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

[hugh]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Yes, that's correct.

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

Ron

Yep, otherwise you might get sprayed head to toe with tank sediment. Ask me how I know?

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by hugh

Yep, otherwise you might get sprayed head to toe with tank sediment. Ask me how I know?

That's almost like a right of passage.


Too, be sure to stand to the side at the last moment you pull the anode. OR, you'll fill your shoes...

[HABBERDABBER]

This is a crude description.

A water heater sacrificial anode of either magnesium or aluminium "sacrifices" itself and produces a flaking oxide of the metal and dissolving. Anodes are more "active" metals than steel. That is what protects the steel interior portion of the water heater. I've read our heaters are glass lined, so there may not be much exposed steel to corrode, but there is some, likely at water inlets, outlets and the drain fittings.

[MrLynn]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

That's almost like a right of passage.


Too, be sure to stand to the side at the last moment you pull the anode. OR, you'll fill your shoes...

Funny thing: I closed the hot-water-heater bypass valves—to bypass the heater, maybe the term is 'opened'?—then used the air compressor to blow any water out of the lines. But when I went to take out the anode, got a blast of (then) cold water. Not sure why there was still pressure in the heater, which was isolated from the system.

[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.

[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.

[Bill_75]

Originally Posted by 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

I'd second this recommendation.......I used one while winterizing this year, and you would not believe the amount of "stuff". calcification, it flushed out. Kind of shocking.

[MrLynn]

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.

NOTE: The 1-1/16" socket must be 6-point. 12-point sockets, in my experience, will NOT work.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by MrLynn

NOTE: The 1-1/16" socket must be 6-point. 12-point sockets, in my experience, will NOT work.

I prefer 6 point sockets and wrenches for almost everything.

[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

[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

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by DGLP

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

The holes in the tubular socket and the screwdriver remind me of parts in the factory tool kit for my 305 Honda Superhawk lo those many years ago.

Burma Shave shaving cream signs along America’s highways in the Midwest served to remind drivers that safety was important and entertained young and old alike. Each few words of the message were on their own sign, spaced on fence line posts. White letters on a white background.
Yes you’re right, it didn’t take much to entertain in those days.
Here’s an old timer:
If you pass
On a slope
You better have
A periscope.
Iowa Dave

[SRS]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

The holes in the tubular socket and the screwdriver remind me of parts in the factory tool kit for my 305 Honda Superhawk lo those many years ago.

Burma Shave shaving cream signs along America’s highways in the Midwest served to remind drivers that safety was important and entertained young and old alike. Each few words of the message were on their own sign, spaced on fence line posts. White letters on a white background.
Yes you’re right, it didn’t take much to entertain in those days.
Here’s an old timer:
If you pass
On a slope
You better have
A periscope.
Iowa Dave

This last summer I drove through Seligman AZ on Rout 66. Heading west out of town those signs are still there. They look newish so someone is taking care of them. It was fun seeing them again after so many years.