Socket size for water heater

[AnnieG]

I believe the socket size to drain the RV heater is 27 mm or 11/16th hex is this correct?

[daveandalice]

I have a Suburban 6W6DE and a 1-1/16" socket is used to remove the anode for flushing and draining.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by daveandalice

I have a Suburban 6W6DE and a 1-1/16" socket is used to remove the anode for flushing and draining.

Yes, that's correct.

Be sure to open a hot water tap first to relieve the back pressure.

Ron

[Donna D.]

I edited the 1 1/16 to read 1-1/16. That should make it more clear and doesn't look like a mistake of 11/16.

[Iowa Dave]

It’s nice to have a 1/2 inch breaker bar and a 6 inch extension along with your socket so you have a straight shot on the anode bolt head and plenty of leverage to turn it out. Easy does it.
Iowa Dave

[AnnieG]

Originally Posted by daveandalice

I have a Suburban 6W6DE and a 1-1/16" socket is used to remove the anode for flushing and draining.

Thanks Dave! I have one on order.

[MVA]

Annie,

You may want to also purchase a water heater flush wand to clean out the water heater:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XL2IBS

[AnnieG]

Thanks, I didn’t know they existed. Sounds like a great idea! Thanks for the info.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by AnnieG

Thanks, I didn’t know they existed. Sounds like a great idea! Thanks for the info.

Yeah, you typically flush out a ton of white crusty stuff from the bottom of the tank, it's all the calcium carbonate the old anode converted from whatever hard water has been in the tank.

[Iowa Dave]

When you have the anode out and you have flushed then tank with a few repetitions of using the wand or your garden hose nozzle, you’ll wait a couple minutes for the water to quit grading out. Then put your finger in the opening where the anode screws on and chrck to see if just behind the lip if there’s a little deposit of Sand like material.
Use your finger to “scoop it out by trapping it Against the tank wall and “scoop” it out. Probably won’t be much. But if you get some that’s sand that won’t end up in your aerator end on your kitchen sink. Then if you’re not reinserting the anode, put a strip in the anode and leave it hanging out. This will wick your tank dry in a few days and prevent corrosion. Or if you put the used anode (wiped clean) or new back in that’s ok too. Use a magnesium anode not the aluminum. Doesn’t last as long but does a better job. Z
Iowa Dave

[MVA]

Originally Posted by AnnieG

Thanks, I didn’t know they existed. Sounds like a great idea! Thanks for the info.

You maybe unfortunately surprised on how much sediment is rinsed out. It also works well in scouring the inside of the WH to remove scale on the sides of the WH.

[HABBERDABBER]

Iowa Daves procedure is proper but typos in it may lead to confusion
Here is what I do.

I leave the anode out in storage. I've always stuffed a strip of bath towel into the water heater, using a dowel or other means leaving 6" or so outside to wick out the remaining water in the heater. I leave that in place for a few days, and then use a rubber plug with a faucet filter screen attached to it allow off season drying of the interior of the water heater tank. This plugs the anode opening but allows air in. No picture of this plug device as my rig is away and in storage. The heater is glass lined, so all this is not necessary, but it's what I do. If something is dry, you don't usually experience corrosion.

[Iowa Dave]

I am a forester and I only ever respected Two English teachers in my 17 years of Education I make Mistakes and at 76 am starting to care less about that every day. Sorry if my lack of punctuation, spelling, sentence structure and use of colloquialisms made it hard for some folks to understand. Apparently, I spent a few too many days hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering when I should have been studying looking for split infinitives.
Red pencils for sale, $5.00 each. Sharpened $6.00.
Iowa Dave

[HABBERDABBER]

I ain't no taskmaster, or language maven, but I'm just trying to clarify an issue.
Yeesh!

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I am a forester and I only ever respected Two English teachers in my 17 years of Education I make Mistakes and at 76 am starting to care less about that every day. Sorry if my lack of punctuation, spelling, sentence structure and use of colloquialisms made it hard for some folks to understand. Apparently, I spent a few too many days hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering when I should have been studying looking for split infinitives.
Red pencils for sale, $5.00 each. Sharpened $6.00.
Iowa Dave

C’mon Dave, clean up your grammatical act! I say that with my tongue in my cheek!
My first reaction to the post following yours was to post myself, asking if “this platform had become a place to correct other’s grammar?” But I didn’t because I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and I did not see Habberdabber’s response as malicious except for the title of his latest comment, “Thin Skin?” I personally find this a bit snarky, as I would view his follow-up post potentially resulting from thin skin. WE ALL have been offended at one time or another by other member’s posts; that is the nature of the beast. I understood your post completely. Lot’s of grammatical errors here are caused by AI. What o mean is autocorrect sometimes assumes what word you want to use when you accidentally spell it incorrectly, and sometimes you don’t catch it. And a lot of people here on FGRV are guilty of using the wrong grammar. My favorite is when someone states “If I was you…..” If , being subjective, is followed by the word were. Correctly, one should say “If I were you.”
So Dave, I encourage you to keep up the “bad” work. I always enjoy reading your posts. They are informative and helpful. And may I wish both you and Habberdabber a good day and a happy holiday season.
BYW, I think your pencils are underpriced!!!

[Rockhead]

What does this grammar argument have anything to do with the question asked. Absolutely nothing not the place for it. Either help with the question asked or take it private

[MyronL]

No corrections necessary. Mrs Niermier was my favorite high school English teacher.

[Mike G]

Yeah, I did scratch my head a bit over that part about, "put a strip in the anode and leave it hanging out." Strip of what? How to insert something into a solid object like an anode? Leave the anode hanging out, or the strip of something? Based on reading stuff here in the past I could get the correct gist (a strip of cloth, leave the cloth hanging out) but if I were a newbie I'd be bumfuzzled.



I just figured Dave was feeling a bit groggy when he wrote that one, and I might have tried for a clarification if Habberdabber hadn't beaten me to it.
-

Here's a riddle for you all: what did the water heater say when it was time to get drained?


Answer: "Sock-et to me!"

[DGLP]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

It’s nice to have a 1/2 inch breaker bar and a 6 inch extension along with your socket so you have a straight shot on the anode bolt head and plenty of leverage to turn it out. Easy does it.
Iowa Dave

Hey Iowa Dave and HABBERDABBER. Great posts - keep 'em coming! I ain't got no breaker bar, but I seen this on Amazon.

Burma Shave?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085VK1GBD...roduct_details

[John in Santa Cruz]

I carry a 1/2" drive breaker bar and 6 point sockets for the anode and for the tire lugs, this all lives in the bottom of the front toolbox.