I have written in the past about flushing our RV’s hot water tank and getting the flush wand stuck in it. This time, it needed another flush and a new anode rod. I pulled out the old anode rod, glad to see there was still some metal left on it. We flushed the tank to get the sediment out, too.
Old and new anode rods
The last time we flushed the water heater, the plastic straw-like wand rod flew off and into the tank, irretrievable. This time, I am getting a different flush wand that is all metal and hopefully won’t cause me hours of frustration trying, with no luck, to get it out.
A new type of RV water heater tank rinser
I found this all-metal RV water heater tank rinser on Amazon. It is practically guaranteed to not come apart in the tank. They had two similar ones and I made sure to pick the one that came with an adaptor to fit a garden hose with an on/off lever.
Flush those deposits out!
The wand can go in far enough to cover the whole tank and the nozzle can be turned down to flush out the deposits on the bottom of the tank.
Bye-bye, plastic flush wand. Hello, all-metal RV water heater tank rinser!
Lo and behold, the old plastic flush wand flew out! Camco was right about their flush wand. After over a year of being heated up in the tank it didn’t melt, but it did get very hard.
Easy install… almost
On the first try, installing the anode rod did not go well. It would not screw in all the way. I found deposits on the threads. After a lot of careful scrubbing of the threads with a copper wire pad, it went in straight and tight. My husband installed the anode rod with a new one and we are good to go for another year or two.
There was one other “oops” moment, though… In my excitement to use the new flusher, I forgot to close the basement bay door under the water heater. It is amazing how much water that bay can hold! Oops.
Sign up for a weekly digest of my articles here.
##RVT1124
I purchased this flushing tool last year and it works great ! It’s pretty amazing how much gunk comes out of your water heater.
I purchased this same tool (Meaning the yellow with gray plastic wand) Reviews said the end tube( Wand) blew off immediately. I ordered because it was recommended. Sure enough, it blew off! And the manufacturer apparently, has no intention of correcting this issue but, continues to sell them on Amazon. I remedied my problem but,, then the housing went weak. Great idea but, needs that issue corrected. Like a……, “Recall” 🙂
Our yellow/gray wand has not blew off yet and our water pressure is 90 psi. I better check ours to see what is still holding it together.
I’ve never had our wand “blow off”. It’s the same wand we’ve had for over 20 years. What am I doing right?
I’ve had mine since purchasing our TT new in 2018. Use it once a year and have not had the wand blown off. So, what are we doing right?
I guess it’s pure genius, Gil. 😀
My concern over an all metal wand is could it cause damage to the inside of the tank?
Just realized this season that I needed to clean the hot water tank. Hadn’t done it since I bought the coach 6 years ago. What a mess. Now it’s going to be at least once a year. I purchased the item listed below. I like the way I can remove the nozzle and spray the sides and top/bottom of the tank. It also is easy to turn on and off with a thumb lever, plus you can slide the on/off lever and just leave it on. Well worth the $12 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J29FM4Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
I too suffered the same consequences with the plastic flusher. I assume it’s still in the tank. Absolutely the most worthless item going.
Thank you, Nanci! 🙂 Sorry about your wet bay and congratulations on removing the plastic flush rod! 🙂 Thank you, too, for the information! Safe travels! 🙂
I bought the ss rinser and it won’t fit through the hole of my 2 yr old water heater! Being ss it is next to impossible to bend the tip slightly straighter to fit. And going to try to fit a copper tube but will loose the nozzle on the end. Contacting the manufacturer now for help.
I have been using the plastic flush wand every year for 5 years with no problems. Then I started reading about the gray rinser blowing off inside the water heater. So I bought the metal type:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J29FM4Y?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
and it won’t fit in my water heater. I took my plastic one and wrapped electrical tape around it where the gray plastic meets the black and yellow. It’s holding up great (anyone need a never been used metal water heater flusher?).