Hot water tank drain.

[Lori.glory2god]

Hello all, forgive the ignorance. Is there any danger in replacing the plastic plug with a metal substitute? Do they use plastic for weight and cost? Or for protection of the outlet threads?

[ScopesNC]

You can use a brass one and be fine. I think they use the high heat plastic plug as it will not allow for corrosion as a lot of metals will do. A little plumbers tape will be in order. If you look at that pressure release above on the tank it is brass for a reason. No corrosion. true brass won't rust and wont corrode like most metals will.
Aluminum , Stainless steel when bolted or attached to normal steel or other rusting metals like iron will start to rust, corrode and break down just like what they are attached to. Different metals don't always play well. That is why these tank makers are careful with what they use.

[Lori.glory2god]

You can use a brass one and be fine. I think they use the high heat plastic plug as it will not allow for corrosion as a lot of metals will do. A little plumbers tape will be in order. If you look at that pressure release above on the tank it is brass for a reason. No corrosion. true brass won't rust and wont corrode like most metals will.
Aluminum , Stainless steel when bolted or attached to normal steel or other rusting metals like iron will start to rust, corrode and break down just like what they are attached to. Different metals don't always play well. That is why these tank makers are careful with what they use.

Thank you very much. I hope to do this mod and was seeing different products used. Not being in the know, I wasnt sure if it was dealers choice or a piece of wisdom with the product each chose.

[Heavysledz]

Casual and/or inexperienced readers of this thread might miss the fact that there are (at least) two types of water heater used by Grand Design - it's mentioned in only a couple of the posts.

One of the water heater types, often made by Atwood and usually having a plastic plug, can be improved by the mod suggested in this thread.

The other, made by Suburban and having a metal plug, includes an essential "anode rod" extending behind the plug into the tank. The rod must be there to retard early decomposition of the water tank itself. The rod makes it impossible to install the easy-drain mod discussed in this thread.

There are a few manufacturer's that make anode rods with the ability to drain without removal. For example, CAMCO makes this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-11533-A...3844960&sr=8-5


You could even remove the valve and replace it with the appropriate sized male-male threaded fitting and then basically have the ability to construct the same setup as the Atwood water heater mod.

I know this is slightly off topic but you can also use these types of valves on your low point drains so you don't have ot remove the caps every time..

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Inch-11...0006JLW34&th=1

[Bill G]

I must have a different hot water bottle. I don't believe I have a plastic plug. When I drained mine today, I had to pull the anode. We have a 2930 Solitude S.

Bradnailer, we had an anode which has a drain built in. Go to eTrailer.com. Think that is where we bought.

[Bungy]

Thank you very much. I hope to do this mod and was seeing different products used. Not being in the know, I wasnt sure if it was dealers choice or a piece of wisdom with the product each chose.

If you go with a metal plug be careful not to cross thread it, that’s why the manufacrurers use a plastic plug.

[WhittleBurner]

Thank you very much. I hope to do this mod and was seeing different products used. Not being in the know, I wasnt sure if it was dealers choice or a piece of wisdom with the product each chose.

The reason for the plastic plug is for the trailers with an aluminum tank. Aluminum and brass do not mix. If you have an anode rod you should be ok. If there is no anode rod you will have a aluminum tank and the brass plug will cause damage.