Broken water heater plug

[rvbikeguy]

While removing the plastic plug to drain my water heater, the head of the old plug broke off, leaving most of the threads in the hole. Does anyone have a suggestion how to remove the old plug stub so I can install a new brass plug? Access is difficult (as seems to be the preferred design with RV water heaters). Thanks.

[WILDEBILL308]

mkirsch wrote:
Home Depot has nylon plugs too. They are in the section with all the brass fittings.

Do NOT use a brass plug. You are just asking for trouble.

The only nylon plugs I found at Home Depot were the wrong thread. They were tubing thread (like the brass fittings) not pipe thread.
Bill

[mkirsch]

Home Depot has nylon plugs too. They are in the section with all the brass fittings.

Do NOT use a brass plug. You are just asking for trouble.

[jwmII]

There is a lot of good ideas here but there are 2 that I would avoid. If the water heater is an Atwood it is aluminum and a brass or any other dissimilar metal plug
will seize in the heater. Stay with plastic. The Atwood variety is best. The second thing is to avoid heating with a torch or any open flame. There can be hydrogen present. Hydrogen as we all should know is flammable.

[dougrainer]

Gdetrailer wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

rvbikeguy wrote:
While removing the plastic plug to drain my water heater, the head of the old plug broke off, leaving most of the threads in the hole. Does anyone have a suggestion how to remove the old plug stub so I can install a new brass plug? Access is difficult (as seems to be the preferred design with RV water heaters). Thanks.

Pipe nipple extractor is the tool to use.

SEE HERE

Once you have the plug out, do not use a brass plug..

Buy a new set of plastic plugs.. They are cheap and are much more forgiving than brass in this application.. There IS a reason the manufacturer uses these plugs and it is not to be a cheapskate.. It is to protect the tank threads..

Then do not tighten the plugs so tight.. You are over tightening the plug.

I screw in by hand then using a 3/8 ratchet with extension and a socket to fit the plug I just tighten slightly past my hand tight.

Water will not squirt out this way, it may seep a bit but will not squirt or leak much if at all. If it does, just turn off the pressure and SLIGHTLY tighten but don't over do it.

You do not need to screw in the whole way and bury the threads.. The nylon will dis-form and lose it's shape causing it to swell on the INSIDE of the tank (where you DON'T want it to swell). That is what breaks them off when trying to remove the plug.

Pipe threads are tapered, the further in you tighten, the wider the plug gets..

You also do not need any Teflon or pipe dope on these plugs, the nylon will act on its own as a sealant.

You DO need tape or pipe dope. Take it from someone who has been repairing RV's for 36 years. Doug

Doug,

I guess I will have to take a photo of my tank/plug..

I DO NOT use any thread sealant on my tank plug.

It does not leak nor have I broken a plug off.

Works for me.

The use of a sealant or teflon will allow you to screw the plug in further than it should be.. Sealants reduce the friction and makes the plug go too far in.

Nylon is a much softer material than PVC or other plastic plugs, it deforms easier also.. That allows the plug to fit the threads and seal without any sealant.

Now if you are using brass, that is another ball of wax.. Brass plugs will gall the aluminum threads.. The result is leaks and possibly a stuck brass plug..

Try it without sealant, I will bet you will never have a problem breaking a plug off again..

There is no need to crank in a nylon plug either.. Just needs hand tight then a slight more with a wrench..

By the way, many antique engines like "Hit and Miss" or even "Model Ts" used spark plugs which are 1/2" pipe thread.. You DO NOT USE THREAD SEALANTS ON THOSE EITHER and they seal as long as someone didn't damage the threads..

You do not have to take any photo. Take it from someone who has seen more plastic plug leaks in 6 months than you will ever experience. There is NOTHING wrong with using thread sealer and I have installed thread sealer on hundreds of plastic plugs over the years for people that think like you and then they have a leak and then pay ME to fix it. Usually, they start to leak AFTER the water heater has reached its hot temp and then they find that slow drip. To bring up a Engine plug analogy is also ridiculous. Doug

[WILDEBILL308]

I had my plug break and to complicate matters someone had tried to use a plug with the wrong thread pitch. I got the old parts of the plug out but could not get the new plugs to go in more that one thread before popping out of the threads. Had to go find a "pipe" tap to chase the threads.
Yes the plugs are a pore design made in cheap plastic.
Bill

[Gdetrailer]

dougrainer wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

rvbikeguy wrote:
While removing the plastic plug to drain my water heater, the head of the old plug broke off, leaving most of the threads in the hole. Does anyone have a suggestion how to remove the old plug stub so I can install a new brass plug? Access is difficult (as seems to be the preferred design with RV water heaters). Thanks.

Pipe nipple extractor is the tool to use.

SEE HERE

Once you have the plug out, do not use a brass plug..

Buy a new set of plastic plugs.. They are cheap and are much more forgiving than brass in this application.. There IS a reason the manufacturer uses these plugs and it is not to be a cheapskate.. It is to protect the tank threads..

Then do not tighten the plugs so tight.. You are over tightening the plug.

I screw in by hand then using a 3/8 ratchet with extension and a socket to fit the plug I just tighten slightly past my hand tight.

Water will not squirt out this way, it may seep a bit but will not squirt or leak much if at all. If it does, just turn off the pressure and SLIGHTLY tighten but don't over do it.

You do not need to screw in the whole way and bury the threads.. The nylon will dis-form and lose it's shape causing it to swell on the INSIDE of the tank (where you DON'T want it to swell). That is what breaks them off when trying to remove the plug.

Pipe threads are tapered, the further in you tighten, the wider the plug gets..

You also do not need any Teflon or pipe dope on these plugs, the nylon will act on its own as a sealant.

You DO need tape or pipe dope. Take it from someone who has been repairing RV's for 36 years. Doug

Doug,

I guess I will have to take a photo of my tank/plug..

I DO NOT use any thread sealant on my tank plug.

It does not leak nor have I broken a plug off.

Works for me.

The use of a sealant or teflon will allow you to screw the plug in further than it should be.. Sealants reduce the friction and makes the plug go too far in.

Nylon is a much softer material than PVC or other plastic plugs, it deforms easier also.. That allows the plug to fit the threads and seal without any sealant.

Now if you are using brass, that is another ball of wax.. Brass plugs will gall the aluminum threads.. The result is leaks and possibly a stuck brass plug..

Try it without sealant, I will bet you will never have a problem breaking a plug off again..

There is no need to crank in a nylon plug either.. Just needs hand tight then a slight more with a wrench..

By the way, many antique engines like "Hit and Miss" or even "Model Ts" used spark plugs which are 1/2" pipe thread.. You DO NOT USE THREAD SEALANTS ON THOSE EITHER and they seal as long as someone didn't damage the threads..

[John_Joey]

I put this thread together when I had to replace mine:

CLICKY

[dougrainer]

Gdetrailer wrote:

rvbikeguy wrote:
While removing the plastic plug to drain my water heater, the head of the old plug broke off, leaving most of the threads in the hole. Does anyone have a suggestion how to remove the old plug stub so I can install a new brass plug? Access is difficult (as seems to be the preferred design with RV water heaters). Thanks.

Pipe nipple extractor is the tool to use.

SEE HERE

Once you have the plug out, do not use a brass plug..

Buy a new set of plastic plugs.. They are cheap and are much more forgiving than brass in this application.. There IS a reason the manufacturer uses these plugs and it is not to be a cheapskate.. It is to protect the tank threads..

Then do not tighten the plugs so tight.. You are over tightening the plug.

I screw in by hand then using a 3/8 ratchet with extension and a socket to fit the plug I just tighten slightly past my hand tight.

Water will not squirt out this way, it may seep a bit but will not squirt or leak much if at all. If it does, just turn off the pressure and SLIGHTLY tighten but don't over do it.

You do not need to screw in the whole way and bury the threads.. The nylon will dis-form and lose it's shape causing it to swell on the INSIDE of the tank (where you DON'T want it to swell). That is what breaks them off when trying to remove the plug.

Pipe threads are tapered, the further in you tighten, the wider the plug gets..

You also do not need any Teflon or pipe dope on these plugs, the nylon will act on its own as a sealant.

You DO need tape or pipe dope. Take it from someone who has been repairing RV's for 36 years. Doug

[alfredmay]

This happened to me. The head came off the plug and there was a hollow core left behind. I took a bowie knife that has a sharp blade on both knife tip sides and inserted it into the hole. I tapped the end of the knife so it "bit" into the plastic. I then put a small wrench on the hilt of the knife and the plug came right out.

[Dick_B]

Believe it or not this had been discussed in the past. Try this link: http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28371276.cfm.
My advice is to drill two holes on opposite sides of the plug and unscrew with a needle nose pliers. There may be better ideas.

[j-d]

It's a different plug than the ones in the PVC department at Lowes/HD. Because theirs are PVC... You want the Atwood part for this!

[Old-Biscuit]

Atwood WH Tank is aluminum...........hence the use of the nylon plug
Atwood drain hole is 1/2"

Using a brass pet c o c k can cause stripping of the aluminum bung hole threads and you also make drain hole even smaller and a good cleaning/flushing requires removing drain plug so buy the 2-pak replacement and use the nylon plugs as designed.

Hate to have you come back and post....
I stripped the threads out. Now what?

[Gdetrailer]

rvbikeguy wrote:
While removing the plastic plug to drain my water heater, the head of the old plug broke off, leaving most of the threads in the hole. Does anyone have a suggestion how to remove the old plug stub so I can install a new brass plug? Access is difficult (as seems to be the preferred design with RV water heaters). Thanks.

Pipe nipple extractor is the tool to use.

SEE HERE

Once you have the plug out, do not use a brass plug..

Buy a new set of plastic plugs.. They are cheap and are much more forgiving than brass in this application.. There IS a reason the manufacturer uses these plugs and it is not to be a cheapskate.. It is to protect the tank threads..

Then do not tighten the plugs so tight.. You are over tightening the plug.

I screw in by hand then using a 3/8 ratchet with extension and a socket to fit the plug I just tighten slightly past my hand tight.

Water will not squirt out this way, it may seep a bit but will not squirt or leak much if at all. If it does, just turn off the pressure and SLIGHTLY tighten but don't over do it.

You do not need to screw in the whole way and bury the threads.. The nylon will dis-form and lose it's shape causing it to swell on the INSIDE of the tank (where you DON'T want it to swell). That is what breaks them off when trying to remove the plug.

Pipe threads are tapered, the further in you tighten, the wider the plug gets..

You also do not need any Teflon or pipe dope on these plugs, the nylon will act on its own as a sealant.

[pulsar]

I carry a large straight=flute scree extractor, purchased at Sears



I've used it twice - once on my rig and once to help a fellow camper. It worked quick and easy.

Tom