Drain hot water heater or not?

[Ocarternc]

Sitting here with 24 inches of snow has given me lots of time to think. I’m in the NC mountains and the 99 Chieftain is in central SC. We gutted and totally refirbished the interior this past summer. And if I do say so myself we did a fine job. We have enjoyed tailgating in her and are ready to put her down for a long winters nap. We have not totally winterized her yet but it’s only gotten down below freezing twice and the daytime temperatures go up to the mid 40s or 50s in SC.

My quandary is this; when were testing the plumbing the water heater plastic drain plug was out. Upon further inspection I noticed the threads were bunged up and when I tried to replace the plug it cross threaded. When having work done at a repair facility their solution was to replace the plastic plug with a brass one. They may have even cleaned the threads up. It worked great all season holding water pressure without a leak.

So I I’m going this weekend (if I can dig out today) to winterize until the spring. I plan on blowing the lines out with compressed air.

My question is this. Can I leave the brass plug in and try to drain as much water as possible from the relief valve and the lines? I’m afraid if I remove the plug I’ll never get it in tight enough to seal again. I really don’t want to pump antifreeze through the lines either.

Any advise or guidance is appreciated.

[Reniram]

Pull the plug..The winter storm hit hard and fast...hope your rig survived the freeze.if you are not planning to use your rig during the winter..Couple gallons anti-freeze is only $6.00 It will give you peace of mind..Living in Iowa I have winterized multiple times in one season....have no choice when it can get down to below zero temps at times...