Hot water tank drain plug
Hi everyone, hope that all is well with each of you out there. Due to some emergency brain surgery a month ago, our camping season sadly has come to an abrupt end. We are in the process of cleaning ...
Forum Discussion
enblethen wrote:
Drain plugs are easy to get out with proper sized socket on an extension.
Eazy peazy with correct tool.
Granted, this works great on Attwoods, not sure about Suburbans.
The plug I have takes a 7/8" socket, I only have that in 1/2" wrench.
I use a shorty extension which almost enough to get outside of the water heater. It is just long enough to get ratchet on it.
Since I have that in 1/2" wrench, I do have to be very careful about not overtightening the plug.
For installing the plug, I hand start it to prevent cross threading, then use ratchet to lightly tighten.
I do not use any thread sealants or Teflon, those will change the torque characteristics and make it easy to over tighten and damage the plug.
I believe there is a purpose made tool you can buy for this which may be better than a 1/2" ratchet which would be less likely to strip the plug.
I kind of like the plug on the Attwood, I did have a Suburban which had a petcock valve. That valve was so difficult to get sealed and when it came time to drain, I was always scared that the top of the valve was going to break off. Had to use channel lock pliers to open and close the petcock valve.
