Water heater drain spigot

[Steve and Rosemary]

I was going to flush out our water heater on our relatively new-to-us Bigfoot 5er since we didn't use it last year (the water heater, not the Bigfoot). However, one of the previous owners put a small hose spigot with a ball shut-off valve in the drain plug (instead of a plug or rod) and I think the two metals have made it seize. Any advice on how to break the seal without ruining the water heater?

I'll try to post photos later today, but suffice it to say, there isn't a lot of room for leverage. I'm wondering if there are chemicals of some kind that can help loosen the corrosion (if that's what it is) on the threads.

Thanks!

[Raspy]

No chemicals, like penetrating oils, will be able to get into the threads past the pipe dope that was used for sealant. The best thing is to come up with a some kind of a wrench to get ahold of the bib and force it to turn. This might be a pipe wrench or a large pair of Knipex slip joint pliers. Don't worry about saving the hose bib. You might have to take the burner out to get a better grip on it.

[David B.]

Someone had posted comparison results of various penetrating oils, and the winner was a 50:50 mix of Acetone & ATF. Let us know of your results.
Dave & Paula

[gordon2]

Perhaps a temperature change might help. Either run it and then try, or use a heat gun. Maybe if you use the heater for a while to get it warmed up, then run water till its cold through the valve. But be very careful of hot water and pressure!

[Jack L]

Most water heater tanks are aluminum and if someone put a brass valve into aluminum you have a difficult situation at best. Aluminum and brass react very badly when combined. Stainless steel and aluminum get along well so if you can get the old valve out it would be best to replace it with stainless. Another way to deal with a situation like this would be a stainless steel reducing bushing into the tank threads and then a brass valve into the stainless bushing. The bushing acts as a barrier between the brass and aluminum.. As far as getting the old valve out and reusing the tank, cutting the old valve off, drilling out the remainder of the valve that is still in the tank, and rethreading the tank would be one possibility. I would apply heat to the brass valve first, but that might not help. Hopefully you will not have to be purchasing a new water heater.

[Raspy]

Stainless and aluminum don't get along very well either. This has caused lot of problems around boats.

Often, pipe fittings are hard to get apart just because they were overtightened or because a poor type of sealant was used and it has glued the fittings together. Whatever the reason, you just have to apply enough torque to break it loose, and then it will come out

If you want to retain a hose bib as the water heater drain, and you don't like the one you have, get a plastic one. These are common on household water heaters and can easily be found at hardware stores as replacements. Some RV water heater have plastic plugs in the drain port. You can get threaded plastic plugs at the hardware store, but probably only PVC ones. These are not good at hold the pressure under the heat of the water heater and should not be used.

I don't see why you can't flush the water heater with the existing hose bib. I put a brass one in a trailer I had and used it for that for years. It was brass and I never had any problem. In the winter I left it open to winterize. At the beginning of the next season I would hook up to city water and let the open bib blast for a while before closing it.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Hi all,

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. I have attached some photos (hopefully) in the event that they help. I'm not sure what material the spigot is made of but it looks like there's some green build up on it which would indicate copper to me. Would that be right?

Last fall, I tried heating the spigot up with a hair dryer but was unsuccessful. A heat gun would be better, of course, but I was worried about damaging something else. Is there anything there that I can damage with a heat gun?

As far as flushing goes, I am able to flush the water out, but I'm concerned that there's a bunch of mineral deposit stacked up in the bottom of it. I wanted to be able to insert something so as to squirt some of that sediment out.

Lastly, I don't feel like a spigot such as this is necessary so I was going to get a plastic plug to replace it. That said, maybe a plastic spigot would be a good alternative.

[Raspy]

The fitting screwed into the tank is copper.

Since you can't unscrew it the way it is, cut off the copper pipe just outside of the copper male adapter that is screwed into the tank. Then reach in with a socket and fit it onto the male adapter. Then fit an extension and ratchet or breaker bar, and break the fitting loose. I 1/2" drive breaker bar and 6" extension would be perfect and will remove it.

The pipe can be cut with either a plumbers hacksaw (the kind without the loop handle that clamps the blade to a handle, or with a dremel tool.

After draining the tank, you might be able to heat the valve with a soldering torch, while holding it with pliers, and slip it off the copper pipe. Then reach in with a deep socket to get on the male adapter.

Or just leave it as it is. But you cannot pass a wire through that kind of valve. And if a large piece of sediment gets to the valve, it will clog. Too bad it's not a ball valve.

BTW, a heat gun is not going to help you here.

If you want to be rude about it, just grab that valve with a pipe wrench or large channel lock pliers and twist it until the pipe breaks. It will either unscrew or it will break off and allow the socket to go on the fitting. Quick, no torch or saw needed.

[Steve and Rosemary]

A few moments after posting the photos, I decided to go see if I had either of the recommended wrenches (I have a pipe wrench somewhere but it wouldn't have fit anyways. In lieu of finding one or both of them, I opted to use the good old set of vice grips we have.

I clamped them on where you see the number 2 in the attached photo and I was FLOORED that it turned with almost no effort at all. You must realize I fooled around with this thing for a few hours over the course of 2 days last year.

Anyways, I ran into a small blue problem in the form of the handle which was not going to allow me to turn the spigot any more than about 1/4 turn. So, I moved the vice grips over to where you see the number 1 in the photo below. It was a little tricky getting it out, but only about 20 seconds of being smarter than the whole set up.

Then, I was back to the #2 location and a few turns more and I was able to get it out by hand! I'm looking forward to giving this thing the deep clean I know it needs but I might also keep the spigot for the future.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. As always, this forum and its members give me the confidence I need to try things out.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Originally Posted by Raspy

The fitting screwed into the tank is copper.

Since you can't unscrew it the way it is, cut off the copper pipe just outside of the copper male adapter that is screwed into the tank. Then reach in with a socket and fit it onto the male adapter. Then fit an extension and ratchet or breaker bar, and break the fitting loose. I 1/2" drive breaker bar and 6" extension would be perfect and will remove it.

The pipe can be cut with either a plumbers hacksaw (the kind without the loop handle that clamps the blade to a handle, or with a dremel tool.

After draining the tank, you might be able to heat the valve with a soldering torch, while holding it with pliers, and slip it off the copper pipe. Then reach in with a deep socket to get on the male adapter.

Or just leave it as it is. I don't see why it is preventing you from flushing the tank.

Thanks for all this info. I'm glad I didn't have to go to these efforts after all, but, for me, it's good to know how I would have had to do it.

As far as flushing goes, I'm able to flush it fine. But, there is a little piece of metal in the spigot that would prevent large pieces of mineral build up to come out. I'm confident that this water heater has a healthy layer of it because even after several flushes over last summer, it still had a very strong rotten egg smell. In order to get it as clean as possible, I want to have the ability to get one of those sediment spray-outer-wand things in there. With this spigot, I'm not able to get the wand into the tank.

Thanks again for your tips and advice!

[Jack L]

That unit probably had a nylon plug from the factory and a previous owner changed it to this valve set up. Clearance is limited, as you have already seen. A Camco 11703 RV water heater drain valve will help with clearance but it still is brass so corrosion issues will still be there.

[Steve and Rosemary]

So, what type of plug do most people use? What are the pros and cons? Should I do a brass Camco plug, a nylon Camco plug, or should I try a plastic hose spigot as recommended earlier? My biggest worry is the inability to get it out when I need to but I'm sure there are issues I haven't yet come across. Our last trailer didn't have a water heater so this is my first experience.

Thanks again, EVERYONE!

[IMEd]

Originally Posted by Steve and Rosemary

So, what type of plug do most people use? What are the pros and cons? Should I do a brass Camco plug, a nylon Camco plug, or should I try a plastic hose spigot as recommended earlier? My biggest worry is the inability to get it out when I need to but I'm sure there are issues I haven't yet come across. Our last trailer didn't have a water heater so this is my first experience.

Thanks again, EVERYONE!

Your basic, inexpensive nylon plug. Does the job and doesn’t react with any metal. Just be careful getting it started so you don’t cross-thread it.

[Jack L]

A nylon plug will eliminate any issues of corrosion. Every plastic valve I've seen from Camco is listed as plastic, not nylon and is shown as a drain valve replacement for fresh water tanks. I would be concerned about using it for hot water under pressure.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Thanks again. I'll be sure to find one that is specifically made out of nylon, not plastic. I'll also check my local plumbing store because they seem to always have the thing I need. Thanks!!

[Raspy]

The threads you are dealing with are 1/2" pipe threads.

Specifically ask for a 1/2" pipe thread plug, or 1/2" pipe thread valve. Any non metallic material must be rated for higher temperature than PVC. So, a water heater drain bib, or plug will be fine. Don't buy a PVC valve.

A 1/2" brass pipe plug is very common and should be fine. Easily available at Home Depot. Wrap the threads with a minimum three layers of teflon tape. Gas line tape (yellow teflon) is excellent and much thicker than cheap teflon tape. It won't have to be very tight to hold just fine. You can remove it annually to winterize, clean the tank and look for any corrosion. A teflon wrapped plug will not get stuck in the threads and teflon will never turn hard and glue the plug in.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Thanks for the info Raspy! I'll go get something this week. I feel so lucky to have this forum; I'm not even close to a plumber and not an experienced DIYer, so this is just the type of information I need. Thanks again!

[Glenn Baglo]

To drain my tank, I remove the anode, which protects the tank against corrosion. Not sure what purpose that spigot serves.

[Paul O.]

I would venture a guess that the previous owner used to slip a rubber hose on the end of that blue handle valve so he could collect the water in a bucket.

I would also suggest to use the nylon plug.

Here is an alternate way I discovered by accident, of flushing the sediment out of the heater: The first time I drained mine, as a real newbie, I forgot that the system was under pressure. The result was that when the plug came out, a great rush of water drove out all kinds of sediment, thus accomplishing a quick and thorough flush. Are there other ways?

On edit: the heater was off, the water was cold.

[Steve and Rosemary]

Paul O, I think your experience is pretty standard. Our issue is that our trailer (and probably our water heater) is over 30 years old. There's potentially a LOT of sediment buildup in there. In order to help with the flushing, you can buy a relatively cheap tool or make one yourself -- it's an attachment for a hose or an air compressor that you put in the hole and spray. This, in turn, stirs up the sediment and out it comes out of the hole more readily.

Note: I have only heard about this process so I can't speak to it's effectiveness.