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Old 12-17-2014, 04:08 PM   #1
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flushing hot water tank

all of a sudden our shower water reaks !
I recently allowed a neighboring camper w/ a full water bladder to fill my water tank. Have never flushed the hot water tank in 5 yrs we've owned it but now read in manual it should be done periodically & must be done when even a small amount of sulfur combines w/ interior tank treatment to create rotten egg smelling water. Manual suggests flushing w/ vinegar solution but I don't want it my fresh water tank. An option is to flush using the "pressure relief valve support" Assume this is the brass fitting onto which the press. relief value is mounted ? It seems to have a threaded fitting on the side but access is blocked by a shroud. Assume if I remove shroud I can get access & perhaps att a water hose to flush the tank ? Are threads compatible ? Maybe even use of aux. pump from a container of vinegar solution rather than just using just plain water from a city connection.
Any thoughts , advice, help is most welcome.
Stinky
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Old 12-17-2014, 05:34 PM   #2
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A lot of muck ends up on the bottom of a hot water tank the drain is not on the bottom so a fair amount of water and junk remain in the tank not enough to do damage if it freezes but if it's not removed the yuck will rot the tank. They do sell a wand that fits in the tank to flush that stuff out you might just try that. It would have been so easy to put a drain valve in the bottom but that does not sell new water tanks.
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Old 12-18-2014, 09:43 AM   #3
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Mainah
Thanx for the reply
Well, I removed what I called a shroud which is actually a deflector to channel exhaust gas up toward the vents on the hinged access cover. Unfortunately the threads on the brass pressure relief valve support aren't compatible w/ male end of a garden hose. Perhaps some adapter is available but looks easiest to try to flush tank thru the drain opening. I'll look for the wand you mentioned when we arrive in Quartzsite AZ tomorrow. Lotsa RV parts dealers there
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Old 12-18-2014, 11:43 AM   #4
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No the pressure valve is 1/2"pipe thread it won't work with out a lot of fittings and you'll just have to take them all out after your done. The wand is just a plastic tube type thing the fit on a garden hose.
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Old 12-18-2014, 08:24 PM   #5
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Glen,

Here is the flushing nozzle I use. Make sure you have a good shutoff on the hose as if you turn on the pressure full blast out in the open, the tube will flex real heavy backwards. Once in the hole, not so much an issue. Once in the hole, go back and forth and spin it around too to blast all areas of the tank.





The saftey relief is 1/2 NPT pipe thread. A garden hose, is well what they call "garden hose" Totally different thread setup.

They sell adapters from 1/2" NPT to garden hose thread. Here is one I use when I screw in an air line to the city water connection to blow out that line.


That particular adapter is garden hose thread to 3/4 npt male with a 1/2" npt female thread inside. They have them in all kinds of configurations.

A heads up, if you have not drained and flushed the heater in that long of a time, there is a lot of sediment laying in the bottom. Flushing will help get a lot of it out. Do this first before any vinegar treatment. And then go take all the strainers out of the sink faucets. The left over will end up getting trapped in them and plug em. Once all flushed etc through the faucets, then put them back in.

Since the heater is stinky, this comes from bacteria. Your hot water line from the heater to every faucet also has a build up carried from the smelly water. It ma have migrated into the cols as well.

Suggest this verses the saftey relief valve. Flush the tank out good. Hook up the fresh water hose to the city water connection and flush the camper, sinks, toilet etc and hot water heater some more. If you have a winterizing kit at the water pump, After a long good flush, feed the vinegar in there like you feed the antifreeze and do the entire inside of the camper and a good soak time. Then flush again through the city water after the soak time. Or better, consider sanitizing the entire camper, fresh tank and all.

If you have never lifted the saftey relief lever in over 5 year, some times they can be finicky, have build up on the seat and not want to seal up again. This is not all the time, but it does happen. Some times letting it snap back down hard after a quick burp breaks free the offending piece of sediment on the seat.

Hope this helps

John

PS heads up, turn off the 120 VAC (breaker in power panel) to the heater so it does not get flipped on by accident during the draining etc. They burn out real quick with no water in the heater
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Old 12-20-2014, 09:16 AM   #6
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JohnB - Extremely helpful as always
We set up camp (dry, naturally) here in the Rv Mecca of Quartzsite AZ yesterday. There are many rv parts folks in town & I'll pick up one of those flushing wands. Just draining the hot water tank as well as I could by raising front end of trailer as high as possible & letting gravity work resulted in a 90% improvement in smell of our shower water. Once I've a wand & access to city water (Spigots are centrally located here in the LTVA & not disbursed thru the 11,000 acre camping area) I'll do a real flush.

Thanx to you & mainah for help & advice. Have a wonderful holiday season
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