Opening Low Point Drains

[lhalbert]

Hi All,

I am requesting help with the low point drains, please. I found the drain petcocks near the drivers door, but am having difficulty with turning one of them, and when I turn the other, no water is draining...yet my monitor is reading that I have some water in the tank. I emptied the water heater (removed the plug) - which is good, because I discovered how ugly the anode rod looks. Time to replace that. Is it possible that the one petcock I turned was for the hot water tank but the tank was already emptied - so no drainage?

How do petcocks work? Is the idea to align the peacock with the pipe so the flow is open? To make the petcock perpendicular to stop the flow? The manual does not specify how to set the petcocks. I am just not sure whether to try forcing the stuck petcock into a clockwise or counter clockwise position.

One other question...on my prior camper (a truck camper) I only had to open the low point valves to empty the tanks. Is it as simple as that on the Chinook, or is there also an external drain cap I also am to remove under the van?

Thanks all,
Lee-Ann - with a new to us 1998 Concourse
(And wife of Gabbi on this site)

[SMan]

The drain petcocks are similar to those on a car radiator. They open by screwing them in all the way. Mine is towards the rear of the jacknife sofa by the water pump. When draining I open it and make sure the front of the vehicle is just a tad higher. (I drain the hot water tank by removing the anode rod.) They drain super slow!
(Do not confuse the petcocks with the inline water shutoff valves. Near the front of the bed area of mine are white plastic inline valves for the hot water bypass. Inline water valves are open when "inline" with the pex piping.)
There are no caps underneath. Hope this hasn't been confusing. Someone else is probably better at explaining.

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[lhalbert]

Thank you! This is most helpful. Our van is on a slight decline (nose down), so I will flip it around. I also saw the water shut off valves in plastic.

However - we also have 2 petcocks (different from the plastic shut off valves) just behind the driver’s seat, in addition to the aft one near the water pump. I can open one of those but the other feels stuck (open or closed...not sure).

Any ideas for loosening a stuck petcock?

Thanks again for your help.

Lee-Ann

[SMan]

Not sure the set up on a 98 Concourse. Do you have a Manual? Have you checked the reference section here for one? I actually have 2 valves, one front and one in back. Not sure why Chinook went the petcock route as I find them difficult as well. That said I would try a little penetrating oil like WD40 or PB Blaster to loosen a stuck petcock. I don't worry so much about getting the tanks bone dry as I do about wanting the water lines empty. Tanks have expansion room where water lines do not.

Again I typically drain the back petcock and take out the anode rod to drain the hot water tank. I also run the pump after draining a short time to run water out of the lines. (It isn't good to run a pump without water for a long time) I then blow my water lines out through the city water connection turning my compressor down to 25-30lbs of pressure. I then put a little RV Antifreeze in all the drain traps.

These are my procedures and have served me well. Like oil discussions I am sure there are disagreements about how to winterize a RV so getting other opinions is good. There are a ton of video's out there on this subject.

[lhalbert]

Hello,

Thank you again. Yes, I have the original 1998 manual w/the diagrams. This is one of those things that confuses me a bit.

On a positive note, I was able to loosen 2 of the petcocks, and the third location I was able to loosen by using an open ended wrench on the nut instead the petcock handle. One of the nuts under the petcock loosened out completely - into my hand. The van is now draining underneath (also flipped it so it is nose down).

My plan is to gently blow out the lines and put pink stuff into the p-traps. Fortunately, I no longer live in the frigid NE US, so our freezing temps are infrequent.

Thank you again for the help.

Lee-Ann

[SMan]

Your welcome Lee Ann!

[Tomsr2339]

Can anyone tell me where the water tank drains are on a 2005 Glacier? I see a couple in line white plastic valves behind the pump but not sure what they are either?
Please need help.
Tom