is this a good idea, or not?

[roostreamer]

Ok - I'm not only new to airstreams, but I'm new to camping in anything that needs "winterizing", our previous trailer was a 73 Trillium. Anyway - recently we purchased a 73 20' Argosy, and promptly gutted it and have been rebuilding for the past 8 weeks. It was winterized when we got it, and I'm not sure why... but apparently you need to bypass the hot water heater when you add antifreeze to the system???

Attached is the PO bypass - now if this is accurate (hoping someone can tell me why it's important to bypass), would my new PEX plan (also in an attached photo) be a good solution. I spent the past weekend redoing everything in PEX and now just have to tie into the hot water heater.

Thanks for your help.

[Ridgerunner3]

Your plan looks very good. Bypass setup allows you to remove the water heater from the system for winterizing. If you decide to pump rv antifreeze through the system for the winter your antifreeze need is reduced by the size of your water heater. I also find it easier to blow out the lines with water heater bypassed.

[jdalrymple]

It is accurate.

One bypasses the water heater to keep from having to buy six extra gallons of RV antifreeze.

Just remove the plug on the water heater and let it drain.

The bypass lets the antifreeze flow from the cold water pipes to the hot water pipes and out to the faucets.

Welcome to the forums.



Regards,

JD

[m.hony]

With your bypass you can use 6 gallons less antifreeze- just let the water out of the water heater and let it sit empty-
The rest you can winterize with 1 1/2 gallons.

[goshawks00]

Looks good. Is there a drain on the bottom of the tank?

[7GenTex]

Your approach looks fine, ....................

That said, I would expect the existing water heater to either leak (most probable) or not function if the PO had it rigged like that.

Just a guess.............

PS - why would anyone need to heat "hot" water?

[Bigventure]

The photo of the old system also had a drain. You may want to put that back in. Its the low point and also the end of the line. It very usefull when blowing out.

I would have followed the lower copper line down low to the drain and tee up to the tank.


You drain the tank from the outside via the big plug on the low end.