HELP-Adding a water heater bypass

[shinybean]

Okay, I've decided to add a water heater bypass so I can actually winterize like I am supposed to... I bought the Camco kit from Camping World. I have a 1964 Safari with a Bowen G-110T water heater (9 gallon). Going by the instructions, I attempted to remove the water lines from the heater in order to add the bypass kit. I removed the copper flare nut from the threaded nipple that screws into the water heater, but the nipple itself won't come out. (I have a picture of the trouble area below) My question is: Is this nipple supposed to come out, or did I mangle the threads with my pipe wrench for nothing? The kit hat all male parts, so It would seem that the nipple would need to come out in order to install the bypass valves. Could it be that I'm just not putting enough elbow grease into it? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!!!

[TomW]

Your water looks very similar to mine.

Unfortunately, I believe the nipple was factory installed. It will come out, but not easily.

Since the nipple is now mangled, it will have to come out. Once you have your bypass installed you will need to check carefully for leaks as the force involved in the nipples' removal could have damaged the tank.

FWIW, I install a bypass tube for winterization. I assume you are installing a valve kit.

Tom

[shinybean]

I didn't know there was any other option than the valve kit. Guess I should have done a little more research first! What is the diffence between the tube and the valve kit? I may be able to just replace the one nipple when I do eventually get it out, and install a tube bypass instead of trying the get the other nipple out...

[TomW]

Yearly labor.

I am quite proud of my restored copper plumbing but it does not easily lend itself to the installation of a valve kit. Since working space is limited in the water heater's location, I decided to wait until my 39 year old tank needed replacement before installing a valve kit.

The tube I mentioned is simply a straight pipe. After unscrewing the hot & cold flare nuts from the water heater, the two pipes are then connected to a straight pipe. This is the same thing the bypass valve kit accomplishes but with a whole lot more labor.

I still light pilot lights on everything & wind my clock collection every week. "Convenience" appears to escape me.

Tom

[TomW]

Of note, if I had known anything about camping in an RV before my Overlander's refurb, I would have installed the valve kit while the water heater was sitting on the shop floor and the Airstream was empty waiting for everything to be reinstalled.

Live & learn.

Tom

[scottanlily]

hello shinybean ,possible that the nipple is very corroded into the tank .
Those tanks are aluminum and corrosion factor is very high ,you could perhaps chase the threads of the nipple using a die thats for that ,like a plimber would have .so if you have really " put the screws to it " and it wont come out ,but seems savagable the rethread may work ,if not as Tom W says
it must come out ,and damage to the heater tank it self is possible .Those old
bowens should be checked inside to see the condition of the corrosion .A
borascope device /or camera can be used to get a look inside thru that pipe nipple. My other strong advice is NOT to drink any water from it thru the
faucets as the aluminum corrosion is not healthy at all ,still showers and dishes
washing are all good .

Scott

[shinybean]

Sounds like a good idea. I think I've taken too much of the material away to re-thread though. I don't even think the pipe is the same diameter anymore It must be a very soft metal. I thnk I'm going to try and use some plumbing epoxy putty to put a coupling onto the nipple. If I can get it sealed tight enough with the epoxy, I'll be able to screw the bypass valve into the coupling. (I should have thought of the coupling first, before stripping the threads, and it would have avoided this whole mess!!!) I'll post updates on my progress. Any more thoughts or ideas from anyone would be helpful though...Thanks!