RV Water Heater Maintenance: Your Complete Guide

How to Maintain Your RV Water Heater

Your RV’s water heater is one of the most important systems for comfort on the road, but it’s also one of the easiest to neglect. Regular care keeps hot water flowing, prevents costly repairs, and extends the life of the heater. RV water heater maintenance isn’t complicated—it just needs to be done on a regular schedule.

Below we’ll walk through the key tasks you should be performing, organized by how often they need to be done.

Not everyone wants to have to deal with draining tanks, handling antifreeze and bleach, or working around propane, and many RV owners choose to have a certified technician perform these tasks instead. Through RVHelp.com, you can find mobile RV techs who offer seasonal maintenance packages—winterizing, summerizing, and other RV water heater maintenance—that include much of what’s covered here.

Monthly or Every Trip

Each time you use your RV, it’s worth giving the water heater a quick look. Open the exterior access panel and check for dirt, spider webs, or mud daubers. Insects are drawn to the smell of propane, and they can clog the burner tube, causing ignition problems. Todd Henson from the NRVTA shows how to look for and clear out this type of debris in his video on water heater maintenance and troubleshooting.

If your water heater runs on propane, pay attention to the flame whenever it cycles on. A healthy burner should produce a steady, blue flame with a strong “roaring” sound. In his RV Water Heater Maintenance Tips video, Mark Polk from RV 101® demonstrates how to clean the burner tube with a small brush and compressed air if the flame is weak or yellow. If you notice the flame sputtering, refusing to stay lit, or leaving soot around the vent, that’s a sign it’s time for a technician to investigate.

Even when nothing looks wrong, it’s smart to listen for odd sounds like popping or rumbling, which often indicate sediment buildup inside the tank. That will be addressed during annual maintenance.

Quick Checklist (Monthly):

Inspect exterior compartment for insects and debris.
Watch flame color (should be strong blue).
Listen for unusual noises.
Look for leaks, rust, or corrosion.

Annual RV Water Heater Maintenance

Once a year—or twice if you live full-time in your RV—set aside time for a deeper service. The most important job is draining and flushing the tank. Sediment and minerals collect at the bottom, reducing heating efficiency and sometimes causing odors. Polk shows how to use a flushing wand to rinse out the tank in his RV Water Heater Maintenance Tips tutorial. Flushing is straightforward, but it can be messy, which is why many RV owners prefer to have a professional do it for them during a scheduled service call.

If your RV has a Suburban water heater, you’ll also need to check the anode rod. This metal rod sacrifices itself to prevent the tank from corroding and should be replaced once it’s half gone. Our step-by-step guide to replacing the anode rod in your RV water heater will walk you through the entire process. If the rod threads are stuck or the tank threads are damaged, that’s a situation where calling a tech is the safest option.

Annual maintenance is also the right time to test the pressure and temperature relief valve, or P&T valve. This small but critical safety feature opens if pressure inside the tank gets too high. Todd Henson of the NRVTA demonstrates how to check the valve—and explains the precautions you should take to avoid burns—in his RV water heater maintenance and troubleshooting video. A valve that drips continuously or refuses to reset is best replaced by a professional.

In areas with hard water, you may also notice calcium deposits building up inside the tank. Instead of relying only on a flushing wand, you can do a vinegar soak. Henson demonstrates the process in his video on how to sanitize an RV water heater, showing how to fill the water heater with a vinegar solution and let it sit for several hours before draining and rinsing.

Quick Checklist (Annual):

Drain and flush the tank.
Inspect and replace the anode rod (Suburban models).
Clean burner tube and flue.
Test the P&T valve.
Descale with vinegar soak if needed.

Seasonal RV Water Heater Maintenance

If you spend winter in a cold climate, it’s essential to protect the water heater from freezing temperatures before you put it away for the winter. For standard tank-style heaters, the process involves draining the tank, removing the drain plug or anode rod, and bypassing the heater so antifreeze doesn’t fill it. Henson covers these steps in his NRVTA video on RV winterization.

Tankless heaters require a slightly different approach, since water gets trapped in the heat exchanger. For those models, Camping World provides a step-by-step demonstration on how to winterize a tankless RV water heater, showing how to drain, blow out, and fill the system with antifreeze.

In the spring, you’ll reverse the process. With your RV hooked up to a water source, start by flushing the antifreeze out of the plumbing lines, keeping the water heater bypassed. Once the lines run clear, switch the bypass valves back so the water heater fills with fresh water. This is also the perfect time to sanitize the system. Ross from RV Tips & Travels walks through flushing antifreeze, filling the hot water tank, and sanitizing with a bleach solution in his video on how to dewinterize and sanitize and RV water heater.

None of these steps are difficult or complicated, but some RV owners prefer convenience and choose to have a mobile RV technician handle these seasonal steps for them. A certified tech can make sure the bypass valves are set correctly, the tanks are fully drained, and antifreeze is distributed through every line. If you’d rather not spend an afternoon with hoses and buckets, seasonal winterizing and summerizing service is one of the jobs offered by most of the techs on RV Help.

Quick Checklist (Seasonal):

Winterizing (before storage):
- Drain and bypass tank-style heaters.
- Fill tankless heaters with antifreeze.
De-winterizing (spring):
- Flush antifreeze until water runs clear.
- Switch bypass valves back to normal.
- Sanitize plumbing system with bleach solution.

As-Needed Maintenance

Not every issue follows a schedule. If your water heater stops producing hot water on electric, the heating element may need to be tested and replaced. If it suddenly shuts down, the ECO or high-limit switch may need to be reset. Any time you notice odd odors, discolored water, or persistent leaks, a vinegar flush or component replacement may be in order.

For some RVers, the challenge isn’t knowing what to do—it’s simply finding the time or having the right tools. Draining tanks and troubleshooting propane can be messy or intimidating. If that’s the case, it’s perfectly reasonable to outsource the work. A certified mobile technician can perform the same maintenance quickly and safely, leaving you free to focus on your travels.

Quick Checklist (As Needed):

Replace heating element (electric models).
Reset ECO/high-limit switch.
Inspect wiring connections.
Flush if water smells or looks discolored.
Replace cracked or stripped drain plug.

Final Thoughts on RV Water Heater Maintenance

Routine RV water heater maintenance isn’t complicated, but it does require consistency. Quick monthly checks prevent small problems from turning into major repairs, annual servicing keeps the system efficient, and proper winterization protects against freeze damage.

If you enjoy hands-on projects, these are all tasks you can learn to do yourself with the help of the videos linked throughout this article. But if you’d rather avoid the mess—or if you notice signs of trouble—a certified technician can handle the work for you. Many RV techs on RV Help offer seasonal service packages that include flushing, sanitizing, and winterizing, giving you peace of mind that your water heater is ready for the road ahead.