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Old 05-27-2020, 07:00 AM   #1
Rivet Master
 
2019 25' International
Washington , Washington, D.C.
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What did I do wrong?

Yesterday, I went to my AS to de-winterize and fill the fresh water tank. I turned the bright yellow hot water bypass valve beneath one of twin beds to the open position. I hooked the hose to the city water outlet and then opened every faucet, the shower heads inside and out and flushed the toilet until the pink stuff stopped flowing (turning to both hot and cold sides). Then I filled my fresh water tank; then unhooked and put away the hose and went inside the AS to work. Later, I tried to run water using my pump. The lines all seem to be full of air with water spitting out all the time. I checked the freshwater gauge expecting to see 100% but it was at 25%. I ran outside and looked beneath and sure enough, the valve to the water tank was open as water was flowing out. Crap. I checked the other two low-point valves that are close to the fresh water one and they were closed.
Question: How do I get flowing water again i.e. the air out of the lines? Did I flip over the hot water bypass valve too early in the process? How do you know if your hot water tank is full?
Thanks so much for your insights.
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Old 05-27-2020, 07:43 AM   #2
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I just dewinterized my AS as well. I simply filled the fresh water tank and added the recommend amount of bleach to sanitize the water system. Then turned on the pump and ran the bleached water through the hot and cold faucets till clear( shower, toilet , bath sink,kitchen sink,and outdoor shower). Then I removed the hot water drain plug and rinsed it out with one of those wand things then put drain plug back in then turned the water heater bypass valve in. this filled the Hot water tank with the bleach water to sanitized it. I left the bleach water in the system till next day then drained the fresh water tank with the bleach water and refilled it With fresh water only and opened up the faucets To rinse the bleach water out.

If you open the hot water bypass valve before you rinse the antifreeze out you will get antifreeze in hot water tank. I don’t think it hurts it but just harder to get all anti freeze out of system.
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Old 05-27-2020, 07:48 AM   #3
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When you start running water through your lines with your pump, open a hot water faucet so that air can escape the water heater as it fills. I would suggest that you open faucets as you turn on your pump to let air escape your lines until you get water out each one. I would open one at a time.

Kay
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Old 05-27-2020, 07:55 AM   #4
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Sorry I didn’t try to answer your questions. If I’m not mistaken just turn on water pump and it should pick up the water and start pumping again. To get the air out I just kept the faucet open on cold water till water come out. It will sputter some till water comes out the repeat for hot water. Do this for all faucets till no air sputters out. Jut keep going from one faucet to another til no mor air comes out.

Yes I thinK you opened the hot water heater valve to early. Wait till all the pink antifreeze is out at all faucets first then open the hot water by pass valve. This way no pink antifreeze get in hot water heater.

To know if water heater is full I just opened the hot water bypass valve the open the Hot water faucets. You will get more sputtering out of faucets, this is the air coming out and when no more air is coming out hot water tank is full.
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Old 05-27-2020, 08:00 AM   #5
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Air in the lines is common, a pain, but common. I flush my lines before opening the bypass valves. Since there is no antifreeze in the hot water tank, if you open the valves to flush the lines you're going to get antifreeze in that tank and it takes forever to get it out.

I open my low point drains and all faucets and get as much out as I can. (I always keep my fresh water drain closed after draining that tank, there's no need for it to be open.) After the low point drains have finished I close them and turn on the city water hose. I go from faucet to faucet, hot and cold, to flush out the antifreeze, including the showers, inside and out.

When I'm satisfied that I have as much out as I can I remove the plug from the water heater and use the hose to flush out any sediment. I replace the plug, reset the water heater bypass valves and open the hot water taps, including both showers, to let the air out as the water heater fills, closing each tap when a solid stream of water comes out. Make sure all taps are open or there will be trapped air. I usually forget the outside one.

After that's done I add the proper amount of bleach to the fresh water tank and fill it. It sits for the recommended time, then I drain it through all of the taps until I smell chlorine, using the pump, to sanitize them. I turn off the pump and run city water through all of the taps until the smell of chlorine has dissipated. We rarely use the fresh water tank so after sanitizing it will be drained and stay empty.
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Old 05-27-2020, 05:03 PM   #6
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For dewinterizing, I open the pressure relief valve on the hot water heater when starting to circulate water. When the water starts flowing out of the pressure relief valve, the hot water heater is filled with water and you can close the valve by letting it snap shut. Note, I always blow out the pink antifreeze as the last step when winterizing to minimize the amount of water needed to flush the lines in the spring.


After initially heating up the water and periodically while camping, one should "burp" the hot water heater for efficient performance. Note, this should be done when the water is fully heated, so care must be taken. The steps, as taken from the user manual are:
Step 1: Turn off water heater
Step 2: Turn off incoming water supply/shut off fresh water pump
Step 3: Open the closest hot water faucet in the coach (I use the outdoor shower)
Step 4: Pull handle of pressure-temperature relief valve straight out and allow water to flow until it stops. The water will be HOT!
Step 5: Allow pressure-temperature relief valve to snap shut, turn on water supply and close faucet.


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Old 05-27-2020, 07:52 PM   #7
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YES...no need for pink stuff in the lines or the water heater.

Bob
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Old 05-28-2020, 06:41 AM   #8
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Let me hijack this for a moment

I have a new 2019 Basecamp x. Just picked it up. The hot water heater whether on gas, electric, or both only heats about 10 seconds of hot water and then it is back to cold. The Basecamp was dewinterized at the dealer. I ran water thru the lines to get the air out. What simple thing am I missing? I will say that it is not on perfectly level ground at the moment and I have an external pressure valve set at 42. Any help/suggestions would be a godsend otherwise I am driving 3 1/2 hours to the dealer.
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Old 05-28-2020, 01:10 PM   #9
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Well, problem solved. A valve was not turned off underneath the bench. All the hot water I could ever want now. Thanks for letting me hijack the thread for a moment. Carry on!
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Old 05-29-2020, 05:14 AM   #10
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Ha ha! JMT2015 -you are most welcome.
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Old 05-29-2020, 05:31 AM   #11
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Hi all - update. I went back yesterday and hooked up to city water again. Water flowed well from every spigot, inside and out. I filled the fresh water tank. Then I turned on the water pump and opened the kitchen cold water faucet and it spit, flowed slow, still not right. I had a de-winterizing kit installed on the pump in January at the AS factory. I was told then the valve on it was closed and to leave it that way when I de-winterized. I took a long look at the pump and there was a black plastic valve way sort of buried back in the maze of tubes and venting. I think it was in the closed position. But still, I turned it on anyway and the water flowed a tad better. I took photos of the pump area. Looking at them this morning, I'm wondering if the "valve" the AS tech told me to leave closed is the shiny brass thingy - you can see it in the second photo. Is THAT what I should leave closed? And what was the black valve for?
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Old 05-29-2020, 05:44 AM   #12
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What did I do wrong?

Your brass winterizing valve appears to be in the winterizing position now. It needs to be turned 90 degrees so that the valve handle is in line with your pex pipe coming from the water tank.
Kevin

Edit to add, no idea what the other valve you turned does.
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Old 05-29-2020, 05:46 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PatLee View Post
Hi all - update. I went back yesterday and hooked up to city water again. Water flowed well from every spigot, inside and out. I filled the fresh water tank. Then I turned on the water pump and opened the kitchen cold water faucet and it spit, flowed slow, still not right. I had a de-winterizing kit installed on the pump in January at the AS factory. I was told then the valve on it was closed and to leave it that way when I de-winterized. I took a long look at the pump and there was a black plastic valve way sort of buried back in the maze of tubes and venting. I think it was in the closed position. But still, I turned it on anyway and the water flowed a tad better. I took photos of the pump area. Looking at them this morning, I'm wondering if the "valve" the AS tech told me to leave closed is the shiny brass thingy - you can see it in the second photo. Is THAT what I should leave closed? And what was the black valve for?
The brass valve is the winterizing kit. It looks like it is open for drawing in the antifreeze. It needs to be turned parallel with the fresh water line. This will close the intake from the antifreeze line and open to the fresh water tank.
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Old 05-29-2020, 06:22 AM   #14
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Lots of times the faucets pick up scale from winterizing and you have to clean the screens. I do not have all those valves so cannot comment on vale position. I never use the drain down valves and, instead, blow out the lines. You probably did it right. But even then it sometimes takes a while to get it working well and free of pink stuff.
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Old 05-29-2020, 08:21 AM   #15
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The white capped device just to the right of that valve is a screen filter. You should check that periodically and clean it if necessary. It just unscrews at the base I believe, if it's like mine. Try the brass valve in the other position. One way pulls antifreeze in from the clear tube in the antifreeze jug, the other pulls it from the water tank.
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Old 05-29-2020, 08:36 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by Bill M. View Post
. . .
. . . I never use the drain down valves and, instead, blow out the lines.
. . .


In some models, this will result in plenty of water being "trapped" at the low point IMO, where it can freeze and break piping and/or the low-point [LP] drain valves. There are posts on this, but I don't have time to find them now.

Blowing out the lines only works when the flowing air is free to find an end point opening, and drive all the water out. Keeping the LP drain valves closed prevents this.

Peter
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Old 05-29-2020, 09:19 AM   #17
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Clarification. I add the pink stuff after blow the lines
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Old 05-29-2020, 09:57 AM   #18
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Same "dead end" problem at the LP drains . . . AF can't get there in many models, unless you open them and let a little AF drain from each one.

Maybe your model is OK for this, but as general advice it is quite inaccurate IMO.

Peter
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Old 05-29-2020, 10:13 AM   #19
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I do not understand. The bottom of the LP valves drains down to the ground. The antifreeze is a water solution so any water left in the lines mixes in and just dilutes it slightly. I run the pump or the antifreeze air pumper until I get pink at each faucet. Now, what am I not getting antifreeze to.

Edit: I have forgotten what the LP drains look like since they are so hard to get to. If they are from a t in the line main line with a vertical in the line I see your point.

Sorry Pat. You did it right.
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Old 05-29-2020, 10:30 AM   #20
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In some models, a LP drain can be at the bottom of a U-shaped run of plumbing, and it is unlikely that a full concentration of AF will get down there.

In general, when adding AF to the system, you are supposed to open each H/C faucet, shower head, sink sprayer, toilet, etc. until you get pink stuff coming out.

In some models, if you don't open each and every LP drain, until pink stuff comes out, you are running the risk of only dilute AF getting there eventually by osmosis, not by AF flowing freely.

If you can't picture this possibility, in someone else's trailer, then we should just stop talking about it. You may have to adjust your blinders IMO.



Peter

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill M. View Post
. . .
Edit: I have forgotten what the LP drains look like since they are so hard to get to. If they are from a t in the line main line with a vertical in the line I see your point.
. . .
Thank you!
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