Hello all, this is my first post and I have a question about a water heater. I have 78 Fleetwood Prowler. It has been stripped down to the frame and Im building a teardrop trailer on it. My question is that the old water heater that was in it has a garden hose connection in the access panel. Its very difficult to get to since it is up behind the gas tube for the burner. There was no plug in it and it leaked water out of it when i filled it to test the water heater operation. What is this connection for? Theres no way a hose could have been hooked up to it. I bought a plastic garden hose connection plug for it so that i could fill it and test it but it still leaks. Is it supposed to be a one way valve that is now leaking? Was it supposed to be used to flush the water heater or is it just a drain for it? Hopefully one of you guys have seen a water heater this old and can tell me. From what Ive seen all the new ones have a screw in metal pipe plug or anode rod for the drain which would incredibly more simple for me. Thanks in advance.

Do you have make and model?Atwood water heaters are aluminum tanks. Tey use a 1/2 inch nylon plug on the exterior. This is used for draining.Suburban water heaters are glass lined steel tanks. They use an anode in 3/4 (?) pipe whole. This is to prevent the tank from rusting out.Some older rigs had American Water Heaters. Yours should have either Atwood or Suburban.

It's probably an 'add on' by a previous owner and was put there to drain the water heater. I have a valve added on to mine instead of a plug. Same reason, a previous owner needed to drain the system, maybe frequently, and didn't want to fuss with a plug that was behind a gas line.

It is an American water heater, model RV-6It doesnt look like it was added on by a previous owner and from looking at I'm not sure how to take it off. It looks like the sheet metal is behind the flange of the connection. I was hoping I could take the back cover off and slide the unit out of the case so I could get a good look at how its connected to the tank so I can replace with a plug. I had to rotate that clamp just to be able to install the plastic plug so it doesnt seem like anyone has ever had to install a plug or hose into it. Im confused.

Great photos!Looks like someone over the years has screwed a water hoce adapter into the 1/2 inch pipe opening in the tank.You could try removing burner tube, remove plug and try a large easy out to remove the adapter.

The garden hose fitting replaced the original plug. I have a Model Temp heater with a valve, same difference. The water hose fitting can be removed, if you desire to do it. The leaking may be caused by a bad hose washer. If you want to turn it out of the heater, a basin wrench may be the best tool.

Old water heater drain | Good Sam Community

teardrop55
Explorer
Mar 05, 2017
Sorry have been busy and not online for awhile. Thanks westend for standing up for me. Completely agree with everything you said. As an update to the water heater situation, The fitting that was in it was a drain valve. It was leaking so I never figured out it was valve til i got it out plus the part you turn to open and close it was a garden hose fitting which I had never seen before. All the valves I have seen have the 2 wings/ears which clearly is a valve. I thought was used to hook a hose up for flushing or something and then a plug should be placed into when said flushing was done. That was incorrect.
As for the rest of it, I found the pressure relief valve leaking as well so that got replaced. It is actually a steel tank instead of aluminum as we had previously thought. The anode rod screwed in from the back and was completely gone. It was down to the steel core and even that was almost disintegrated. I dont think it has ever been changed in 40 years. Despite that though the inside of the tank looked pretty good. Minimal rust. There was lots of sediment and scale that I flushed and its now sitting with vinegar solution in it about to be flushed again. I'm gonna run with this one and hope it holds out. If it doesnt then it will be easy to replace and if the tank leaks it should leak to the outside. I will silicone the back cover seams and staples so no water will leak to the inside. Thanks for everyones help on this matter.
westend
Explorer
Feb 20, 2017
SoundGuy wrote:
Old-Biscuit wrote:
1978 Vintage.....stripped down....building a new teardrop

Then just buy a NEW water heater and be done with it :S

teardrop55 wrote:
Sorry, not an unlimited budget build. I've already been unable to reuse a lot of things I thought I would be able to. And to replace a working water heater because it needs a fitting taken out and replaced seems wasteful.

A working water heater for how long? It's 40 yrs old, how it's lasted this long is a miracle ... certainly a new water heater should have been factored in to the costs before you started this project. :E

Hey, wait a minute. I think you're over-stepping your bounds on that. If the guy wants to use an old water heater, why can't he? Sure, the water heater may fail but some of these projects are evolutionary and older materials and appliances can be factored in as possible repair items later. Budget may play an aspect, as well. Since a water heater,especially one with an aluminum tank and a standing pilot light, has very few parts that can fail and are all available for repair, why not use the older working one?

Additionally, your implementation when building may be different than the OP's ideas. Being different isn't being bad.

I sometimes think you just scold members, Sound Guy, to get a rise out of them or get a train of thought out there. Sometimes though, that scolding seems rather self-centric.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Feb 20, 2017
Old-Biscuit wrote:
1978 Vintage.....stripped down....building a new teardrop

Then just buy a NEW water heater and be done with it :S

teardrop55 wrote:
Sorry, not an unlimited budget build. I've already been unable to reuse a lot of things I thought I would be able to. And to replace a working water heater because it needs a fitting taken out and replaced seems wasteful.

A working water heater for how long? It's 40 yrs old, how it's lasted this long is a miracle ... certainly a new water heater should have been factored in to the costs before you started this project. :E
westend
Explorer
Feb 20, 2017
Yeah, if you don't like the hose fitting and can't stop it leaking, use those new found plumbing skills to replace it with what you think is good. With an aluminum tank and no need for an anode rod, you could replace it with some fittings and a valve. You might also replace it with a "Hotrod kit" so you have an electric element. Lots of ways to deal with the water heater drain.

One thing I'd suggest to do before you try firing it is to take apart the burner, the pilot, the thermocouple (if fitted with one), and both orifices, the pilot and the main burner, and clean it all up like a shiny penny. The orifices you can clean with a solvent or a heavy cleaning soap. Just soak them and blow out with compressed air. This is what I did with my older heater and it works fine.

You may be able to find some other building tips in the restoration thread in my signature line, The Cowboy/Hilton. I'm a guy like you, picking up the pieces and putting them to work. Need any trailer windows? :B
teardrop55
Explorer
Feb 20, 2017
enblethen wrote:
Aluminum!

Thank you!

Old-Biscuit wrote:
1978 Vintage.....stripped down....building a new teardrop

Then just buy a NEW water heater and be done with it :S

Sorry, not an unlimited budget build. I've already been unable to reuse a lot of things I thought I would be able to. And to replace a working water heater because it needs a fitting taken out and replaced seems wasteful.

Thanks Opnspaces, I resized the pics.
opnspaces
Navigator II
Feb 20, 2017
opnspaces wrote:
teardrop55 wrote:

I apologize for the pic size, just wanted to give good images so people could see what I'm talking about. I can take them down if necessary. Can you elaborate when you say you cant scroll to see other posts?

Unfortunately pictures over 640 x 480 cause many of us to have to scroll the screen to see everything. It's a setting here on the forum not the picture hosting site and is fortunately easy to correct. On your post with the pictures just click edit and add height=480 to the end. the forum software will do the rest.

Click the 'quote' button on this post to see the height=480 that I added to your picture.
opnspaces
Navigator II
Feb 20, 2017
teardrop55 wrote:

I apologize for the pic size, just wanted to give good images so people could see what I'm talking about. I can take them down if necessary. Can you elaborate when you say you cant scroll to see other posts?

Unfortunately pictures over 640 x 480 cause many of us to have to scroll the screen to see everything. It's a setting here on the forum not the picture hosting site and is fortunately easy to correct. On your post with the pictures just click edit and add height=480 to the end. the forum software will do the rest.

Click the 'quote' button on this post to see the height=480 that I added to your picture.
westend
Explorer
Feb 19, 2017
A moderator will be along, shortly, to remove your pics or resize them.
I'm viewing these pages on a 24" screen. For some reason the scrolling feature was absent. I'm now viewing through the RVNet portal and it is there.

Steel tanks need an anode.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Feb 19, 2017
1978 Vintage.....stripped down....building a new teardrop

Then just buy a NEW water heater and be done with it :S
enblethen
Nomad
Feb 19, 2017
Aluminum!

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