Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Thor Forums > Thor Tech Forums > Maintenance and Repair
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 11-22-2017, 11:24 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Wild Handyman's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2 - E-450
State: Virginia
Posts: 24
THOR #5259
Water Heater Bypass 2017 Axis 25.2

Does anyone have a CLEAR drawing or picture of the water heater valves that are hidden behind the wall to the rear side of the couch so I can bypass the water heater? The Owner's Manual graphic is spectacularly unhelpful.

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/att...1&d=1511392959
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	Winterizing.jpg
Views:	470
Size:	190.0 KB
ID:	7881  

__________________
Wild Handyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 12:57 AM   #2
Axis/Vegas Enthusiast
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 24.4
State: Michigan
Posts: 9,837
THOR #1150
That graphic is exactly what it looks like, however. LOL!

You can even do it by feel: To bypass the heater reach behind and:
  • On the valve that is vertical turn it so the knob is parallel to the pipe
  • On the valve on the top water line turn it so the knob is perpendicular to the pipe
  • On the valve on the bottom water line turn it so the knob is perpendicular to the pipe
Returning it to normal operation just reverse the above (close the vertical valve(perpendicular) and open the two horizontal valves(horizontal)).

Here is a pic of the vertical and the top horizontal valves on my Axis' water heater (set for bypass):
Click image for larger version

Name:	axiswinter4.jpg
Views:	210
Size:	70.1 KB
ID:	7894
__________________
2022 Thor Axis 24.4
2021 Mach-E
blog - https://spareelectrons.wordpress.com/
JamieGeek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 05:06 AM   #3
Junior Member
 
Wild Handyman's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2 - E-450
State: Virginia
Posts: 24
THOR #5259
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamieGeek View Post
You can even do it by feel: To bypass the heater reach behind and:
  • On the valve that is vertical turn it so the knob is parallel to the pipe
  • On the valve on the top water line turn it so the knob is perpendicular to the pipe
  • On the valve on the bottom water line turn it so the knob is perpendicular to the pipe
JamieGeek, thank you for responding. That picture doesn't seem to be what I am looking at, but since it's BEHIND A WALL I could be wrong.

I have used an inspection probe and have located a few valves and turned them every which way in a clumsy attempt to bypass the water heater and, basically, just gave up and fed the damned thing 6 gallons of anti-freeze before getting pink at every side of every faucet. In the Spring, or the next time we use the unit, I would like to have a working water heater again and don't want to go through this same garbage again. So...

  • The valve you describe as "vertical", where is it? Is it on the left of all the mishmash of lines going up behind the wall? What does that line do?
  • The valve you describe as "on the top water line", is that kind of in the middle of the mess? Is it horizontal? What does that line do?
  • And, last but not least, the "valve on the bottom water line" (which I think I can actually see), what does that line do?

Had the engineers or product planners at Thor provided an access panel next to the couch, that would have made sense and been a very nice gesture. My wife threatened me with death when I suggested I could install an access door in that area to simplify things.
__________________
Wild Handyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 11:13 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
DocP's Avatar
 
Brand: Still Looking
Model: Georgetown 31L5
State: Ohio
Posts: 269
THOR #6277
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild Handyman View Post
Does anyone have a CLEAR drawing or picture of the water heater valves that are hidden behind the wall to the rear side of the couch so I can bypass the water heater? The Owner's Manual graphic is spectacularly unhelpful.

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/att...1&d=1511392959
Does this picture help? It shows the correct positioning of the valves in both the "normal use" and "bypassed" modes.

Attached Images
 
__________________
DocP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 01:12 PM   #5
Axis/Vegas Enthusiast
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 24.4
State: Michigan
Posts: 9,837
THOR #1150
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild Handyman View Post
...
  • The valve you describe as "vertical", where is it? Is it on the left of all the mishmash of lines going up behind the wall? What does that line do?
  • The valve you describe as "on the top water line", is that kind of in the middle of the mess? Is it horizontal? What does that line do?
  • And, last but not least, the "valve on the bottom water line" (which I think I can actually see), what does that line do?

...
DocP did provide a good pic. Answers to your questions:
  • The vertical valve is the on the pipe that is the bypass. When this valve is open it lets water flow from the cold side to the hot side. When closed water has to go through the heater.
  • The top valve is on the hot water line and when closed prevents water going to or coming out of the water heater
  • The bottom valve is on the cold water line and when closed prevents water going to or coming out of the water heater

On the water heater the top outlet is where the hot water exits the heater, and the bottom inlet is where cold water enters. Typically Thor plumbs them with the bypass line right between them hence the vertical pipe is the water heater bypass line. This should all be fairly close to the water heater--like on my pic they should be hanging right off the back of the heater.

Of course I'm giving you how Thor did it on our RV..it is entirely possible that its different on yours given Thor's lack of consistency.
__________________
2022 Thor Axis 24.4
2021 Mach-E
blog - https://spareelectrons.wordpress.com/
JamieGeek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 05:18 PM   #6
Junior Member
 
Wild Handyman's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2 - E-450
State: Virginia
Posts: 24
THOR #5259
Quote:
Originally Posted by DocP View Post
Does this picture help? It shows the correct positioning of the valves in both the "normal use" and "bypassed" modes.
DocP, I understand what the valves do, it's just that the valves ARE HIDDEN BEHIND A SOLID WALL in the 25.2 unit. It would be nice if a company representative monitored this forum and could supply a picture of the water heating unit plumbing BEFORE they went and stuck a solid wall in front of it with no access panel. Can you tell I'm just a little bit frustrated?
__________________
Wild Handyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 05:24 PM   #7
Junior Member
 
Wild Handyman's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2 - E-450
State: Virginia
Posts: 24
THOR #5259
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamieGeek View Post
  • The vertical valve is the on the pipe that is the bypass. When this valve is open it lets water flow from the cold side to the hot side. When closed water has to go through the heater.
  • The top valve is on the hot water line and when closed prevents water going to or coming out of the water heater
  • The bottom valve is on the cold water line and when closed prevents water going to or coming out of the water heater

Of course I'm giving you how Thor did it on our RV..it is entirely possible that its different on yours given Thor's lack of consistency.
I am going to go out and examine the heater again this afternoon and try to take a picture of the mess Thor has provided for 25.2 unit owners. I think that maybe your explanation will do it. We'll see.

Again, thank you and Doc for the responses.
__________________
Wild Handyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 06:51 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
upnyfolks's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 29M
State: New York
Posts: 150
THOR #5875
Our 2017 axis 25.2 has the tankless on-demand hot water heater which does not require a bypass valve to winterize, just turn off the heater and pump the pink stuff through. Any chance you have the same setup?
__________________
upnyfolks is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 08:02 PM   #9
Junior Member
 
Wild Handyman's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2 - E-450
State: Virginia
Posts: 24
THOR #5259
Quote:
Originally Posted by upnyfolks View Post
Our 2017 axis 25.2 has the tankless on-demand hot water heater which does not require a bypass valve to winterize, just turn off the heater and pump the pink stuff through. Any chance you have the same setup?
Thanks for the reply, but nope; we have the old fashioned 6 gallon tank water heater setup. It must be sweet showering in the RV at an RV park with a tankless heater!
__________________
Wild Handyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-23-2017, 08:10 PM   #10
Junior Member
 
Wild Handyman's Avatar
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 25.2 - E-450
State: Virginia
Posts: 24
THOR #5259
OK, I've been back and forth to the motorhome a few times and let my digital camera and auto-stitch software allow me to see behind the wall. I think I have finally found all three important winterizing valves.

Here's the water heater inlet valve hiding behind the waste stack:
http://www.thorforums.com/forums/att...1&d=1511467599

And, unless I'm mistaken, here's a panorama of the line coming from the hot water heater and the (vertical) bypass valve:
http://www.thorforums.com/forums/att...1&d=1511467618

JamieGeek, your photo gave me the idea to shove my camera where I couldn't stick my fat head.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	Water Heater Inlet Valve.jpg
Views:	236
Size:	136.4 KB
ID:	7905   Click image for larger version

Name:	Water Heater Outlet & Bypass Valves.jpg
Views:	249
Size:	152.4 KB
ID:	7906  

__________________
Wild Handyman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-24-2017, 02:06 AM   #11
Axis/Vegas Enthusiast
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 24.4
State: Michigan
Posts: 9,837
THOR #1150
Yup looks like you found them. The first photo looks like the bottom (cold) horizontal valve and the other pic you see the vertical (bypass) and top (hot) horizontal valves.
__________________
2022 Thor Axis 24.4
2021 Mach-E
blog - https://spareelectrons.wordpress.com/
JamieGeek is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Thor Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.




All times are GMT. The time now is 03:44 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2