RV Water Heater Maintenance

[@poultrypal]

Always wrap Teflon tape counter clock wise ( lefty loosee ) for clock wise thread ( righty tighty ) when viewed from bolt head .

[@iLoveRVlife]

You bet. Thanks for sharing.

[@RVHabit]

Hi Jerry great video on suburban WH maintenance. If you have an electric heating element you would benefit from giving the WH a vinegar soak once a year. If you do a vinegar soak use a plastic plug instead of anode rod while soaking in vinegar. Thumbs up.

[@iLoveRVlife]

Many thanks. Will give that a try next time. Appreciate you sharing the tip. Jerry....

[@waynehurley1219]

Rv newbie here great video lic plumber what a great lesson only thing i would say is it would drain faster and water would come out with more volume if you lift up on t and p valve

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks. Great tip Wayne.

[@danceswithtallcans7694]

Just subscribed and can’t thank you enough for all your great information my friend ✌️

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks a bunch. Great to hear you found our channel helpful.

[@robertflores477]

As usual...you’re being very helpful! Thanks for another great video. Keep up the good work because we need you!

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks so much Robert. Great to hear the video was helpful.

[@robertflores477]

@@iLoveRVlife, you’re welcome Jerry! We bought our Forest River Wildwood X-Lite travel trailer brand new in 2018. (Dream come true) Although, I take very good care of it...I didn’t know about this water heater maintenance! It’s been 3-years I better get on it! The wife would not forgive me if we had no hot water, lol! Thanks again...

[@philstucker1312]

I believe the Teflon tape should be put on in the other direction to keep it from binding up as you thread the rod in. Thank you for all your videos. Keep them coming.

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks Phillip. Will do.

[@pentonhusqvarna]

Ditto Ghost Guy. Better to wrap your teflon with the direction of the thread wrap so that you are not torquing your anode against the tail of your tape. Less likely to bunch up and cause a problem. Good video. I've got your same heater in my Surveyor and will follow the same procedure this year.

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks much

[@mssixty3426]

Thank you for this - I will be referring back to this!

[@iLoveRVlife]

Glad we could share.

[@ericdee6802]

Great video Jerry, $15 bucks and 15min can save you $500+ dollars and a headache in replacing a water heater. Preventative maintenance is the key. One thing I may add if you don't mind, when fixing a propane fitting, use the "Yellow" teflon tape, it's designed to resist the corrosive elements in gases, don't use the white tape on gas fittings. When working with water lines, yellow is good if that's all you have on hand.

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks for sharing Eric. Safe travels.

[@ontariotrailcameras6619]

Hi Jerry we are really enjoying your informative videos. How you explain things in detail is fantastic. Thanks so much keep up the good work.

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks. Great to know we’re hitting the mark.

[@lauradollbaum2520]

Thank you Jerry I appreciate all the information you share. Selling my house will be RV living full time with my daughter and grandkids. ✌🏼️

[@iLoveRVlife]

Hi Laura. So glad you're finding our videos helpful. Have a great time with your RV travels. Jerry...

[@toddspencer5926]

Great advice on maintenance for your hot water heater. If I might add a little tip... My grandpaw showed me a trick by placing a napkin at the end of the socket used on the ratchet. Simply push your Anode Rod into napkin then into the socket and this keeps the Rod straight upon entering the threaded area of the hot water tank. Cause if you've noticed sometimes the weight of the Anode Rod keeps you from being able to start the threads. From a counterbalance theory.... Thanks again for your videos Jerry. As always blessings to you and your family!

[@iLoveRVlife]

Great tip. Thanks much for sharing. Jerry...

[@robertc.macmillan8275]

Great video all your videos are very informative and helpful to those of us that are relatively new to the RV. Life.... Thank You for posting and Sharing.....

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks Robert. Glad you found the video helpful. Jerry...

[@Zenmartian]

Great video!! Thanks 🙏

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks

[@nofences2183]

Love your channel - great information and a lovely couple! Thank you for all your help - I am fairly new to this and your advice is invaluable!

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks a bunch. So glad you found the channel.

[@ontariotrailcameras6619]

Another helpful video!! Thanks Jerry :)

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks

[@georgedes1622]

Great video, this was very very helpful!

[@iLoveRVlife]

Always glad to share George.

[@dimitardimitrov9781]

Hi Jerry, Nice video. Please note - the teflon tape should be rolled/applied in the direction of tightening.

[@iLoveRVlife]

Thanks much. Yes it should. Thanks for the tip.

[@thecasualrver]

Hello Jerry, Just so your viewers don't get too confused not all water heaters us an Anode Rod. Atwood water heaters have aluminum tanks so no Anode Rod is needed, not a steel tank like Suburban's and of course tankless do not use them as well. BTW Atwood is no longer, Dometic​ is now the parent company which is all under the Dometic name. Safe Travels!

[@iLoveRVlife]

Great tip. Thanks for sharing. Jerry...

[@ericbenjamin6504]

Great diy maintenance. Rvgeeks gas a video where they put a camera in there after flushing it out and was not happy with what they saw. So they used vinegar and water to flush it out and man what a difference. A bit more time consuming though.

[@iLoveRVlife]

Great tip. I'll give that a try next go round. Thanks much for sharing. Jerry....

[@laurelbobo7316]

Upon cleaning my water heater with the same nozzle you have the pressure from the water blow the nozzle off the hose inside. Would you know how to get it out or if it is ok to use with it in?

[@iLoveRVlife]

I’d try a piece of coat hanger with a small hook and try to sweep the bottom and fish it out.

[@robertlovesdogs4824]

Hi Larry 👍👍✌

[@jerryball7783]

Thanks for sharing Jerry. This is very helpful. BTW I love your name but I’m a bit biased since we both share first names! I’ve just recently subscribed to your videos and am very new to RV life. I’ve already got an issue with my 2018 water heater refusing to light now when I try and turn on the gas. Do you have any past videos on proper operation of Suburban water heaters? Yes we share the same water heater as well. I must be doing something wrong and my orientation on the used unit I bought from Camping World didn’t help me much. If you have a chance I’d love to hear from you or other followers that are familiar with the same water heater. Thanks for your videos!

[@iLoveRVlife]

Hi Jerry. Great name!! Thanks for subscribing and glad you found the video helpful. Hears a list of things that could be the problem. I'll start at the basics - the 12 Volt switch should be on inside the camper. There's also a on-off switch located at the bottom of this water heater that should be on. The fuse could be blown for the 12 volt power. You may be getting air in propane line after your camper sits for a period. Light a stove burner and run for a few minutes. Then try the water heater again. One other note, if you're not able to get a sufficient flame at the stove, you may have a bad propane regulator. The spark igniter could be bad or the gap could be off. Look inside the gas chamber of the water heater and see if a spark occurs. If none of this helps, I hope it's still under warranty. Good luck. Jerry....

[@jerryball7783]

Thanks for the suggestions Jerry. I have tried about half of them on the your list but will continue to troubleshoot. Is it harmful to have had both the electric and gas portions on and running at the same time. Before i really understood how everything worked i may have had both on at the same time.

[@iLoveRVlife]

You shouldn't run both. Waste of energy. If I have full hook up with electricity, I never use the propane feature. Unfortunately, there's a lot of pieces to this puzzle. If you get to the last step and still no success, it may be time to call the repair shop. Jerry...

[@richio1763]

For water heaters which can operate with electricity turn off the power, so there's no chance of it's heating without any water.

[@ericvaneck4296]

The tank would drain faster if the how water tap was open inside the camper. Also the anode rod isn’t necessary most of the time because the majority of campgrounds don’t soften the water. Water coming from the ground is encrusting and that is where the calcium build up is coming from, the anode helps only if a person has soften water or a RO unit that makes the water corrosive

[@iLoveRVlife]

Hi Eric. Thanks for the comment on the water tap. From our travels, it's interesting that I've replaced a number of anode rods that we're almost eaten away. For more me, replacing a $12 anode rods is cheap insurance. Jerry...

[@ericvaneck4296]

I inspected drinking water systems for 20 years and campground are notorious for having bad water because they here never trained (and not required to be). Also most were built below standard too but new rules are coming down that will help if the States train the owners.

[@JohnFKetcham]

How would the procedure change for tankless water heater?

[@iLoveRVlife]

Not really. The tankless water heater as the name implies doesn’t have a tank. It’s a coil that is heated on demand and little to no water storage exists that would have sediments to flush.

[@donclifford2182]

What if my hot water heater did not come with a anode rod? Do I look for one and install it??

[@iLoveRVlife]

Perfect. The hot water heater has a lining that isn’t as prone to rust. No worries on this one.

[@Tarasrurallife25]

My rv only has a plastic screw in plug into my water heater what do I do?

[@iLoveRVlife]

Give me a little additional information and I'll try to help. What's the make and model of the water heater?

[@dennismassie3552]

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