes 7/8" and 15/16" for their 1/2" Nylon drain plug


Suburban uses a 3/4" NPT drain hole/plug and head size is 1 1/16" (6 point socket works best)

spoon059 wrote:

TexasATM wrote:
I never pull my plug to drain the water heater... just open your low point drains, open the hot side of a faucet, and open the pressure relief valve on the water heater. It will drain out through the pipes. It takes a little while, but it's easy and you don't have to worry about the drain plug.

Exactly my method as well. If this is done every trip, you don't get a buildup of sediment to cause concern. I started doing this about 5 years ago when I forgot to drain the water one time and I got the dreaded Sulphur smell. After that, I decided to take the extra 20 seconds each trip and drain the water heater when I drain the low points.

No sediment, no water to go bad, no poorly placed drain plugs to deal with... easy life!

Except.......low point drains do not come directly from water heater so w/o pulling drain plug and flush THRU water heater drain hole sediment/crud remain in bottom of tank