Water in Water Heater

[donnieR32]

Yesterday I was putting stuff in the trailer for my upcoming fishing trip and heard water slosh around when I moved. I know all the tanks are empty and I can tell the water sound is coming from the back. I walk outside toward the sound and sure enough it sounds like it is coming from the water heater. Is that normal, am I supposed to dump that too?

Thanks in advance.

[drsteve]

a lot of the underground water here in the states have sulfur in it

What you are smelling is hydrogen sulfide gas, produced by iron-eating bacteria in the water. To get rid of it, sanitize your home well water system with chlorine.

[Tvov]

I drain the heater if the TT is going to sit for more than a week without being used.

[1ofmany]

Seems to me that if you left water in your water heater and it froze, you would be looking for a new water heater. We always drain ours when we put our FW in storage...if long terming, like now, we drain and flush the tank every few months.

[corvettekent]

I keep my tank full all the time, It's a great source for water in case of an emergency. Depending on how long since me last trip I may dump and refill before heading out on a trip.

[old_guy]

a lot of people empty their water tank some leave it until getting ready to winterize. my thoughts are it depends on two things, how long it going to be before you go camping again or more important what water you are using in your tank. the later depends on the camp ground. a lot of the underground water here in the states have sulfur in it. cities that are aware of the sulfur have a method to rid the sulfur from their water. many camp ground with their own water systems do not rid the sulfur. the sulfur is the main reason for your water heater emits a strong sulfur stink when used. so if you want to play it by ear, use your nose to determine what you want to do.

[DrewE]

It's normal for water to stay in the water heater, yes, although with some setups it can drain with the standard low point drains for the RV water system. Normally those wouldn't be opened when draining tanks.

There's no great reason I can think of to drain it when storing the RV during the camping season. It also saves some on the aggravation and (slight) expense of replacing my Atwood water heater drain plug quite so frequently. (Nor, for that matter, do I see any great need to drain the fresh water tank for relatively short-term storage.) Obviously the entire water system including the heater should be drained out for winterization.

[RoyB]

On mine it will drain a way down if I open the HOT WATER spigot on the sink when draining from the low water point under the trailer.

If I want to get all of the water out I remove the bottom anode port which is my hot water heater sacrificial anode and give it a good inspection at the same time. when it is all eat up you need to replace it... My hot water heater is a suburban model... The ATWOOD models don't have one I think...

Getting all of the water out is not all necessary if you are worried about freezing over the winter months. There is alot of expansion room in the 6-gallon heater case. I always lock open my hot water release valve on top during the winter months which also helps draining most of the water out using the low water point on the trailer...

Roy Ken

[donnieR32]

Good to know. Thanks for the quick responses. Now time to post more questions, lol.

[Hondavalk]

I drain my WH if its going to set for more than a couple weeks.

[rk911]

donnieR32 wrote:
Yesterday I was putting stuff in the trailer for my upcoming fishing trip and heard water slosh around when I moved. I know all the tanks are empty and I can tell the water sound is coming from the back. I walk outside toward the sound and sure enough it sounds like it is coming from the water heater. Is that normal, am I supposed to dump that too?

Thanks in advance.

the only time I dump the water heater is in the fall when I'm winterizing.