The cold water inlet and hot water outlet on my General Electric, Electric water heater have "Heat Traps" inserted from the factory into the inlet and outlets of the water heater. Should these be removed before processing my first large batch?

Hi,
I am building an Appleseed, and had the same question you do. I decided that, of the three pipes on the top of the WH, I only needed to use the cold water inlet. The vent is still used for a vent, and the hot water is not used. I struggled and strained and finally got all of the plastic garbage out of the cold water inlet. Now it looks to be a straight shot into the tank. I'll let you know when I fire it up. I'm wiring it this weekend...