Hot water tank

[banksant]

After my first camping trip in my new Motorhome, I wanted to empty my hot water tank. I turned on the hot water taps until nothing came out. I also removed the red cap on the drain line underneath the RV. Nothing came out of this line. Later on I had to flush out the tank so I released the pressure valve and removed the white plug on the actual tank heater.( its an Atwood) Loads of water came gushing out. So my question is do i really have to remove the plug every time I want to empty the hot water tank. Why does the water not drain when I opened the re cap on drain line?
Thanks in advance for any help.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by banksant

After my first camping trip in my new Motorhome, I wanted to empty my hot water tank. I turned on the hot water taps until nothing came out. I also removed the red cap on the drain line underneath the RV. Nothing came out of this line. Later on I had to flush out the tank so I released the pressure valve and removed the white plug on the actual tank heater.( its an Atwood) Loads of water came gushing out. So my question is do i really have to remove the plug every time I want to empty the hot water tank. Why does the water not drain when I opened the re cap on drain line?
Thanks in advance for any help.

That's because the hot water exits the water heater at or near the top. The red cap you refer to under the RV is your "low point drain" which will get most of the water out of the plumbing but, will not drain the water heater for the above reason. You will always need to remove the bottom plug on the water heater to drain it completely & give it a good flush.

[KeithInUpstateNY]

Originally Posted by rracer5

That's because the hot water exits the water heater at or near the top. The red cap you refer to under the RV is your "low point drain" which will get most of the water out of the plumbing but, will not drain the water heater for the above reason. You will always need to remove the bottom plug on the water heater to drain it completely & give it a good flush.

X2