Removing the thermostat/valve on an Atwood 6 Gal water heater

[ATurner]

I need to remove the thermostat/valve on my Atwood G6A-7 water heater but I'm struggling to get it to shift without causing damage. I vaguely remember reading about a purpose-made tool to do this job but I can't find that article any longer. The tool (I think) was made from steel angle section in the form of a wrench that gripped the opposite corners of the valve assembly.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here please?

[A W Warn]

Are you talking about the pressure relief valve?
I use a pipe wrench to take out the old one and a crescent to install the new.

Make sure you get the correct valve.

some good info here:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f445...lve-30963.html

[Siegmann]

Yup, pipe wrench is the tool.

My valve had been installed with some type of pipe joint compound that hardened, almost cementing it in place. It did take a bit of force to break that bond.

[idroba]

The OP is talking about the water temperature compensating valve on the back of the tank, not the overpressure relief valve on the front.

[Siegmann]

Oops, he has the pilot model. The wrench Atwood uses is shown on page 7 of this manual:

http://manuals.adventurerv.net/Atwoo...er-Service.pdf

[ATurner]

Many thanks for the replies. Yes Siegmann, mine is the pilot (peasant) model!

Thanks for the link to the manual, I found that after posting but I still can't find anyone selling that tool. For that matter, I still can't find the tool I previously saw which was made from angled steel which gripped opposite corners of the valve body.

The thing that concerns me with using a pipe wrench is damage to the valve, but for now that appears to be my only option. I should add that the replacement valve has to be rescued from a 2nd hand heater so more importantly I need to remove that one without damage, I don't care too much about the faulty one.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Siegmann

Oops, he has the pilot model. The wrench Atwood uses is shown on page 7 of this manual:

http://manuals.adventurerv.net/Atwoo...er-Service.pdf

Learned something new. Thanks!

[Siegmann]

Originally Posted by ATurner

Many thanks for the replies. Yes Siegmann, mine is the pilot (peasant) model!

Thanks for the link to the manual, I found that after posting but I still can't find anyone selling that tool. For that matter, I still can't find the tool I previously saw which was made from angled steel which gripped opposite corners of the valve body.

The thing that concerns me with using a pipe wrench is damage to the valve, but for now that appears to be my only option. I should add that the replacement valve has to be rescued from a 2nd hand heater so more importantly I need to remove that one without damage, I don't care too much about the faulty one.

Have you tried calling your local RV repair facility? If they have the tool, and are not too far away, maybe they would help you out.

One other thought. If you do not have the tools to fabricate one out of angle iron, you might take the dimensions of the valve to Home Depot or a hardware store and look at the steel electrical receptacle boxes and the Simpson steel caps and bases for posts/columns. One may be a close fit over the valve and with little modification/cuts/spacers/etc could possible work. A long-shot though...