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Old 11-28-2017, 07:43 PM   #1
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Will it hurt to fill the water heater with pink stuff? Stupid check valves...

I have a 2004 winnebago adventurer 38R. Atwood GCH10A-4E.
We are done for the year and time to winterize. No biggie drain all the things and put in pink stuff. Can it ever be that easy? lol

So I drained the water heater first. Started with the bypass in the wrong spot, turned it to the bypass position and it stopped draining finally. Then I drained the fresh water tank and when that was done drained the water lines by opening the low point drain. Then I pushed in the anti siphon on the city water hook up and drained that.

Buttoned everything up with the exception of leaving the fresh water tank drain open and the water heater plug out.

I made sure the water heater bypass valve was for sure in bypass and started sucking water into the system and next thing I know its coming back out the water heater drain.

Am I doing something wrong or did the check valve take a crap. Is there any other valve besides the heater bypass valve that could cause it to fill the water heater?

So my million dollar question is... for now can I just fill the heater with antifreeze and deal with it when I have more time? I know it will add a $20 bill to the cost of doing this. I won't be in town to keep an eye on leaving something in the belly to keep it warm.

Will it hurt the heater? Obviously it will need to be drained and rinsed before use. I just want to be done for now.
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Old 11-28-2017, 08:53 PM   #2
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Old 11-28-2017, 09:07 PM   #3
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Not only will it take an add'l 10 gallons the anti-freeze is tougher to flush out come spring

Short on time......pump the anti-freeze with water heater drain plug removed.
Check valve in hot outlet OR cold inlet (Winnebago likes using one in each....) probably only allowing limited backflow so shouldn't need to fill water heater, just continue winterizing rest of plumbing system and let it drip out of water heater drain.
Then when done flush/rinse water heater tank vs just letting the anti-freeze sit in tank all winter

Next project....
Remove/gut internals of check valve(s) and install shut off valves so you have 3 valves for water heater
Cold Inlet
Hot outlet
And a Bypass
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Old 11-28-2017, 09:20 PM   #4
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Makes sense cause it wasn’t coming out full force. Good game plan. I posted a pic that I had a closer look at. Is it possible it’s the bypass too? There was pink on both sides.

Also, does the WH need to be removed? It was of course dark early and didn’t get a good look.
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Old 11-29-2017, 05:18 AM   #5
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I did this one year and it tool for ever to get the smell and taste out of the hot water. We do not drink the water but while showering and smelling the anti freeze is not something I would not like to do again. You can drain it out but it will take a while to get it out of your water heater tank.
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Old 11-29-2017, 05:36 AM   #6
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I maybe wrong, often am, but looks to me that bypass valve in the picture is in Normal Operation. Handle should be turned vertical for bypass.
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Old 11-29-2017, 05:42 AM   #7
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...that would take a lot of pink stuff.....
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Old 11-29-2017, 06:09 AM   #8
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Don't feel bad, I screwed up one year and put it in my water tank. I would drain it and flush the tank with the hose flusher. Then I would do the cleaning procedure with vinegar. The RVGeeks have a video on this.
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Old 11-29-2017, 06:16 AM   #9
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It's the check valve at the hot water outlet from the tank - part of the RV bypass plumbing, not the tank itself.

No, it won't hurt the tank at all. You can drink the stuff, so no worries about corrosion! Just more cost upfront and a bit more work to flush out in the spring.
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Old 11-29-2017, 06:45 AM   #10
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Won't hurt the water heater , but it takes forever to flush it out . The water heater holds about a gallon that can't be drained out.
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Old 11-29-2017, 06:52 AM   #11
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I've read a lot of threads that the check valve fails and can also restrict hot water flow..

On our "New-to-Us" Southwind, Ours was OK this year when I winterized and didn't seem to restrict flow when we used the showed this summer. However, I'm going to replace the back-flow with a regular ball valve that can be opened / closed..
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Old 11-29-2017, 09:32 AM   #12
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I’m not totally sure where the lever is supposed to be. I don’t really want to take it out of the system now because I do have some antifreeze in the lines. As you can see from the manual and labels it’s pretty confusing.

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Old 11-29-2017, 09:33 AM   #13
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Looks like I need to crank it to the upper left?
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Old 11-29-2017, 10:28 AM   #14
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From the pictures in manual it appears that is a 3-way valve......
*Turn valve handle to RIGHT for NORMAL (water goes to water heater cold inlet)
*Turn valve handle to LEFT for BYPASS (water flows to Hot outlet line bypassing water heater)
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