Removing hot water drain (ours won't budge)

[Mr.Hiesey]

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

 

[HERR42]

when i pulled mine out it was a LOT of work....very difficult.

just had to bite the bullet, used a big breaker bar and a tight fitting socket.

it was tough, tough, tough.

in the end, i won.

i put a anode rod with a drain fitting in to replace the original.

 

[DLN]

The factories put those plugs in way too tight during assembly. I've had the same problem with two of them so far and just had to keep working at it until they broke loose. Once you get it out reinstall with a couple layers of teflon tape and you won't have that issue again.

 

[1tonpaulie]

I found on my last slide in camper, the only way to get the bung out was to heat the water up and let it cycle over night. The next morning shut the water heater off and open a faucet. Now loosen the bung and out she came. Next time use teflon tape.If you dont open a faucet your going to get a bath.

 

[1tonpaulie]

I know for a fact!!!!!

 

[Mr.Hiesey]

It was very useful to learn that the drain really was hard to remove and that it wasn't just us! With this reassurance we bravely used a long "handle," cranked the ratchet as hard as we could, and were finally able to get the drain removed. Freezing temperatures were coming, so we probably also had a bit of desperation. Now, everything is drained and hopefully safe for the winter. Thanks for the tips!