Water heater bypass valve

[lucybear]

I have the 2016 25 foot flying cloud on the water heater can someone tell me if when I look at the bypass valve if it's horizontal to the waterline is it open or closed ? If it's perpendicular is it in bypass ?

[CRH]

Parallel to the line is open

[lucybear]

Can I get water out of the hot water tank if it is closed and will it be hot if I have it on ?

[Bill M.]

The way to use the valve is to set it so it does not by pass. That way the tank will fill up and you can get hot water from the tap. Only put it in bypass once a year when winterizing and draining the WH. Many trailers do not have a bypass valve. I can not imagine that having it in by pass with the WH on is a good situation.

[lucybear]

Bypass valve appeared to be in closed (winter) position. Picture was sent to dealer mechanic and he confirmed it was in the closed position (perpendicular to the water line)

First test - ran hot water faucet for 6 gallons and water kept coming out of faucet after 6 gallons. Also freshwater tank percentage was lowered so water was refilling hot water tank. This means bypass valve was open allowing water into the hot water tank. (but bypass valve was supposedly enclosed position )

Second test - Then I pulled the plug on the hot water tank to drain it. Then I turn the bypass valve to be horizontal with the waterline ( which should have been the open position ) but it was now closed ( or bypassed ) and water drained out of the drain hose under coach and tank would not fill (pump was on)

Third test - turned the bypass valve back to perpendicular to waterline ( supposedly this would be the closed or winter position ) in this position with water pump on the hot water tank filled and all is well.

Moral of the story: The bypass valve needs to be in the seemingly "closed"perpendicular position to waterline to be open.
Our valve works opposite of what was expected.

Valve parallel to waterline is the closed position and perpendicular is open position.

We are now good to heat our water!

[AlinCal]

Why no picture here? The bypass valve can be in either possition and water will come out the faucets, it may be going thru the heater or it may be bypassing the heater but will still flow to the fixtures.
So...your first test is of no value.
And...the second test gives me a headache.
The third test I follow.
Moral of the story, Airstream made this way to confusing.

Thinking outloud here, it should say HOT WATER OR WINTERIZE.
With an obvious handle indicator to show one of these positions.

[rmkrum]

Now I'm confused as well. And very glad my tankless does not need a bypass valve. Had three valves to manage on the old water heater.

[quietguy]

Originally Posted by lucybear

Bypass valve appeared to be in closed (winter) position. Picture was sent to dealer mechanic and he confirmed it was in the closed position (perpendicular to the water line)

First test - ran hot water faucet for 6 gallons and water kept coming out of faucet after 6 gallons. Also freshwater tank percentage was lowered so water was refilling hot water tank. This means bypass valve was open allowing water into the hot water tank. (but bypass valve was supposedly enclosed position )

Second test - Then I pulled the plug on the hot water tank to drain it. Then I turn the bypass valve to be horizontal with the waterline ( which should have been the open position ) but it was now closed ( or bypassed ) and water drained out of the drain hose under coach and tank would not fill (pump was on)

Third test - turned the bypass valve back to perpendicular to waterline ( supposedly this would be the closed or winter position ) in this position with water pump on the hot water tank filled and all is well.

Moral of the story: The bypass valve needs to be in the seemingly "closed"perpendicular position to waterline to be open.
Our valve works opposite of what was expected.

Valve parallel to waterline is the closed position and perpendicular is open position.

We are now good to heat our water!

Hopefully this will help you or someone else with similar problems..

I have a 2017 International Serenity 25FB with Queen bed.

I recently "de-winterized" my trailer. Went to the owner's manual to find the location of the water heater bypass valve. It states that it is accessible via the exterior compartment, left side. Indeed there is a valve there. I began filling the system with water and in short order after turning the water pump on, water began to flow from a pipe under said compartment! Turns out, this ISN'T the bypass valve at all! This is an additional low point drain on the water line to/from the hot water heater, NOT the bypass valve!! Well, "golly gee whiz Airstream" I said to myself, that's not a good mistake to make in the owner's manual at all!

Fortunately I've owned RV's for over 27 years so it just became a matter of tracking down where I thought the bypass valve should be. Turns out, on the 2017 25 FB Queen models it is actually on the back side of the water heater inside the built in cabinet to the right of the bed as you face the curb side of the trailer. You pry open the bottom panel (I just use my fingers) that is below the second drawer to the right of the bed at the floor level. Low and behold the bypass valve is there, bottom right hand corner of the unit. Even has two black and white line drawning "pictures" which clearly show the open and bypass positions.

So perhaps this is your problem if it still isn't working properly. You are opening and closing a mislabeled low point drain and not the actual bypass valve.

Of course this brings us to the factory lack of attention to detail, such as when I open the panel hiding the water pump and found the furnace hose disconnected from the register (it was cut too short) and the screws for the plastic register actually "drilled" into the space between the cut out and the solid wood...just the width of the screws jammed in there holding the register in. (I missed that on the predelivery inspection...oh well.)

Anyway. Hope this helps the OP or someone else!!

Good Luck!

[lucybear]

Totally agree now that we know which way it is we are going to mark it.

[Adam2026]

Quite guy could you send me a picture of the black and white diagram so I can print it and stick it up by my valves?

Originally Posted by quietguy

Hopefully this will help you or someone else with similar problems..

I have a 2017 International Serenity 25FB with Queen bed.

I recently "de-winterized" my trailer. Went to the owner's manual to find the location of the water heater bypass valve. It states that it is accessible via the exterior compartment, left side. Indeed there is a valve there. I began filling the system with water and in short order after turning the water pump on, water began to flow from a pipe under said compartment! Turns out, this ISN'T the bypass valve at all! This is an additional low point drain on the water line to/from the hot water heater, NOT the bypass valve!! Well, "golly gee whiz Airstream" I said to myself, that's not a good mistake to make in the owner's manual at all!

Fortunately I've owned RV's for over 27 years so it just became a matter of tracking down where I thought the bypass valve should be. Turns out, on the 2017 25 FB Queen models it is actually on the back side of the water heater inside the built in cabinet to the right of the bed as you face the curb side of the trailer. You pry open the bottom panel (I just use my fingers) that is below the second drawer to the right of the bed at the floor level. Low and behold the bypass valve is there, bottom right hand corner of the unit. Even has two black and white line drawning "pictures" which clearly show the open and bypass positions.

So perhaps this is your problem if it still isn't working properly. You are opening and closing a mislabeled low point drain and not the actual bypass valve.

Of course this brings us to the factory lack of attention to detail, such as when I open the panel hiding the water pump and found the furnace hose disconnected from the register (it was cut too short) and the screws for the plastic register actually "drilled" into the space between the cut out and the solid wood...just the width of the screws jammed in there holding the register in. (I missed that on the predelivery inspection...oh well.)

Anyway. Hope this helps the OP or someone else!!

Good Luck!

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by lucybear

Bypass valve appeared to be in closed (winter) position. Picture was sent to dealer mechanic and he confirmed it was in the closed position (perpendicular to the water line)

First test - ran hot water faucet for 6 gallons and water kept coming out of faucet after 6 gallons. Also freshwater tank percentage was lowered so water was refilling hot water tank. This means bypass valve was open allowing water into the hot water tank. (but bypass valve was supposedly enclosed position )

Second test - Then I pulled the plug on the hot water tank to drain it. Then I turn the bypass valve to be horizontal with the waterline ( which should have been the open position ) but it was now closed ( or bypassed ) and water drained out of the drain hose under coach and tank would not fill (pump was on)

Third test - turned the bypass valve back to perpendicular to waterline ( supposedly this would be the closed or winter position ) in this position with water pump on the hot water tank filled and all is well.

Moral of the story: The bypass valve needs to be in the seemingly "closed"perpendicular position to waterline to be open.
Our valve works opposite of what was expected.

Valve parallel to waterline is the closed position and perpendicular is open position so cold water flows to the heater

We are now good to heat our water!

This may be just semantics, but when the valve handle is parallel to the water line the valve is open which allows water (or antifreeze or air) to bypass the heater which is the winterize position.

So the valve should be open (parallel to the water line) for winterizing and closed for use.

There are two other valves in play here. There is a valve in the cold water line into the heater and in the hot water line out of the heater. For winterizing the other two valves shoul be closed and the bypass valve open. If you did not close the othr two valves to simulate winterizing, water still goes into and comes out of the heater, but it also flows through the bypass.

Al

[quietguy]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

This may be just semantics, but when the valve handle is parallel to the water line the valve is open which allows water (or antifreeze or air) to bypass the heater which is the winterize position.

So the valve should be open (parallel to the water line) for winterizing and closed for use.

There are two other valves in play here. There is a valve in the cold water line into the heater and in the hot water line out of the heater. For winterizing the other two valves shoul be closed and the bypass valve open. If you did not close the othr two valves to simulate winterizing, water still goes into and comes out of the heater, but it also flows through the bypass.

Al

Al,

Not all models have all three of these valves that you describe. Some of my SOB RV's in the past have had them but my last rv and my 2017 25FB Queen does not! As stated earlier, this model only has the winterizing bypass valve and a low point drain. No other valves at all.

Just don't want people searching for valves that don't exist!

Cheers!

Quiet Guy

PS, for those that asked for pics, I'll try to get some later today and post them.

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by quietguy

Al,

Not all models have all three of these valves that you describe. Some of my SOB RV's in the past have had them but my last rv and my 2017 25FB Queen does not! As stated earlier, this model only has the winterizing bypass valve and a low point drain. No other valves at all.

Just don't want people searching for valves that don't exist!

Cheers!

Quiet Guy

PS, for those that asked for pics, I'll try to get some later today and post them.

Thanks, I was unaware of that. So Airstream actually put in a real transfer valve instead of the three valves? Both of my trailers are older and have the three.

Sorry for injecting confusion instead of clarification.

Al

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

Thanks, I was unaware of that. So Airstream actually put in a real transfer valve instead of the three valves? Both of my trailers are older and have the three.

Sorry for injecting confusion instead of clarification.

Al

I wanted to understand what AS did so I might do it to my trailer because my current bypass valve is almost impossible to reach. I looked at the manual for OP's trailer and the "bypass valve" does not appear to really be a bypass valve. As best I can tell from the picture it is just a shutoff on the water input to the water heater. Its only function in the procedure provided for winterizing appears to be prevent antifreeze from flowing into the water heater. I guess I'll leave mine as it is and just always leave it closed.

Now I understand why the "bypass valve" has to be open to use the water heater, opposite from my trailers.

Really confusing terminology, Airstream.


Al

[lucybear]

Thanks for all your input I think I finally got it

[Adam2026]

Where you able to take a pic of the diagram ?

[Tiffin]

What is the size on the water heater plug to drain the water from it. 2018 Cloud. Tks

[Sweendk]

I just got off the phone with my dealer service rep, who confirmed what I thought I knew (but am never really sure.. Ha!).

The bypass valve 'handle' must be parallel to the hose for water to enter the heater tank.

To prevent water from entering the tank, the valve 'handle' needs to be perpendicular to the hose; in 'bypass'.

Unfortunately, the water heater will still not fire on gas. I've checked the thermal fuse.. OK. Still no lights on the curcuit board, or igniter spark.

Off to the Atwood dealer I go!

PS: Not happy with the owner's manual, or the lack of troubleshooting material for the Atwood WH (although the latter I understand)!

[ROBERT CROSS]

Diagram.....it's really a diagram of the water heater, hot water needs no heat.

This is 3/4 NPT.....


>>>>"Still no lights on the curcuit board, or igniter spark."

Take all the spade connector off & clean.

Bob

[Sweendk]

Thanks, Robert,

Yesterday, my nearest Atwood dealer wouldn't look at it because it was 'within the first year'. I doubt he'll ever see me again..

So, up to Naperville we went. The circuit board had failed. They fixed it as soon as I rolled in. 300 miles and a 9 hour day... I guess this is the price. But, I'm happy!

Kirk