Most Bradford White residential tanks ship with plastic drain valves. Brass upgrade is one of the cheapest, highest-leverage maintenance moves you can make — $20 brass ball valve + 30 minutes during any service visit.
Replacement procedure
- Shut off power/gas
- Shut off cold inlet
- Open hot faucet to break vacuum
- Drain tank completely
- Unscrew old plastic drain valve counter-clockwise
- Wrap new brass ball valve threads in Teflon tape
- Hand-thread + 1-1.5 turns with wrench
- Close new valve, restore cold inlet, refill while hot faucet open
- Verify no leaks under pressure
- Restore power/gas
Bottom line
$20 brass drain valve + 30 min = a valve that lasts the rest of the tank's life. Best $20 maintenance upgrade for any Bradford White. For full parts directory see parts hub.