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Old 09-10-2006, 11:45 AM   #1
WildWG
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Default Water Heater Woes

A question for those who have replaced the pressure/temperature relief valve in your TM water heater:

How do you get the thing out, what tool did you use?

Also, my owner's manual says to drain the water heater by opening a drain plug that is accessed from outside the trailer. Is this drain plug the one requiring about a 1 inch socket located at he bottom of the heater?

Thanks. I sure am going to enjoy our 2619 when I get all these bugs worked out.

WWG
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Old 09-10-2006, 01:01 PM   #2
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To remove my valve I used a large adjustable wrench, except that I used the wrench along the axis of the valve rather than at right angles to it. The wrench would now need to be turned like a screwdriver to unscrew the valve, so I clamped a second adjustable wrench on the first wrench's handle at right angles and used that for leverage. I think I may have even had to extend second wrench's handle with a metal tube for even more leverage to break the initial grip.

The drain plug is under the trailer right below where the water heater is. It is a flexible plastic tube sticking out the bottom with a faucet on it. The thing requiring a socket that you mentioned is, I believe, sacrificial anode. You don't need to remove this to drain the heater, but it might be worth checking to see if it need to be replaced.
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Old 09-10-2006, 01:53 PM   #3
Speckul8r
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I believe my manual says to remove the anode plug as a winterizing measure. Not as an after camping "drain the water" step. This will also give you the opportunity to inspect the anode and to replace as necessary.
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Old 09-10-2006, 03:36 PM   #4
Bill
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WildWG wrote
Quote:
A question for those who have replaced the pressure/temperature relief valve in your TM water heater. How do you get the thing out, what tool did you use?
You should never have to remove the P/T valve unless there is a failure (i.e., excessive weeping). Failures do occasionally occur, but no more often than they occur in your home water heater. Have you had a failure? If so, the answer (as others have suggested) is just a big wrench and a lot of torque. BTW, one way to stave off a failure, either at home or in the TM, is to trip the valve (lift the lever) a couple times a year and let a whoosh of water flow out. This clears any grit form the valve sealing surfaces, and keeps the seals a bit flexible.

Re draining the water heater, pbuck has it exactly right. Draining is easy - use the four valves hanging down under the trailer. See the thread titled "Drain Valves" for more detail. Every couple years, you might unscrew the sacrificial anode and replace it, but this is not a critically timed thing.

I hate to disagree with Speckul8r, who is quite knowledgable, but I haven't seen a reference to removing the anode plug as a winterizing measure. In a TM, there are no "winterizing measures" needed, other than draining the entire water system, as outlined in the manual, and removing the outdoor shower head. In particular, DON'T pay for a water heater bypass kit - it is NOT NEEDED.

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Old 09-10-2006, 07:00 PM   #5
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Default Removing Sacrificial Anode

The anode for the hot water heater needs to be replaced from time to time. My problem has always been how to break the thing loose in the first place.

I've got the right size socket and a large socket wrench, but haven't been able to loosen the fitting - even tapping it with a small sledgehammer. Finally gave up, being afraid of breaking something or injuring myself.

Haven't tried loosening it when the hot water heater if full of really hot water; do you think that would help?

This is our first season, so I expect we'll be OK for another year or two. I had this same problem with our other (popup) campers, too, and had the dealer check/replace the anode while they were doing the annual state inspection.

Suggestions would be appreciated.
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Old 09-11-2006, 04:49 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texas_Camper
Might try some penetrating oil or liquid wrench (same thing) and let it stand for a few minutes....
The penetrating oil should do the trick. Gently tapping on the end of the anode with the rounded end of a ballpeen hammer will help to move the penetrating oil between the threads. Our anode was very hard to remove but did eventually loosen. Since we spent several months on the road during 2005, our anode was just about gone (in spots). I would recommend changing out the anode once a year if you do a lot of camping/traveling.
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Old 09-11-2006, 06:31 AM   #7
Leslie & Nick
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Default Water Heater Anode

I was cleaning out my picture files, and came across this year old picture of the water heater anode from a TM we had just purchased. Wasn't sure what I'd find, but when I removed the old anode, I was surprised to see that there wasn't much left of the original (so it was doing its job!) Anyway, if you've never seen one before, this is what the anode looks like. The new replacement was about $9 as I recall. I need to check the replacement to see how its fared after a year of use.

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Old 09-11-2006, 12:11 PM   #8
Virginia Deacon
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Thanks to all who offered suggestions about removing the anode. I will give penetrating oil a try; haven't tried that, before.
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Old 09-11-2006, 01:12 PM   #9
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Bill, Gave the manual a look and it does suggest removing the anode for inspection once a year. Mine was tough to remove but after "talking" to it a bit, it came loose. Wrapped it with a bit of teflon tape and will do it again this winter. Mine looked like it was doing it's job with all the pits in it so obviously I'll need to change it sometime.
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Old 09-11-2006, 03:12 PM   #10
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Speckul8r,
I see a problem here! If you wrapped the threads with teflon tape, then you have also electrically insulated the anode from the hot water tank. It will not work as a sacrificial anode since you have broken the electrical circuit: Anode to Water Ions to Hot Water Tank Shell.
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