Our 13qbb has no water heater bypass. LL manual describes bypassing the water heater during the winterizing process. Anyone else in the same boat? Do you fill the water heater with antifreeze?
i'm not sure that I'd want to mess around with all those Pex connections to install a bypass kit. Not much room under that sofa. Besides, the kits I am finding online are all for screw type connections.
As a side note: what would be the harm in filling the water heater (4 gal btw) and the plumbing and, then, draining and re-using the antifreeze next time? Much (not all) could be recovered.
It is not necessary to pump antifreeze through the fresh water system to winterize. It is much easier to drain. The LL manual gives directions to do this as I recall. Here is my procedure:
Open the drain valve on the bottom of the fresh water tank outside and let it drain out. Then open the drain valve for the hot water heater located inside the hatch outside where you fill with fresh water. After they have drained, temporarily remove the discharge fitting from the fresh water pump. This has a wing nut type fitting and easily comes off. Put a short piece of vinyl hose on the faucet fixture and blow back to clear any low spots. Do this for all fixtures. Run the pump for a few seconds to blow out any internal water. Then reconnect the hose. Also unscrew the clear bowl on the suction filter and dump the water in there.
Put a cupful of RV/boat antifreeze in each drain: sink, shower, toilet etc. to flush out the trap. You are now good to -xyz temps.
David
[quote source="/post/3967/thread" timestamp="1412104108" author="@dave"]Our 13qbb has no water heater bypass.[/quote]Really? What does the back of your water heater look like? Can you post a picture? I thought that was standard on all RV's.
[quote source="/post/3970/thread" timestamp="1412106419" author="@tinkeringtechie"][quote source="/post/3967/thread" timestamp="1412104108" author="@dave"]Our 13qbb has no water heater bypass.[/quote]Really? What does the back of your water heater look like? Can you post a picture? I thought that was standard on all RV's.[/quote]Here it is.
[quote source="/post/3971/thread" timestamp="1412109503" author="@dave"][quote source="/post/3970/thread" timestamp="1412106419" author="@tinkeringtechie"]Really? What does the back of your water heater look like? Can you post a picture? I thought that was standard on all RV's.[/quote]Here it is.
[/quote]Wow, that looks nothing like mine. What's the make/model of the water heater?
It looks like you could disconnect the inlet and outlet at the water heater itself then drain the heater and that part would be done. After that cap the ends of those hoses that were attached to the heater and run in the anti-freeze (or blow out the lines, I do anti-freeze). I have a 2013 13qbb and mine is also totally not like yours.
http://www.amazon.com/Camco-35983-Quick-Permanent--Pass/dp/B0006JJ57Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412122027&sr=8-1&keywords=rv+hot+water+heater+bypass+kit
A bypass kit is pretty affordable if you aren't afraid of a small plumbing project
[quote timestamp="1412109639" author="@tinkeringtechie" source="/post/3972/thread"][quote timestamp="1412109503" source="/post/3971/thread" author="@dave"]Here it is.
[/quote]Wow, that looks nothing like mine. What's the make/model of the water heater?[/quote]I'm thinking that's an Atwood ELECTRIC (only) marine grade hot water heater? Like this one? Did you order it like that?
http://www.amazon.com/EHM6-WATER-HEATER-Gallon-exchanger/dp/B002A1N83I/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1412122636&sr=8-19&keywords=rv++4+gallon+hot+water+heater
[quote source="/post/3976/thread" timestamp="1412122115" author="@tlbones"]http://www.amazon.com/Camco-35983-Quick-Permanent--Pass/dp/B0006JJ57Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412122027&sr=8-1&keywords=rv+hot+water+heater+bypass+kit
A bypass kit is pretty affordable if you aren't afraid of a small plumbing project[/quote][p]TANSTAASPP[/p][p]
[/p][p]*There ain't no such thing as a small plumbing project.[/p][p]
[/p]
[quote source="/post/3987/thread" timestamp="1412134935" author="@pinstriper"][quote source="/post/3976/thread" timestamp="1412122115" author="@tlbones"]http://www.amazon.com/Camco-35983-Quick-Permanent--Pass/dp/B0006JJ57Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412122027&sr=8-1&keywords=rv+hot+water+heater+bypass+kit
A bypass kit is pretty affordable if you aren't afraid of a small plumbing project[/quote][p]TANSTAASPP[/p][p]
[/p][p]*There ain't no such thing as a small plumbing project.[/p][p]
[/p][/quote]True enough!
Yea. It's the EMH4 Atwood, electric only. It is a 4 gallon heater.
I'm thinking about filling the whole system, heater included, and then, recovering and re-using it next season. It is not like automotive antifreeze, that is spent after protecting the car for two years. This stuff just sits there and...doesn't freeze. Thoughts?
[quote source="/post/3969/thread" timestamp="1412105241" author="@david"]It is not necessary to pump antifreeze through the fresh water system to winterize. It is much easier to drain. The LL manual gives directions to do this as I recall. Here is my procedure:
Open the drain valve on the bottom of the fresh water tank outside and let it drain out. Then open the drain valve for the hot water heater located inside the hatch outside where you fill with fresh water. After they have drained, temporarily remove the discharge fitting from the fresh water pump. This has a wing nut type fitting and easily comes off. Put a short piece of vinyl hose on the faucet fixture and blow back to clear any low spots. Do this for all fixtures. Run the pump for a few seconds to blow out any internal water. Then reconnect the hose. Also unscrew the clear bowl on the suction filter and dump the water in there.
Put a cupful of RV/boat antifreeze in each drain: sink, shower, toilet etc. to flush out the trap. You are now good to -xyz temps.
David[/quote]David, I may use your method pretty soon, prior to an extended trip to the Keys in mid- November. We plan on leaving it down there and returning home to celebrate Christmas. Then, back to FL for a few weeks in the camper. After that, mid-January, will have to give it my final winterizing.
Your point regarding the clear bowl on the pump filter is key. Seems like that would be n easy one to miss.
Dave:
Think hard about filling your water heater with antifreeze. It can be a bear to flush out the AF taste. If you do, fill it with fresh water and dump 3-4 times.
David
David,
How many years have you been using your method?
Less than one year.
David
[font size="3"]Good thought on emptying the pump filter bowl. While you're at it remember the toilet flush valve. I'm not sure which toilet is in the smaller CLs, but my 21 has a foot flush peddle with the flush valve at the base and a short hose up to the rim. The plastic flush valve is NOT freeze resistant. They are also easily available and easily replaced, but not cheap. There are even instructions in the manual on replacing the valve when it freezes. I wonder why!!! Be sure to actuate the flush valve after all water supplies are disconnected and/or disconnect the hose and drain the valve as described in the manual. I can tell you from experience: they freeze and break! $$ :'($$
[/font]
Our toilet is a Thetford Electra Magic. It is a recirculating marine type toilet. As such it has its own electric pump. It must be filled with antifreeze once it is emtied into the black tank, at the end of the season.
Worked on winterizing the camper today. Besides the problem that I knew of (no bipass on the water heater), I realized that Livin Lite had left me no means of draining the heater. The drain was left to simply spill out on the floor under the sofa. I had to cut a washing machine hose, attach it and drain it through the hole in the floor that accomodates the other hoses.
i must have the first trailer that they ever put a water heater in. It may be a collector's item. ;)
You do seem to have a bit of an odd duck. Maybe it was the first camper they ever built.
I was wondering if anyone has a cover for their trailer that has worked out well? We are buying a 16 TBS, live in a very sunny climate and so mostly want to keep the sun off the trailer. We have looked at national discount covers and rv covers direct - prices all seem reasonable but as far as a fit to the 7' wide trailer and radius front, the fit seems pretty hit or miss. Thanks for any suggestions - hopefully just a week away from picking it up!
While winterizing/sanitizing the water system, I couldn't figure out why the freshwater tank didn't seem to be draining completely. Then I discovered the tank drain valve well hidden behind the red/blue plumbing drain valves. Oh well. The bad part is that my wife was the one who had me look more carefully and I hate it when she's right. :)
All of us guys have that problem ;-). Learn to live with it!!!
David
I have a gold line cover I like very much. It is not water repellant, butch sheds most of the water.it dries very quickly, and has tons of full side zippers that allow me to open them easily to insure that everything inside and out dries very quickly.
I also built a lightweight PVC contraption with empty milk crates and kids polystyrene noodles (for swimming) that goes on the roof. Only the noodles and milk crates touch the roof, and this roof "truss" system keeps the cover off the roof, and allows for airflow under the cover.
It is a pricey gold line cover, $500 for one that fits a 14db, but it would should fit a 16' too. Amazon.
Good luck
[quote source="/post/4742/thread" author="@ron" timestamp="1415020429"]
It is a pricey gold line cover, $500 for one that fits a 14db, but it would should fit a 16' too. Amazon.
[/quote]Link?
All in all, I've found tucking the camper in for the winter a fun project. Attempting to outsmart -20 degrees F in the water system, protecting the tires to live to fight another day, and installing screens to keep out the smaller mammals that would love a cozy spot out of the weather as much as I do has been interesting and new as a first-timer. I've kept careful records as part of the whole process of making this addition to our driveway our own.