Water Heater In/Out

[ElCamino Man]

Hey guys! I am knee deep in plumbing my AS and its going a whole lot smoother than I figured! Especially for being my first plumbing job

Anyways, the only 2 things I havent plumbed in yet are the toilet and water heater. Toilet because its not bolted down yet and the water heater because i am unsure which side is the "in" and which side is the "out". Mine has a hose on top and one on bottom. If I was guessing, Id figure the bottom is in and the top is out. Can anyone confirm this?

[Kevin245]

Your guess is correct.

Lower for the inlet.

Upper for the outlet.

[Aage]

You live in Illinois: don't forget to put a by-pass hookup on that WH!

[ElCamino Man]

A bypass hook up... Im not sure what that is lol

[Splitrock]

This is how I did my bypass.



They can be bought ready to go as well.


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[perryg114]

Looks pretty complicated. I don't like the plastic fittings. What does the bypass do beside feather pockets of the plumbing supplier?

Perry

[ventport]

The bypass takes the water heater out of the hot water loupe, so when you winterize the AS you don't need 6 gallons of antifreeze to fill the water heater. Then you just drain the water heater. You can then fill all the pipes with about 2 gallons of antifreeze instead of 8 gallons.

[eubank]

I built a bypass set-up similar to what Splitrock shows in his pic -- and ran into a slight problem with it. Last fall, I emptied the water heater tank, then turned the valves to exclude the water heater for the pink stuff. Seemed to work great, but when I took the rig out this summer, I found that one of the connectors within the bypass had split. Argh. Turns out, I guess, that a small amount of water was trapped within the bypass for the winter, and, given sufficiently cold temperatures (-30F), it split the connector.

Not exactly a difficult repair job, just a quick trip to the hardware store and a few minutes of labor. But I will remember to push just a little pink stuff through those lines this year.


Lynn

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by ElCamino Man

Hey guys! I am knee deep in plumbing my AS ... the only 2 things I havent plumbed in yet are the toilet and water heater...

I've actually seen one camper that goofed up and had hot water plumbed to the toilet...

[Splitrock]

Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV

I've actually seen one camper that goofed up and had hot water plumbed to the toilet...

Wouldn't that be . . . goofed down?


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[TG Twinkie]

The bypass system consists of 3 valves. 1 to prevent cold water from entering the water heater. 1 in the hot water line coming out of the water heater. 1 in a line that connects the hot and cold water lines together down stream from the 2 valves mentioned above.
When you winterize, you close the valves on the inlet and outlet of the water heater and open the valve that ties the hot and cold lines together. Drain the water heater. And pump RV anti freeze into the lines. Now you are set. Make certain you put RV anti freeze in the "P" traps for the sinks and shower/tub.
RV anti freeze should not be put in the water heater. It tends to become rancid and it is hard to get rid of the rotten egg smell.

[polarlyse]

I don't go the RV antifreeze route. I blow the lines with compressed air. In my '85 Excella I did not have the by-pass so I simply drained the water tank and blew the water out of the lines. Our newer trailer has the by-pass. Will it be sufficient to turn the by-pass valves then drain the tank and blow the lines ????
Or is there something else to do ??

Thanks all

[TG Twinkie]

As long as you feel that enough water is blown out of the lines to prevent freeze damage. But it is difficult to tell if all water in the low points is removed. By pumping RV anti freeze thru the lines until you see it coming out of all of the faucets and into the toilet you will know the lines are winterized. You also need to put anti freeze in the "P" traps of the sinks and shower/tub.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by polarlyse

I don't go the RV antifreeze route. I blow the lines with compressed air. In my '85 Excella I did not have the by-pass so I simply drained the water tank and blew the water out of the lines. Our newer trailer has the by-pass. Will it be sufficient to turn the by-pass valves then drain the tank and blow the lines ????
Or is there something else to do ??

Thanks all

My local dealer uses air pressure only to winterize. He does use high pressure to blow out the lines and keeps the air flowing to make sure the lines dry out. He noted that most 12 volt compressors cannot generate enough airflow to dry out the lines. I blow mine out and then pump in antifreeze through the water pump. It takes less than 2 gallons for my Classic which includes enough antifreeze to pour directly into the drains to make sure the traps are protected. In the past I used to take a shop vac and reverse the airflow and put the blowing hose into the drain and push the water out prior to adding the antifreeze.

Depending on your model trailer (some have these features and some don't), don't forget to winterize the hand sprayers on the sink and toilet, the outside faucet valve, and the low drain points (hot and cold) that tend to be under the trailer. All of those can be forgotten and can freeze up.

Jack

[tkowalyk]

I use both air and antifreeze to winterize.


Drain all water from the system: fresh water tank, water heater, low point grain lines, and valve near water heater, with all valves open, hold open toilet fill line for a few seconds

Using an adapter at the city water line - blow out the lines, opening and closing valves and drain lines. you need a compressor with a tank to do this. IMPORTANT -- NEVER EXCEED 60 PSI, and always have one valve open. The water heater is bypassed for this.

Drain black and gray tanks Flush black tank several times on your last outing, leave dry.

Purge system with antifreeze - using water pump bypass input hose. Starting with high point (shower) open up one valve at a time (hot and cold), until antifreeze runs through. Pour 1/2 cup into each trap. Pour 1/2 gallon of antifreeze into black tank.

I have been doing this method for 25 years, and have never had a problem. It is my opinion that the valves and piping system is in better shape with antifreeze in the system, rather than dry -- lubrication etc.

[ElCamino Man]

Ahha makes snese. Shouldnt costs too much more to do and easily done lol. Thanks for the heads up guys!

[perryg114]

It does not get that cold here in Bama. I am going to stick with blowing out the lines with an air compressor. Not the 12V ones but a real one. The toilet and shower valves are easy to forget.

Perry

[ElCamino Man]

Hey guys, I didnt wanna start another thread to ask this so hopefully someone looks at this lol. Are our water heaters electric or gas? Or both? I KNOW its gas because its right where the pilot light and stuff is on the outside, but is it also electric? If so, how do you turn it on? Iv got a switch on my wall that says "water pump" but it doesnt control the water pump at all lol. I figure its for the water heater but im not sure

[Aage]

Dual (120V/LP gas) is available, but the vast majority of WHs are gas only.

[ElCamino Man]

Ok, thats what I needed! Thanks!