Got the trailer last Fall and winterized it and now trying to get it going. I did not put anti-freeze in the hot water heater, but upon removal of the drain plug there was alot of white residue in the bottom of the area where the plug screws in. So much so that I had to take a pick and scrape it out so I could try to get the plug threaded in. I think I'd left it about 1/2 way in. I guess its possible I somehow screwed up and got some antifreeze in there when I blew out the trailer. Anyway, now I can not get the plug to stop seeping. I've tried one, two and three wraps of teflon tape and it still seeps. Its a tiny amount now but still there.
The kinda odd thing is I've been expecting the drain plug to screw all the way in, but it only goes about 2/3 of the way and I have to use a wrench to get it that far. I could turn it more but I don't think I should hafta yard on it.
How do I get the dang thing to quit leaking? Do I just let it corrode and seal itself? Doesn't seem right to me. The annode rod (or whatever its called) is kinda white when it dries, is that normal?
Thanks.
* This post was
edited 05/22/12 08:47am by d-mac1 *
It sounds like you are dealing with a Suburban steel tank. I would carefully chase the threads in the tank with a pipe tap and install a new brass plug with teflon tape. If it happens to be an Attwood with an aluminum tank, the same would apply except make sure that you get a new nylon (or whatever kind of plastic it is)plug.
The calcium buildup inside the tank is normal. The water is so hard here that I have to clean mine out about every six months or so. I do believe those plugs are tapered, but ask someone who knows for sure. They will not go all the way in but do need to be snug without breaking. I think chasing the threads as mentioned will help, then proper application of teflon tape or even plumber's pipe dope should help.
Mike
My computer beat me at chess, but I beat it at kick boxing!
On mine, the plug only goes in about 2/3. I put a light coat of heavy grease on mine and stopped it from leaking. It is a good idea to drain and flush out the tank with a cut off garden hose about 1x month to avoid build up. You would be amazed what comes out of there.
Steve Rinker
Rochester, NY
2013 Keystone Sydney 340FBH 5'er
2012 Silverado 3500HD, SRW,LTZ,4x4, Z71, Crew, 6.0 Gasser, 4:10 Gears, Standard bed
"These days, I have problems in areas that I used to not have areas", so life is good.
They are tapered and not suppose to screw in all the way. You may have over-tightened it. Campco makes a brass plug with a thumb turn "T" for draining, works great.
NPT threads are tapered...they are designed to bind tighter and tighter as you screw them together. They are not meant to bottom out. Put teflon tape on the threads to help seal the joint. The threads will still cut the tape enough to make a good conductive connection for the annode to work properly.
The white stuff builds up in hot water heaters. I made a garden hose adapter with a few parts from home depot. An on/off valve that screws onto the garden hose...threaded on a hose nipple...and a foot of polyethylene tubing... I insert it into the hot water heater...and turn it on to rinse out all the white residue from the bottom of the tank. I do it once a year...and replace the annode about every two years.
I personnaly have found teflon tape not to be as good as most would think. I preferr to use the teflon pipe dope, comes in a little tooth paste type tube and is applied over the threads in place of the tape. JM2Cents Bill
Thanks for all the replies guys! I thought mine looked like it was tapered but it was kinda dark in the garage last night and couldn't tell for sure. This morning, after reading some of the responses, I pulled it out again and cleaned up the threads again with the pick to get any residual teflon tape and any more white******I could scrape out of them (virtually nothing is left)and put about 4 wraps of teflon tape on it and screwed it back in, but not as tight this time...just snug. A quick look a little later seemed to look promising but we'll see if she's seeping when I get home. Will try the pipe dope if that doesn't work and will check out the Campco plug if that doesn't work.
Chuggs....cool idea on flushing out the tank! I discovered another method!! When I was trying to get the dang plug to seal I was putting it in, adding water and pressure and then removing it to try again. The first time I didn't realize how much pressure would build up even with just a little water. I pulled out the plug and WOW! I had a fountain squirting out the side of my trailer. :-) Thank goodness it was cold water cuz I got a bit soaked. Of course, I felt like an idiot. Lesson learned.
d-mac1 wrote: Thanks for all the replies guys! I thought mine looked like it was tapered but it was kinda dark in the garage last night and couldn't tell for sure. This morning, after reading some of the responses, I pulled it out again and cleaned up the threads again with the pick to get any residual teflon tape and any more white******I could scrape out of them (virtually nothing is left)and put about 4 wraps of teflon tape on it and screwed it back in, but not as tight this time...just snug. A quick look a little later seemed to look promising but we'll see if she's seeping when I get home. Will try the pipe dope if that doesn't work and will check out the Campco plug if that doesn't work.
Chuggs....cool idea on flushing out the tank! I discovered another method!! When I was trying to get the dang plug to seal I was putting it in, adding water and pressure and then removing it to try again. The first time I didn't realize how much pressure would build up even with just a little water. I pulled out the plug and WOW! I had a fountain squirting out the side of my trailer. :-) Thank goodness it was cold water cuz I got a bit soaked. Of course, I felt like an idiot. Lesson learned.
JFYI, npt(national pipe thread) fittings are all tapered threads that need to very tight to be leak free. Tape or pipe dope works.
NPT metal/plastic fittings need some type of sealant. Nylon or soft type plastic npt fittings can get away without sealants. Using sealant on them might be counterproductive.
Be careful using dissimilar metals. Like a brass plug in a galvanized fitting. Or a steel plug in galvanized. Sometimes electrolysis or dissimilar expansion rates can corrode or crack a heavily torqued fitting where dissimilar metals are used.
If you use pipe dope on potable water, make sure it is rated for potable water. I prefer the new types of sealant tapes.
The proper method is to only wrap 1&1/2 - 2 turns tape, max, applied in the direction that tightens the tape when screwing in the fitting.
Should never wrap tape around the last 1/8" end of the fitting.
You can start tightening fitting as tight as you think safe for the fittings to not break, staying on the safe side. Then if it seeps a little latter, you can tighten it again if you used tape. With pipe dope, most of them harden up so you can't re-tighten fittings without disturbing the pipe dope seal.If you use a nylon type plug it should seal without any sealants...
IMO if you can use a nylon plug, all the better. I use a nylon plug in my TH water heater. This way, on a fitting that is not permanent, and being taken apart frequently, the chance of bugging up the heater's fitting female threads are all but impossible. And you won't need any sealant or tape, and the amount you need to tighten it to be leak free is much less...
Oh ya, I recommend popping open the pressure relief valve on top of the heater before draining.You might find that keeps you drier.
From my experience, if you leave any water in your heater for an extended amount of downtime, not only does corrosion start, but it gets algae and moldy fast. If you open the hot water faucet with the heater off, you can easily smell it. I drain my heater after each use and never let it sit in storage with water in it.
jmo
* This post was
edited 05/22/12 10:48am by allcool *
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