# Water Heater Maintenance



## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

Is there any detrimental consequence for not emptying the water heater tank after every trip? assuming it is couple of months between trips.

Is it necessary to fire up with propane once in a while instead of strictly stay with electric power?

Thanks


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## CdnOutback (Apr 16, 2010)

I use the propane every time I am staying anywhere. I actually turn both the electric and propane on and then the heater will use the electic to stay warm and the propane for reheating. The recovery, I find, is much quicker with propane than with electricity. Is there anything wrong with doing it this way?

Len


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## Up State NY Camper (Apr 7, 2010)

CdnOutback said:


> I use the propane every time I am staying anywhere. I actually turn both the electric and propane on and then the heater will use the electic to stay warm and the propane for reheating. The recovery, I find, is much quicker with propane than with electricity. Is there anything wrong with doing it this way?
> 
> Len


That's interesting. I would never have thought of using both. I would be interested to hear if anyone else does this or has any input.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

I leave my water heater full from the start of the season till I winterize. We have very good water here so it has never been an issue with sulfur forming in the water heater during storage. This will be your biggest issue.

We use the propane the most as we seldom have full hook ups. Just run it when you need it, no need to fire it up if you are not camping.


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## luverofpeanuts (Mar 9, 2010)

Up State NY Camper said:


> I use the propane every time I am staying anywhere. I actually turn both the electric and propane on and then the heater will use the electic to stay warm and the propane for reheating. The recovery, I find, is much quicker with propane than with electricity. Is there anything wrong with doing it this way?
> 
> Len


That's interesting. I would never have thought of using both. I would be interested to hear if anyone else does this or has any input.
[/quote]

I believe they list this as "quick recovery mode" on the outbacks that offer both. So, using both is considered a feature, IMHO.

I'm not sure how having water sitting in the tank for extended periods is for the water heater. I ended up drainging and refilling mine to get a bunch of sediment out... I may have avoided having such buildup if I had drained it more regularly... I dunno.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

CamperAndy said:


> I leave my water heater full from the start of the season till I winterize. We have very good water here so it has never been an issue with sulfur forming in the water heater during storage. This will be your biggest issue.
> 
> We use the propane the most as we seldom have full hook ups. Just run it when you need it, no need to fire it up if you are not camping.


We also leave our heater full from the start of the season - never had an issues. As far as the propane, we generally camp at campgrounds and use electric; however, if we are using the shower, we turn on both.


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

We use both too when needed for quick recovery. I also open the low point drains to drain my lines / water heater if it will be more than a couple weeks. just personal preference.


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## Joe/GA (Aug 14, 2009)

There's nothing wrong with having the gas and electric turned on at the same time. I usually stay at full hook-up places so I leave the electric switch on all the time and turn on the gas for quick recovery when taking showers. It works really well!


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

Tangooutback said:


> Is there any detrimental consequence for not emptying the water heater tank after every trip? assuming it is couple of months between trips.
> 
> Is it necessary to fire up with propane once in a while instead of strictly stay with electric power?
> 
> Thanks


As far as leaving the water heater full all the time, if it's going to be more than a few weeks I would personally empty the tank or at least re-sanitize the whole system. I have had problems leaving the tanks full and the water getting skanky. It is a good way to get really, really sick if you use that water for cooking, drinking or even bathing. I might suggest adding a small amount of bleach to the tank and running it through the system and leaving it at least.

I have you can run the water heater on Electricity, propane, or both. The only reason to switch on the propane once in a while its to make sure it will work if you need it. I personally have never had a problem with running out of hot water on just electricity even after washing dishes and 4 people taking showers. If you do run into problems of running out of hot water it is ok to run both at the same time.


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