can water heater be drain from low level drain in back?

shebantam · 08-25-2015, 04:05 AM

There is an electric element where the anode was. It has a plastic cap. These anodes are not all that easy to get out in the first place, carry a breaker bar in the Cabin A. Would rather not mess up the heating element.

SInce there is now this element, can the water heater be drained from the back of the trailer?
SeverAL years ago the wh was not drained in my Cabin A. I ended up in the hospital with a version of swimmers ear that had me on infused antibiotics for 5 weeks. I did not go swimming, but used my shower. Do not want to go through that again. It affected my Vegas nerve, which has healed and those critters munched on my mastoid bone.

There is a very nice drain system in this trailer. Bantam, I had to get on the ground with 2 wrenches and the Cabin A has no drain system in the back.

I appreciate the help you all are giving me.

**Bill** · 08-25-2015, 06:11 AM

Paula -

Can you tell us the make and model of the water heater? The one used today has both an electric element and an anode rod, and they are not directly interchangeable (different size insert plugs). It sounds like yours had only an anode rod, and a previous owner took that out and substituted an electric heating element. Note that no anode rod means no protection of the tank from corrosion.

Have you gone on-line to the web site for the manufacturer of the water heater? The most reliable information is always available direct from the manufacturer.

Again in more modern trailers, there is no need to pull the anode rod to drain the water heater. It can be drained from the valves under the trailer - two just in front of the street-side tire, and two behind the waste water drains. This is shown in the plumbing system diagram here

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...&pictureid=435

I don't know if it is directly applicable to your trailer.

If your trailer came with a blue binder book, do you have it?

Bill

shebantam · 08-25-2015, 11:48 AM

I will have to see what hubby did with the binder. He was looking thru it the other day.
I looked under the sink and could not tell if the wh was bypassed either.
I need to get on the floor and look up.

Mechanics is not my thing, I am sort of the plug and play type of girl.

but service has gotten too expensive for me to pay the local RV repair shop. So I am learning...at my age

shebantam · 08-25-2015, 11:54 AM

I understand about tank corrosion, never experienced it because I try to dump the wh every time and I have one of those tank cleaner thingies that add water pressure on demand, when the anode tube is out...I guess once a year I will gave to snap off the cap and clean out the wh tank.

Yes previous owner added the element. He full timed in it for about a year and a half. The element is almost as good as a DSI, I guess, a far as being convenient.

tentcamper · 08-25-2015, 12:36 PM

My 2720 water heater seems to drain from the front low point drain with a hot faucet open. The 2 back low point drain just seem to drain for a minute or so but the front one will drain for 10-15 minutes. Not sure about your TM.

**Bill** · 08-25-2015, 02:29 PM

Paula -

If you have the binder, that is a good thing. It will contain the Installation instructions and the Operating instructions for your water heater.

As Tentcamper says, the water heater should drain through one of the front low point drains under the camper. It will drain a lot faster if you turn on the hot water faucet in the kitchen sink, to vent air into the tank.

Your blue binder will also contain the User instructions for the entire trailer. In the plumbing section, it will probably tell you that the entire plumbing system, including the water heater, will drain by gravity through the four low-point drains. With all the water out of the plumbing, there is nothing left in the system to freeze, so no anti-freeze is needed. And if no antifreeze is used, the water heater does not require a bypass.

There are a couple easy-to-manage exceptions to the "gravity draining" statement. You need to remove the shower head in the bathroom and the outdoor shower head. If you have a sprayer on the kitchen sink, take it off, too. Shake the water out of them, and set them aside. Run the water pump for about 5 seconds to ensure that the pumping chamber is empty.

You can also do a Search on this board for the word "bypass", or "winterize".

Bill

shebantam · 08-25-2015, 07:27 PM

Bill, you are wonderful. All I have is a shower head, no out door shower or sink sprayer.

I still think a good clean out of the water heater before draining for the winter will be a good thing. Jon left a blowout adapter and I have one from when I last blew out the Bantam.

The Cabin A does not have gravity drains and the way it is designed it takes a minimum of a gallon and a half od antifreeze, lots of water lines in that little 15' Jewel.

I am keeping it for weekender and traveling alone. Just do not need that much room e
when I am camping with my gal pals. That was why I stopped using the Bantam...

I digress, going to have to Se what Raymond did with the blue notebook...

PeterOC · 09-28-2015, 01:06 PM

Does anyone drain the water heater to reduce weight when towing? at 8.3 lbs a gallon 6 gallons would be 50lbs, roughly the weight of one of my kids (wouldn't want to leave them behind instead...). Is it easy to drain the hot water tank? Anything to worry about like burning up the element if no water is in the hot water tank and I accidentally turn it on first? I presume dumping the fresh water does not dump the hot water tank, right? Adavantages and drawbacks of the idea are welcome. Thanks

ThePair · 09-28-2015, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterOC

Does anyone drain the water heater to reduce weight when towing? at 8.3 lbs a gallon 6 gallons would be 50lbs, roughly the weight of one of my kids (wouldn't want to leave them behind instead...). Is it easy to drain the hot water tank? Anything to worry about like burning up the element if no water is in the hot water tank and I accidentally turn it on first? I presume dumping the fresh water does not dump the hot water tank, right? Adavantages and drawbacks of the idea are welcome. Thanks

I travel with no water at all, always fill at campsite. Of course, I camp where I can get water (not a hookup, mind you, but water is always available). I don't boondock, and I do want/need to save on weight. So, breaking camp means opening all the drain valves and letting all the water out.

IF YOU DO THIS, you need to make sure the tank is full again prior to turning on the water heater. The electric element will burn up in less than 1 second if there is no water in the tank when it's activated. So, I have a system with a carabiner clip: I set up at camp, fill the water tanks, make sure all the air is purged out of the lines. When I then go to turn on the hot water heater, I also take a clip out of that compartment, and put it on the handle for the bed slide in the back. When I'm breaking camp, this reminds me to turn off the water heater, which is when I replace the clip. As long as the water heater is off, you're safe. Once the heater is off -- much later in my break-down algorithm, after the TM is all closed up, I drain the tanks before hitting the road. Doing things in this order has kept my heater alive and well.

ArkyDoodle · 09-28-2015, 01:38 PM

I have a similar method.....I have a long red ribbon tied inside the water heater compartment. When I switch "on" the electric, I pull the ribbon outside of the compartment. when I switch it "off" I put the ribbon back inside the compartment. That way when I break camp, I can easily tell if I've switched the electric "off" before closing up....

EZ PZ