Water heater

['956Wheel]

I am a newbie at the trailer thing. I hear some insist that you must drain the water heater between trips or it just won't last. There is no specific time mentioned.



Say you hit the road every other month, would/do you drain it?



We never get a freeze here.

 

[chuck3]

Water Heater?

I think its not bad Idea to drain it, the camping trip before last we were dry camping and I must have got some water with something in it because a couple of weeks later we went and the water from the water heater stunk so bad we couldnt use it. So needless to say I will be draing mine between trips from now on. When winter comes I would drain it for sure.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Chuck3 is right. It's not a matter of ruining it, my fifth wheel water heater is full for 4 months at a time when we full time during the winter. The water is being used all the time. If on the other hand you let it sit for a week or so at a time they tend to get very smelly and you have to bleach them out. The water as it cools seems to be a great environment to grow bacteria. I've been through the smelly routine and it's hard to get rid of the odor. Draining is the best thing between trips.

 

[JCaldwell]

Drain it for sure its a quick job and you never know what quality of water you have in it. I have a electric/gas and draining it will keep the krud off the electric filaments and it also washes out the sand.

 

[LMautone]

Drain the heater. this area is a ideal environment for bacteria. once it starts to multiply a strong foul oder will be present. if left long enough a white gelitin type material forms inside the heater tank.

 

[46mech]

I am a firm believer in draining the water from the water heater between trips, but on top of that, you must remember to check the anode rod every couple of months. This is a rod in the bottom of your heater designed to corrode so the tank itself won't. It looks like nothing more than a 1 1/16th inch plug. Anyway, if you were to leave the water in the tank, the rod will only corrode that much faster and eventually the corrosion will then eat up the water tank. By draining the tank after each use you can monitor the anode rod for replacement if necessary. The rod only costs about $10. 00, and if you go to the Good Sam RV website, I'm sure you will find more on this subject.