Water heater bypass 274 dbh

[ctsam]

My question is this, the water heater bypass valve needs closed to winterized. My unit has three 1-cold water input to water heater, 2- hot line coming out of water heater and 3- a valve between both of these lines. During normal operation should all three of these be open? And all three closed during winterization? Or what combination for normal and winterized use. Thanks in advance

[ctsam]

pring time approaches, one of the most common asked questions that new travel trailer owners, as well as seasoned veterans who sometimes forget ask, is "why don't I have hot water"...or "why do I only have a little hot water before it turns cold?"

This occurrence is usually caused by the bypass/crossover valves being set incorrect for normal use. The bypass valves are closed during the winterization process, so that the water heater is bypassed and can be drained of any water that could freeze. The crossover valve (which connects the cold water line to the hot water line) is then opened which allows antifreeze to be placed into both the cold and hot water lines.

What happens during springtime, is that members who weren't shown this when they bought their RV, or just forget the proper dewinterization procedures, then will not have ANY hot water coming out of their hot water taps if the bypass valve is still closed (it will only be cold water from the crossover), or will have the cold water still mixing into the hot water line if the crossover valve is still incorrect....which results in only having a very short period of hot water coming from the tank until the cold water is drawn in from the crossover line, causing the water to turn cold quickly.

Many times these bypass/crossover valves are going to be located behind the water heater itself. You may have to remove a false panel, cabinet drawer, etc etc to gain access to these valves. You may have only one, or two, but possibly three valves to adjust for normal usage.

Once you do gain access, you want to make sure that the cold water inlet line valve (if equipped) is open going in to the water heater. The hot water outlet valve (if equipped) is open coming out of the water heater....but most importantly, the crossover valve is fully CLOSED between the cold water line and hot water line.

Since the crossover valve and the lines it's on are usually running vertical, as opposed to the hot and cold water lines going to the water heater which are horizontal....it's real easy to mistake the position of the crossover valve. You may think you closed it but it's actually open. The handle must run perpendicular to the line, for it to be closed.

Here is a schematic that may help:

[5picker]

Originally Posted by ctsam

My question is this, the water heater bypass valve needs closed to winterized. My unit has three 1-cold water input to water heater, 2- hot line coming out of water heater and 3- a valve between both of these lines. During normal operation should all three of these be open? And all three closed during winterization? Or what combination for normal and winterized use. Thanks in advance

Normal use:
Cold inlet and hot outlet=OPEN
Valve in middle between both (commonly called the bypass valve)=CLOSED

For winter bypass:
Cold inlet and hot outlet=CLOSED
Valve in middle between both (commonly called the bypass valve)=OPEN

[5picker]

[ctsam]

Thanks for the information and the picture was a huge help.

[litgrep]

If you have a single valve system, the normal mode is the top schematic with the valve replacing the two lower valves. In bypass there is a backlog preventer in the hot water out line.