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Old 10-14-2020, 04:04 PM   #21
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2020 Magnitude SV34
State: Florida
Posts: 4,147
THOR #12751
I'm on my second coach with the Girard Tankless water heater. The design could be much different than the AquaHot but I only used air on my last coach with it and never had an issue with damage from freezing. Last season I did run antifreeze through my current Girard unit.

Bursting of copper typically only occurs when a pipe / tubing is full of water such that when the water expands from freezing, it has no where to go and causes the pipe to burst.

If there is some residual water but plenty of air above it such that the water can expand and fill the void when it freezes, it should not damage the copper pipe / tubing.

As long as the hot water is open on each faucet when under air pressure, it should push enough water through the hot water unit so there is more air than water in the tubing and prevent any bursting.

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Old 10-14-2020, 07:22 PM   #22
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Four Winds 31W
State: Michigan
Posts: 542
THOR #9522
I've winterized my Girard the last two winteres with just air with no issues
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Old 10-14-2020, 08:58 PM   #23
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Missouri
Posts: 2,324
THOR #6903
Certainly agree with everything you have stated

There a few Thor owners that have Aquahot heating and for those it is never a good idea to use air only

Given there are different series of hydronic heaters in various coaches which have different sizes of heating coils

The typical unit has around 160 feet of 1/2 inch tubing

Every spring there a few that tried air and then spend from 4000 to 8000 dollars due to the split copper tubing

Once through heaters or bypassed tanks air does work but you have to be very careful



Quote:
Originally Posted by Judge View Post
I'm on my second coach with the Girard Tankless water heater. The design could be much different than the AquaHot but I only used air on my last coach with it and never had an issue with damage from freezing. Last season I did run antifreeze through my current Girard unit.

Bursting of copper typically only occurs when a pipe / tubing is full of water such that when the water expands from freezing, it has no where to go and causes the pipe to burst.

If there is some residual water but plenty of air above it such that the water can expand and fill the void when it freezes, it should not damage the copper pipe / tubing.

As long as the hot water is open on each faucet when under air pressure, it should push enough water through the hot water unit so there is more air than water in the tubing and prevent any bursting.
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Old 10-14-2020, 11:41 PM   #24
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Magnitude SV34
State: Montana
Posts: 40
THOR #17100
Quote:
Originally Posted by Judge View Post
I'm on my second coach with the Girard Tankless water heater. The design could be much different than the AquaHot but I only used air on my last coach with it and never had an issue with damage from freezing. Last season I did run antifreeze through my current Girard unit.

Bursting of copper typically only occurs when a pipe / tubing is full of water such that when the water expands from freezing, it has no where to go and causes the pipe to burst.

If there is some residual water but plenty of air above it such that the water can expand and fill the void when it freezes, it should not damage the copper pipe / tubing.

As long as the hot water is open on each faucet when under air pressure, it should push enough water through the hot water unit so there is more air than water in the tubing and prevent any bursting.
I also used my Viair compressor to winterize. I used the wire jumper trick to blow out water in the ice maker and then ran refrigerator to freeze what water was blow out to get rid of the ice. After clearing all the other lines I opened the access door on the outside to the tankless water heater and lifted the pop-off valve lever slightly to clear out any remaining water (there was some).
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Old 10-15-2020, 10:15 AM   #25
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Tuscany 42GX
State: Missouri
Posts: 1,158
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Judge View Post
You would need to just put a glass under the water dispenser until the antifreeze is running out. Then I would remove the filter.
If you still have the filter bypass plug insert it first
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