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Old 10-10-2020, 10:11 PM   #1
BC1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 24HE
State: New York
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THOR #20090
Not your typical winterization question

Hi all,

This has nothing to do with bypassing the water heater - I understand how that works.

I am quite sure the answer on this will be obvious and I will feel stupid but I just can't wrap my head around it. When I look at the plumbing schematics for my unit (although the question isn't necessarily particular to my unit) - the water heater is at the end of a "circuit" (for lack of proper word) by itself. If you bypass the water heater how does antifreeze get to the hot and cold lines that are just OUTSIDE/BEFORE the water heater? Does that make sense? In other words, if you don't have a faucet in the circuit that includes the water heater how does antifreeze get to the lines OUTSIDE of the water heater?

p.s. the next closest thing to the water heater is the city water fill which I will pull the screen and push to get antifreeze out of that but won't there still be few feet between that and the water heater with lines that have no antifreeze in them?

Be kind in responses LOL,

Thanks in advance,
Beth

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Old 10-10-2020, 11:07 PM   #2
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Not exactly sure what you are asking...
The hot water tank has by-pass valves to eliminate it, or should, then pull out the drain plug to drain it and not put anti-freeze in the tank.
On our rig, there is a by-pass valve from the FW tank to the FW pump (FW=fresh water), you then open valve from FW pump suction tube with it submerged in the anti-freeze bottle and close valve from holding tank.
Opening different water spigots, with pump on to get anti-freeze in the lines hot or cold, is this what you are asking?
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Old 10-10-2020, 11:12 PM   #3
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Ours is the same; it has it's own drain plug.
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Old 10-10-2020, 11:13 PM   #4
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Maybe I didn't explain it correctly - I understand how bypassing the water heater works but if you bypass the water how would the antifreeze get in the section of water lines that are outside the water heater and before the next closest water supply (which in my case is the city water fill). I'm not sure if it is ok to post a screenshot of the plumbing schematics from the Thor manual to show what I'm talking about.

So just to be clear, I am only asking how the antifreeze gets in the section of water lines before the water heater if you bypass it and the water heater is in a section of the plumbing where nothing else is after it.

I'm going to try to draw a quick picture and post it.
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Old 10-10-2020, 11:23 PM   #5
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I'm guessing... but perhaps the water drIns back through the heater?
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Old 10-10-2020, 11:26 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by BC1 View Post
Maybe I didn't explain it correctly - this has nothing to do with the actual bypass of the water heater when winterizing. I fully understand how that works. If you bypass the water how would the antifreeze get in the section of water lines that are outside the water heater and before the next closest water supply (which in my case is the city water fill). I'm not sure if it is ok to post a screenshot of the plumbing schematics from the Thor manual to show what I'm talking about.

So just to be clear, I am only asking how the antifreeze gets in the section of water lines before the water heater if you bypass it and the water heater is in a section of the plumbing where nothing else is after it.

When the water heater is isolated and drained, the short lines between the bypass and the water heater have no antifreeze in them.
Not an issue though... even if a little water remained in those lines, would have plenty of room to expand into the empty hot water heater...

Freezing alone isn’t an issue... freezing without room to expand (therefore cracking lines...) is the problem.

Does that answer it?
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Old 10-10-2020, 11:43 PM   #7
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Here's my bad drawing (water heater is the last thing on that end of the plumbing lines)
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:39 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by BC1 View Post
Here's my bad drawing (water heater is the last thing on that end of the plumbing lines)


The bypass valves create a loop of water lines by connecting the hot and cold lines together immediately outside of the water heater. The antifreeze circulates through the loop when you open a hot water faucet somewhere.
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:52 AM   #9
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Ah ok - thanks very much Pete'sMH.
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Old 11-18-2020, 05:40 AM   #10
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I have the same problem, the bottom line from the bypass to the hot water heater is uphill with a 90 degree connection to the tank. A few years ago it froze and caused a leak at the plex pipe hookup.
I now run a little antifreeze to the tank before I change the bypass or blow it out first.
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Old 11-18-2020, 01:42 PM   #11
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WEether I am dry or wet winterizing I always blow out the lines. If I am wet winterizing I will blow out the lines through the city water connection and I will keep the air connected at approx 45 psi until all water is removed from the ice maker and until a cycle is run through the washing machine. Yes this may take some time and I plan accordingly. Once this is done if it is time to wet winterize I will then by-pass the water heater or sets the Nautilus P3 to winterize (by passes water heater) and suck in the antifreeze.

This process has worked fine for three motorhomes and about 12 years.
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