atvaholic
Niagara Falls
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Joined: 06/23/2010
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hi, Im de-winterizing and I want to make sure I understand the hot water bypass.
I have three valves, one near the top (Im guessing water in), one near the bottom (im guessing water out) and one in the middle which connects the two lines.
From my understanding, I open the top and the bottom, but close the "middle"
Is this correct?
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sch911
Rochester Hills, MI
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Yes
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paullac
Cincinnati, OH
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Can I tag onto your question... We're in a pop up now but considering a class C (no hot water heater now but perhaps in the future). I see some talk about these hot water bypass things. What do they do?
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LarryJM
NoVa
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paullac wrote:Can I tag onto your question... We're in a pop up now but considering a class C (no hot water heater now but perhaps in the future). I see some talk about these hot water bypass things. What do they do?
They isolate the 6 or 10 gal HW tank from the rest of the plumbing so you don't waste antifreeze in the tank when winterizing. You drain the WH tank so it doesn't need antifreeze. At around $4/gal for the antifreeze that's a considerable savings and more than what the bypass system costs in parts if you do the install which is not that hard.
Larry
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Old-Biscuit
Across the USA
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Just a clarification.........
NORMAL Operation:
Top valve (open) is the water heater 'hot' outlet
Bottom valve (open) is the water heater 'cold' inlet
Middle valve (closed) is the water heater bypass
BYPASS Operation:
Top valve (closed)
Bottom valve (closed)
Middle valve (open)
Bypass Operation removes water heater from service for 'winterizing' the rig
OR for whatever reason one would like to not have water heater in service mode........maintenance, draining/flushing, servicing etc.
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jetcare
RV Repairman - South Fork, CO in the summer
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Bottom is water in - cold.
Top is water out- hot.
2007 Coachman 32 foot Travel Trailer
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Deetour
Washington
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sch911 wrote:Yes 
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W4MBG
Williamsburg, VA
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do NOT turn on the hot water heater without water in it. i imagine it would not be good for a propane unit, and it is certain death for the heating element in an electric heater.
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Peg Leg
Anderson, IN
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Think of the letter H.
Normal operation - legs open, passing allowing the water to circulate thru the heater. The middle closed, not passing thus seperating the hot from the cold water.
Bypass or winterization - legs closed, not passing keeping the antifreeze out of the heater. The middle open, passing allowing the antifreeze to "BYPASS" the heater and fill the rest of the plumbing.
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RoyB
King George, VA
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This looks like a pretty good photo of how it is done...
The water valves on my unit are not round but rectangle and will point to the where the line is open or closed. Looks like in this photo all might be open. Normally the crossover valve would be closed and the Hot and COLD water valves would be open when routing water through the water heater. The Cold water and Hot water valves would be closed and the crossover valve would be open when you want to bypass the hot water heater.
It was mentioned here the reason was not to waste anti-freeze by allowing it to go through the water heater. I think there is an additional item to consider and that is it isn't a good idea to have the heater core being soaked with anti-freeze. The water heater Sheriff might dime in here on this comment.
It also is a good idea to watch your P's and Q's and not allow the heater core to be turned "ON" without water present. You will be replaceing the heater core if you do so...
This photo may show the valve positions better. This one is in BYPASS mode..
Photos from google images
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me
Roy and Carolyn
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