question re hot water blow out.

[zedex]

I have winterized my 2004 ccd. But have a question. Should i have left the bypass valve in normal mode when blowing out the lines. Then bypass, and pump antifreeze? The way i did it was....I drained all water from the system including hot water tank.Turned bypass valves. bled system with compressed air via street water supply fitting. Pumped antifreeze through all taps etc via water pump. Rebled system with compressed air.. i fear that i left water in hot water tank lines by turning bypass valves too soon.

Thanks.

[dznf0g]

you're most likely ok. Most, if not all the water in the short lines between the tank and bypass valves would have drained, by gravity, when you had the drain valves open. There should be plenty of expansion room in the near empty lines between the bypass valve and tank. I think that's what your concern is??

[jdalrymple]

I drain the water heater via its plug and then set to the valves to bypass. I then use the blowout method via the city water connection, leaving the water heater bypassed. I don't add any antifreeze to the plumbing, just the drain traps.

It is my understanding that by blowing out all the water from the plumbing, one eliminates the need for pumping antifreeze throughout the plumbing. And the pain in the *ss of flushing the antifreeze out in the spring.

I have used this method several years without problems.

Best Regards,

[HowieE]

In BC you want to use anti freeze after blowing out the system. Even with a good blow down you can have water in the drops to the factory drains and maybe a valley or 2 in the system where water will collect because the blow down does not DRY the system.

If you have a strainer filter between the fresh water tank and the pump make sure you either drain that filter or add the anti freeze before that strainer. When you open the line to the pump to add the anti freeze that line should self drain back to the tank assuming the tank is empty.

You were correct in shooting off the water heater before the blow down and draining the heater with it's drain plug. What I like to do while the heater is draining is place a short length of 1/4 or 3/8 hose, 18 inches or so, into the heater through the drain hole, just enough that the hose lays on the bottom of the heater. Since the heater has water in it some of that water will start flowing through the hose and continue to flow as a siphon once the water has dropped to the level of the drain hole, thus removing the last 2 inches of water in the bottom of the heater. Even though the heater is a cylinder and ice would creep up the sides while freezing I like this extra step.

[zedex]

Excellent. Thank you.

[dznf0g]

Definitely, Antifreeze up north......Arkansas, not so much.

[Gene]

My system has a valve below the 3 bypass valves that drains a water line and possibly the heater. It's hard to see because there's carpet around it on ours.

I don't know why you'd drain the antifreeze out before spring.

I think it's better to overdo it because a broken water line is much more difficult to repair than over winterizing and flushing in the spring.

And, some parts of BC are pretty warm in the winter, maybe warmer than some parts of Arkansas.

Gene

[zedex]

I dont want antifreeze in my lines for 4 months so i blow em out. I blow out all my irrigation lines in winter and have had 0 problems in terms of frozen,broken lines. I figure as long as you blow the lines out good,flush with antifreeze, then reblow your good to go. If there are low spots where water collects it will be antifreeze anyways.It has gone down to -20C here but only lasts a few days. Average winter temps are probably -5C for a few months.