Most RV Hot Water Heaters use both electricity and LP gas, so extra precautions are required when working on them. Cleaning your hot water heater can be tough, but CLR cleaner can make it easier. Part of this basic care is cleaning the water heater on a regular basis to prevent the buildup of bacteria, minerals and/or mold within the water heater. How to Get Limescale Out of Water Heaters. Every year I drain our Suburban 6 gallon RV water heater for cleaning and maintenance. Clean your microwave by heating up a bowl of hot water and vinegar for 10 minutes. Close the drain valve. Replace the corroded rod and get a new one. You can take 1:2 ration where in 2 parts will be vinegar and 1 part will be water. Finally, I pulled out the anode rod again and let the tank drain. Spritz a vinegar/water solution to deodorize fabrics, cushions, and seats. Use vinegar and a brush to clean your RV’s shower. To clean your RV water tanks, you’ll need to use a cleaning agent like bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar, a bleach solution, or a commercially available product. It may be time for an RV black water tank cleaning. No matter what kind of water heater you have, you can experience problems with different kinds of buildup inside of the tank. Then do the same step with rinsing, emptying it by opening all the taps and faucets to let the water out. This would happen at all places where the heated water goes and then dries. Refill the tank half full with fresh water from a municipal source, and let it run through the system to purge the vinegar from the tanks and lines. It is very simple to the point of being unbelievable but it WORKS!!!! This situation usually occurs because the sensor in the tank gets gummed up and malfunctions. 10. As the mixture heats up, the microwave fills with steam, making it easier to wipe the inside clean. And for that, there are lots of different approaches. If you own that mammoth class A RV or big fifth wheel then you will have luxury of big water heater though. Want to see more RV tips and tricks? Apart from the maintenance that we saw it is also important to note that a RV water heater is not similar to your normal home water heater and hence you need to avoid those long showers. Fill the tank with water. Water heaters and tanks are prone to hard deposits and thus cause the damage. As far as how to clean a hot water heater with vinegar, the process only requires a few steps in excess of what we mentioned above. To make this natural cleaner for a car windshield or for the windows in your RV, mix the ingredients and pour the solution into a spray bottle. Jim Tome, owner of Kleen Tank, an Authorized All Pro Water Flow dealer, has been an RVer for over 15 years. Compare that to bleach which works out out to be about $0.05 to do the same job. Copyright © 2021 Love Your RV! Products like Tank Clean have been shown to be very effective at cleaning caravan water tanks. You need water to survive. Cleaning your RV's black water tank can be one of the most intimidating RV maintenance tasks if you've never done it. This common substance contains 4 to 7 percent acetic acid — the stuff that's so useful for removing water spots, lime build-up and other grunge from nonporous surfaces — according to the National Capital Poison Center. Garden hoses are the culprit number one for tasty or smelly water cases. In fact, you should let them soak in hot water with dish soap for at least 5 minutes before washing to ensure a proper cleaning. It is 13 years old now but still going strong. You can also use vinegar water mixture to clean the water heater and tank. Our RV Hot Water Tank gets fully drained at the end of each season. Replace new each Spring. A heated water causes the deposits at faster rate and hence the RV hot water heater is more prone to this. For this method, all you’ll need is boiling water — and plenty of it. Check Water. I didn’t find a clear consensus on how much vinegar to use so decided to go with three parts vinegar to four parts water. Use a little extra pressure for hard-to-remove stains. Place a funnel at the opening left by the anode rod. Prepare a solution with a 1:1 vinegar to water ratio. Turn shore water off. Cleaning your caravan water tanks can be a pretty cheap and simple process. The next step is to pour the vinegar-water mixture in tank using a funnel. While you are waiting this would be the time to wipe down your water heater and clean out the spider webs from the utility room. He believes in spending time doing Outdoor activities. Air pressure can be applied through the pressure temperature valve. Cleaning your RV's black water tank can be one of the most intimidating RV maintenance tasks if you've never done it. 4. Close the pressure relief valve and open the hot water taps in the camper’s sinks. About our Guest Author. You should be cleaning your dishes with hot water. I recently read here or on another site of a way to clean rust from within a gas tank for $30.00 and does not require coating. Cleaning your black water tank for your RV is important for the lifespan of your tank, personal hygiene and comfortable living while camping. Run the heater normally for about 4 to 5 times while the vinegar is still inside. Once this is done drain the water heater. Fortunately, sanitizing your tank is actually quite simple and, in time, will become just a routine matter. RV water heater maintenance is pretty straight forward. Unlike our soft rainwater fed reservoirs in the Pacific Northwest the desert’s water usually comes from ground wells and contains all sorts of salts and minerals in relatively high concentrations. I figured that should be enough to do the trick. To restore these utensils with a shiny new look, simply mix a teaspoon of vinegar with 16 ounces water in a bottle, spray and wipe down. Vinegar is a nontoxic, eco-friendly, multipurpose cleaning solution. White vinegar provides a useful way to clean windows and other glass around your home. Meaning it must have done the same to the inside of the tank and the electrical element. The little things that you get inside an RV make you feel home. It is also important to know those little things about your hot water heater so that next time when you hit the camping site you are fully aware of what to do if it goes out of functioning in worst case. Most hotwater tanks have a place to put an anode in,just undo that or take anode out,then pour in (using a funnel) your vinegar.I find it only takes about 3 litres maybe once a year up here in Northern British Columbia, Canada. Let the pump recirculate the vinegar for 2-4 hours. Water Heater Cleaning Chemicals. One can follow below steps to clean a RV water heater and tank: Remember that vinegar will not sanitize your water system. CLR cleaner is a great way to clean your water heater, because it eats away at the minerals at the bottom of the heater without scrubbing. When all the water is out, close up your valves and flush your fresh water tank with a bleach-water solution. USING THE WINTERIZE FUNCTION, SUCK IN THE VINEGAR WITH THE PUMP, WHICH WILL GO INTO THE EMPTY HOT WATER TANK. (Can be a pain to remove) Then, let the nasty chlorine water out, refill your tank with water that is much more drinkable, and activate the pump and heater. (hot water tank in by-pass mode) I also normally only use local city water when filling the fresh water tank. If you're goal is to sanitize the fresh water system, vinegar is not going to do the job as well as the bleach system that "path" linked to. Flush the black water tank by connecting the tank wand to an outside water hose or via a waterline connected to the bathroom sink which can allow for a hot water power rinse. Fully functioning RV black water tank sensors are vital to the dumping process. They are Atwood and Suburban and the big difference between them is Suburban uses an anode rod and Atwood doesn’t. (Can be a pain to remove), Add it in using an RV winterizing kit (If you have one, definitely the easiest way). Next, I powered up the water heater electrical element until the vinegar mixture was nice and warm then let things sit for 4 or 5 hours. Now that you have the vinegar inside the hot water tank and the anode rod in place it’s time to add some water back to the tank.Turn on the cold water supply and let it run for roughly 5-10 minutes. Using the RVs or trailers winterizing kit, put in 3 to 5 gallons, depending on water heater capacity, of white vinegar. Replace the anode rod. Step 7 . HOME WARRANTY TIP: You may be wondering why we will be using a water heater to clean out the scale in the plumbing. In the hotter more humid months in Australia, the build-up of moisture can be bad enough without with the added worry of additional leaking. Because we spend the winter months camping in the US southwest, our water heater tank gets pretty gunked up. Add the bleach solution to your tank, then fill it up all the way with fresh water. To use the RV in a better way its always good to know little things in your RV. Such deposits on your heater will mean your shower, the sink are also at risk. How to Clean with Vinegar. But both of our original videos, and this new one, also use white vinegar to chemically clean the tank, where the flush wand only provides some physical action. Below is a step-by-step process of cleaning your RV fresh water system with hot white vinegar: Set your water heater to over 130 degrees Fahrenheit. This can get annoying and your RV life would then revolve around fixing these problems. Vinegar is effective for sanitizing and cleaning freshwater tanks. Make sure that the heater is off – you don’t need it yet. I’m going to add it to my water heater maintenance routine from now on. That's because the water sources in these areas tend to be natural springs and well-pumped water, all heavy with calcium content. Pour three to four gallons of apple cider vinegar into your hot water heater. This combination ration should do the trick for heater and tank cleaning. A common issue many people face while they are camping in travel trailer or motorome is water smells bad. This should remove the sediments. If your sensor is faulty, it will signal that the tank is full or partially full after emptying your holding tank. Learning how to clean your hot water heater is actually quite easy as long as you follow the proper steps. In gallon jugs or clean five-gallon buckets. Calcium deposits are usually caused by the mineral content of hard water. This happens because of water heater in the RV. You should pour at least four gallons of vinegar right into the water heater. Then, sucked the mixture into the RV water heater tank using the RV’s 12-volt water pump. Water heater in Winter colds are like life savers. This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commisson if you decide to make a purchase through my links. Fortunately, sanitizing your tank is actually quite simple and, in time, will become just a routine matter. Run the heater normally for about 4 to 5 times while the vinegar is still inside. I’m not an RV Technician, just a dedicated RV enthusiast who likes to learn and perform my maintenance tasks. I routinely see loads of calcium scale and mineral deposits in the flushed out water and on the anode rod. Suburban 232768 Water Heater Aluminum Anode Rod, Installed a Lighted Magnifier Mirror in our RV Bathroom. This Tank Rinser works like a charm. After 24 hours you should open the drain valve, it is the right time to drain out all the vinegar and water. Then buy 4 gal's of white vinegar … Such smell can be reduced or fixed by following below steps. Once the heater is drained thoroughly, flush the water heater. Mix one cup of bleach to four gallons of water for a 40 gallon tank, one and a half cups of bleach to six gallons of water for a 60 gallon tank, and two cups of bleach to eight gallons of water for a 100 gallon tank. Nothing tastes worse that the first sip of water through a just de-winterized RV's plumbing system on the first trip of the year. Leave the vinegar to cool in the hot water tank overnight. This will slosh the cleaning product around too, to make sure it’s fully mixed in evenly. Water heater is that one thing that plays an important role in making the RV life comfortable during winter. You just need to leave it to take effect in the tank for some time. 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