Labeling valves near water heater

[doughpat]

Hi all -

I'm 90% of the way through 'de-winterizing' and I'm stumped at the water heater. I've looked at the manual (22' Bambi, 2019) and what they show is a far cry from what is actually present!

I'd like to just label all the valves with some white electrical tape. Things like "Heater bypass - summer closed" or "Low-point Dump - summer closed" or "From pump - summer open". That sort of thing, so that I can just logically figure out what needs to be done every winter/summer.

Apologies that this picture can't clearly show every valve....pretty limited access in there and with a tweaked neck I'm a bit limited on holding power.

I am pretty sure I've (correctly) identified the low point dump valves (D, E). I am somewhat confident that the one labeled C is the water input from the pump, into the water heater tank (obviously should be open in the summer).

A and B I am pretty confused about. I think that one of them is the "bypass" though I'm still a bit unclear about what it actually does. The other one...I really don't know!

Thank you for any help.

[Malia20]

You have a three valve bypass. With A and C open and B closed you are in summer or use-the-WH mode, A and C closed, B open, you are in bypass mode. D & E are two-point drains.
Hope this helps.
Fred

[OTRA15]

I would suggest posting in the forum which includes your exact model, in hopes of finding folks with the same layout as yours. I think this is the right one:

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f295/

Possible helpful threads there:
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f29...ns-207214.html
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f29...es-202775.html

FWIW the most commonly used term, for one function you want to ID, is "low point drain" not "dump valve," so if you do a new post, you might want to change this term IMO.

https://www.google.com/search?q=low+...=airforums.com

I think, similar to our FC20, that you may have a low point drain hidden under most of that piping in the center of the photo -- the white valve handle is just barely visible, sticking up?

We don't "bypass" for winterization, so no opinions in that regard.

Good luck,

Peter

[Piggy Bank]

pictures of winter settings for water heater with bypass engaged, cold in and hot out turned off

[Piggy Bank]

pictures of summer *settings for water heater and bypass

[Piggy Bank]

You are correct that the 2 valves that sit on the floor are the low point drains in the water heater area. There are also low point drains under the closet floor.

The A,B,C--use your imagination to think, if I have cold water coming into the piping, can it get into the hot water heater? The valves are ¼ turn valves and imagine them like a door or gate that is open or shut.

In the winter view, water enters the plumbing at the bottom. Where does it go? The gate (C) is shut where the cold water would go into the hot water heater, so no water gets into the hot water heater. Instead it is diverted into the bypass valve section (B) which is open, and after that it again is blocked from going (backwards) into the hot water heater since (A) is closed.

So if the valves were in the Winter setting, if you turned on the tap to hot, you would get water, but this water would never have gone into the hot water heater, it would have gone in, through B and out the top at the left to the red hot water pipe. But the water would never have passed into the hot water heater to be heated.

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by doughpat

I'd like to just label all the valves with some white electrical tape. Things like "Heater bypass - summer closed" or "Low-point Dump - summer closed" or "From pump - summer open". That sort of thing, so that I can just logically figure out what needs to be done every winter/summer.

I created tags for my valves. I used some regular paper tags, marked them with a good gel ink pen and covered them with clear shipping tape for protection. Then I used zip ties to attach to the valves. My memory gets worse every year and having the tags make the winterizing/summerizing much easier.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by Malia20

You have a three valve bypass. With A and C open and B closed you are in summer or use-the-WH mode, A and C closed, B open, you are in bypass mode. D & E are two-point drains.
Hope this helps.
Fred

This is correct.

Originally Posted by OTRA15

FWIW the most commonly used term, for one function you want to ID, is "low point drain" not "dump valve," so if you do a new post, you might want to change this term IMO.

This is also true using terms that most people wouldn't is confusing.

For most people the only valves on an RV they would call dump valves are the ones on the black and gray waste tanks.

[Silvr_Bullet]

I find that using my iPhone photo function is a great way to document these kind of issues also write yourself a checklist and have it when your doing the procedure.

[Silvr_Bullet]

Originally Posted by Silvr_Bullet

I find that using my iPhone photo function is a great way to document these kind of issues also write yourself a checklist and have it when your doing the procedure.
Attachment 367155

Added...When I see a photo on our shared site, I save it to my photo Album labeled ‘Airstream’