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Old 08-20-2018, 02:20 PM   #21
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I'm usually a month or so between trips so I always turn hot water heater off and drain. Never ever have I had the smell! Doesn't take but a few minutes so no big deal to play it safe!
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Old 08-20-2018, 02:24 PM   #22
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We go every weekend or two, so we don't drain until it's time to winterize.

"Rotten egg" smell is typically related to sulfur...unusual, but not unheard of in well water. Did the home where you got the water have a softener or filter? If so, it's unlikely that water directed to the garden hose faucet would have been softened or filtered. Typically, the "garden hose circuit" in a home with a softener/filter would be split off PRIOR to the water treatment. If you ever fill up there again, ask if you can hook up to the washing machine cold-water connection. It's likely that the washer uses softened/filtered water for the sake of the clothes.

There's no harm in dumping the water in the water heater, and the only risk is cross threading the plug/anode when you button up. An advantage to frequent dumping is that the plug/anode fitting won't seize with rust.

One other suggestion to maintain your water heater would be to get a hose-end wand that can reach into the heater and flush out calcium and other scale that might build up. Dumping takes care of most of it, but if you have "hard water," and especially if you use the electric heating element (if you have one), the scale can get pretty deep in the bottom of the tank. Chlorine sanitizing doesn't really deal with this issue, but a good flush does. I suspect that when you sanitized then flushed the system to get the chlorine out, you also had a complete exchange of water that removed all the sulfur water.

As with any fresh-water supply hose or fitting, keep this wand clean, or it could introduce bacteria into your water supply. Anytime I handle my fresh-water system, I use a product called Clorox Cleanup to spray hose ends, fittings, adapters, etc. to sanitize them prior to connection. Spray and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then rinse thoroughly prior to introducing the supply into your system. This is an especially valuable technique on hose bibs at RV parks, gas stations, and so on. You never know when a friendly black lab has lifted his leg on your hose spigot!
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Old 08-20-2018, 03:19 PM   #23
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If you are using well water . Take the anode out and grow it away. I have done this when we had well water. And don’t believe all the people about tank not lasting a long time without anode the last one lasted me 21 years without replacing tank.
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Old 08-20-2018, 03:59 PM   #24
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I drain after each trip, mainly because it's unnecessary weight. I also cook out the heater with vinegar solution when I notice white deposit through the anode port, about every other year. Maybe over kill.
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Old 08-20-2018, 03:59 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by Heymirth View Post
Hey Friends
Do you drain your hot water tank between trips? My (new to us 2015 trailer) has not been drained and the hit h20 smelled of rotten eggs- I completely sanitized the system this weekend but want to know if you-all drain the tank between trips - 2 weeks between usage???? Or is it a once a year winterizing thing only?
I get that rotten egg smell only after using antifreeze during the winter, to get rid of it I have to flush and sanitize the tank with bleach. During the camping season, I find it easiest to fill up the tank as needed, even if I don't use the camper for several weeks, the water is good enough for washing, showering etc.. I take bottled water for drinking, coffee etc., that way I don't have to worry about possible digestive problems, especially if I am not sure about the water quality in the campground.
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Old 08-20-2018, 04:00 PM   #26
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Drain everything take all filters out and rinse at home
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Old 08-20-2018, 06:31 PM   #27
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Every Time

We empty our water heater every time we are departing from a campground, along with the gray and black tanks. The water weight per gallon seems silly to us to haul around. In fact most of the time we have our hot water heater bypassed and don’t even use it unless we’re going to shower. We just came back from a 7 week trip and I cannot remember ever having hot water on.
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Old 08-20-2018, 06:51 PM   #28
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Don’t have anode tod but still had problems with rotten egg smell

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Originally Posted by NMWildcat View Post
Our first four RVs had wh tanks. We only drained them to winterize. We live in the heat and never had problems with that rotten egg smell. I'm thinking you got some heavily mineralized and perhaps non-chlorinated water somewhere that reacted with your anode rod.
I posted a couple of months about our rotten egg smell. We don’t have an anode rod with our brand of wh, but draining and flushing our wh fixed it, along with flushing our tanks with bleach. We are on well water at home and have purchased the filters to use from here on out.
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Old 08-20-2018, 10:10 PM   #29
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Drain ours between trips. Most of the time that is at least 2 weeks. For 6 or 7 gallons of water why take the chance. Last thing I want is to get to camp and find out the water heater stinks. Had it happen one time and wasted half a day at campground flushing the tank.
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Old 08-30-2018, 08:19 PM   #30
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We always use a water filter to fill the tank and or hookup directly to prevent organic material from getting into our system. Drain to winterize.
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Old 08-30-2018, 08:31 PM   #31
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I drain mine every time I return home.
I keep a socket wrench with and extension handy, to remove the anode.
Water is cheap and I hate stinky when I turn on the tap.
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Old 08-31-2018, 09:06 AM   #32
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I do drain mine after each trip, even if i am going camping again soon.
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Old 08-31-2018, 10:19 AM   #33
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My manual tells me to change my anode rod each year. I bypassed on that idea once and kind of forgot about it. I also read somewhere that depending on how often you camp to change your water filter as well. Both of these not being changed regularly caused a terrible taste and odor this year. I changed both and what a difference, smell gone and water taste so much better.
I do drain it each year to winterize also.
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Old 08-31-2018, 11:27 AM   #34
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I have the Atwood water heater so I don't need the anode rod and we camp at lease once a month for several days. I do flush out my water heater once a year just for fun.
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Old 08-31-2018, 08:32 PM   #35
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We now drain every time we return home. It takes little effort to do and avoids the smell.
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Old 09-13-2018, 10:45 AM   #36
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Originally Posted by Canadiancrew View Post
Like others never drain except to winterize. Camped with my sister once and her tank had the rotten egg smell but they had filled up on a farm on a previous trip. We did fill up once on a farm this year but used the trailer right after that. Then parked it for a month and all was well with my water on the next trip.
Had the smell once in two years. I believe it was the source of the water that caused smell. Is I recall we noticed it on the start of a trip, so figured it was the previous trip's water source. We only drain when winterizing.
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