Mr.Hiesey
Member
We are new TC owners (Hawk 2009), so we are winterizing for the first time. As recommended, we plan to drain the hot water heater before adding antifreeze to the water system. Unfortunately, we are having a lot of trouble removing the drain from the bottom of the hot water heater and wonder if anyone has any suggestions.
We (and our handy neighbor) have tried everything we can think of--when standard wrenches and vice grips didn't work, we purchased a large ratchet. It fits perfectly, but the drain still won't budge. We tried using penetrating oil to see if that will help loosen it, but no success. Because the drain is located under fragile pieces of pipe, we feel that if we get any more aggressive, the tool could slip and cause a lot of damage.
As far as we know, this is the first time the drain has been removed. Also, for some reason, even thought the camper is very new, the drain has a lot of rust on it. We suspect that these factors may be contributing to our problems.
Has anyone else had trouble removing the drain to their hot water heater? Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Tara and Justin
We (and our handy neighbor) have tried everything we can think of--when standard wrenches and vice grips didn't work, we purchased a large ratchet. It fits perfectly, but the drain still won't budge. We tried using penetrating oil to see if that will help loosen it, but no success. Because the drain is located under fragile pieces of pipe, we feel that if we get any more aggressive, the tool could slip and cause a lot of damage.
As far as we know, this is the first time the drain has been removed. Also, for some reason, even thought the camper is very new, the drain has a lot of rust on it. We suspect that these factors may be contributing to our problems.
Has anyone else had trouble removing the drain to their hot water heater? Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Tara and Justin