Newbie here, questions about dewinterizing and sanitizing for the first time.

[{tpc}]

I assume the black cap has to be reinstalled and that is the low point drain for the fresh water tank. Do you just put it back on, or use thread tape on it? What are the red and blue capped lines for?

The red and blue lines that stick out from the coroplast are the low point drains (red=hot, blue=cold). The 3rd one is most likely the drain for the FW tank. No need to use thread tape.

Thats about as far as I got. I was thinking it would be ok to fill the fresh water tank from the hose from our house, for the flushing purposes, and for the sanitizing purposes (and frankly just to make sure everything is in good working order), and then running it through and dumping it right on the driveway. Since its brand new, would that be ok?

I'd run city water through the lines flushing them out, leaving the low point drains open while you do this. Don't forget to open the HW tank bypass to allow water to run into your HW tank. You can leave this drain open while you are flushing the lines. Water will pour out of the HW tank while you do this but that is ok. After the lines have been flushed, you can fill the FW tank with water and add 1/2 cup of bleach and let it sit in the tank overnight. Don't forget to close off the low point drains, FW tank drain and the HW tank bypass when you do this. In the morning, open the low point drains and the FW tank drain and let the water/bleach mix drain out. You should refill the tank and flush it out again. This flushing should be repeated until the bleach taste disappears.

Open the HW tank bypass to allow clean, fresh water into the tank. DO NOT turn on the electricity or use propane to heat the tank until it has water in it! You will burn out the heating element or the tank lining if there is no water in the tank.

I have a feeling that they already ran water through the lines and checked everything out prior to us picking it up, because of the low point drain being open. I know when I pull the black and gray tank levers, nothing comes out of either, so I am assuming they are empty as well.

I wouldn't assume anything.

So basically, I want to fill it up and flush it, then fill it up and sanitize it, make sure everything is working correctly (both sinks, shower, outside shower, and toilet), and just let everything run down to the street, since a clearout for the house isn't nearby (I would only being running water in the toilet lol and its never been used). I'm just unsure if thats ok to do, or what steps one really goes through when doing so.

[{tpc}]

Ok Im going to try again. Maybe this time it will be easier.


Step one: Remove caps from red, blue, and FW tank lines, open HW bypass valve, connect to city water and run until lines run clear.

Step two: Replace all 3 caps, close HW tank bypass.

Step three: Fill fresh water tank full of water with a half cup of bleach. Let sit overnight.

Step four: Open all 3 caps again, let water drain out. Close caps, fill with water, let it out again. Close caps, fill with water and taste from kitchen sink? to see if bleach taste is gone.

Step five: Open HW bypass to allow fresh water into tank. Then I can turn on the HW heater.

Does that about cover it? I still am unsure about what you mean for the HW tank bypass, about the water pouring out of it when flushing the lines. Pour out of where and into what?

[PARAPTOR]

Think he means that since it was winterized the HW drain plug has been removed, therefore when HW bypass is open while you are flushing the lines water is also going into the HW tank flushing out any sediments out the drain plug area. Obviously when you want to fill the HW tank this drain plug has to be installed first.

[Festus2]

Originally Posted by {tpc}

Ok Im going to try again. Maybe this time it will be easier.


Step one: Remove caps from red, blue, and FW tank lines, open HW bypass valve, connect to city water and run until lines run clear.

Step two: Replace all 3 caps, close HW tank bypass.

Step three: Fill fresh water tank full of water with a half cup of bleach. Let sit overnight.

Step four: Open all 3 caps again, let water drain out. Close caps, fill with water, let it out again. Close caps, fill with water and taste from kitchen sink? to see if bleach taste is gone.

Step five: Open HW bypass to allow fresh water into tank. Then I can turn on the HW heater.

Does that about cover it? I still am unsure about what you mean for the HW tank bypass, about the water pouring out of it when flushing the lines. Pour out of where and into what?

Others may do it differently but when flushing out my lines of RV antifreeze, I don't want any of this going into the HW tank so I close the bypass valve which prevents flow into the tank.

When everything has been flushed out and I am ready to run fresh, clean water into the lines, I open the bypass valve which allows water to flow into the HW tank.

Keep in mind that the drain plug/anode has to be inserted when you are ready to fill the HW tank with water. If you want to flush out the HW tank of any sediment that may have accumulated in it, that can be done before you are ready to fill the tank with water. It is during this flushing that water coming into the tank will pour out of the tank since the drain plug has not yet been inserted. The water just flows out onto the ground or into a bucket if you want to catch it.

If you have, for some reason, hooked up to shore power and the switch controlling the electrical side of your HW heater is ON and your tank has no water in it, your HW element is toast. It only takes a second or two for the element to go once 110v hits it with no water in the tank.

Not sure about your unit but on mine I can only control the AC operation of the HW from an outside switch which is found on the bottom left hand corner of the HW tank. You have to lower the outside cover and look at the HW tank from the outside to access this small, black rocker switch. I have no interior control for AC - only gas.

You can always tell if your HW tank element is burned out by turning on the AC 110v supply to the tank and if it doesn't heat, then the element is probably gone.

[AlbertaRvMan]

Hello,

After flushing the lines of antifreeze, when we mix the water / bleach solution for sanitizing and run it through all lines and let it sit for 4-6 hours, should I put this mixture into the hot water tank?

I know that you should avoid putting antifreeze in the HW tank, but I'm not sure about the water / bleach mix.

Also, should I run the farthest tap first, or closest to water pump? (To get air out of lines)

Thanks.

[Festus2]

The sanitizing is for the FW tank only not the entire system. If you have a potable FW tank refill on the outside of your unit, fill the FW tank with water and add bleach to the mix. Make sure than the FW drain is closed. All of this mix goes into the FW tank. Let this sit overnight or for a few hours.
Next, open the drain for the FW tank and let all the water (which has bleach in it) drain out onto the ground.
When the tank is empty, you need to flush it out again. Close the drain valve, refill the tank with fresh, clean water and let it sit for a while. Drain the tank and refill.

Up to now, there has been no water or bleach/water mix going into the HW tank. The loop is: water being put into the FW tank, water out, water back in.
Turn on the pump and then turn on the tap at the sink and taste the water. If it tastes or smells "bleachy", repeat the flushing process until the taste is gone.

Yes, start with the faucet closest to the pump.

Use the city water hookup to run water into the HW heater. Before doing this, make sure that the HW bypass valve is open allowing water to enter the tank and that the HW tank drain/anode has been screwed in.

[AlbertaRvMan]

Thanks Festus2. Now a follow up question, sorry if it's silly, when you refer to the fresh water drain, is this also known as the low point drain (with cap) that hangs below the fresh water tank?

[Festus2]

There are 3 drains on most RV's. Two are referred to as "low point" drains and they involve the cold and hot water lines than run throughout the RV. These usually have some form of cap at the end. The other is the drain for the FW tank which may be a spigot/drain cock type. Yours may have a drain with a cap on the end.

If there is a drain located directly underneath the FW tank, it will be for that purpose only - just to drain water from the tank - not any other water lines in the RV.

Note: the HW tank also has a "drain plug" that may serve as an anode and a plug. If you have a Suburban HW tank, you will have an anode/plug combination. Atwood HW tanks do not have an anode --- just a nylon plug.

[{tpc}]

Thank you for the information. I found the HW plug this morning, so now I understand whats going on with that (still have to look for the bypass). I also took a couple of pics of the low point drains.

The single blue is up in front of the axle under the bedroom, the blue and red are in the back of the trailer under the shower area I think.

Am I right in thinking the single blue one is for the FW tank? Are both blue ones connected?

[Festus2]

The FW drain is almost always directly under the FW tank which, in turn, is usually located close to the water pump. I'm not familiar with where the tank is in your unit but it should be directly above the single, blue drain. If you put some water in your FW tank and open this single, blue drain and water comes out that should show you where the FW tank is.

The blue one that is beside the red one is the cold water low point drain and is not connected to the other single blue one.

The HW tank bypass can be found on the inside of your unit. It is located directly behind the HW tank and has a "handle" that turns 90 degrees. You may have to remove a panel or drawer to gain access to it.

[{tpc}]

Thanks festus, I appreciate the help.

I do have another newb question, but it may be a moot point, as I am running out of time to get the water running...so to speak lol.

Anyways, is there any problem with flushing and draining if the trailer isn't level? Because of the angle of our driveway, it's pretty tilted. Luckily, the lowest side is the side the low point drains are on, but unluckily the fw tank drain is on the opposite side.

[Festus2]

You should be ok - even with the HW tank drain. Because this drain plug sits slightly above the tank bottom, there will always be some water that can't drain out.

[{tpc}]

Originally Posted by Festus2

Others may do it differently but when flushing out my lines of RV antifreeze, I don't want any of this going into the HW tank so I close the bypass valve which prevents flow into the tank.

When everything has been flushed out and I am ready to run fresh, clean water into the lines, I open the bypass valve which allows water to flow into the HW tank.

Keep in mind that the drain plug/anode has to be inserted when you are ready to fill the HW tank with water. If you want to flush out the HW tank of any sediment that may have accumulated in it, that can be done before you are ready to fill the tank with water. It is during this flushing that water coming into the tank will pour out of the tank since the drain plug has not yet been inserted. The water just flows out onto the ground or into a bucket if you want to catch it.

If you have, for some reason, hooked up to shore power and the switch controlling the electrical side of your HW heater is ON and your tank has no water in it, your HW element is toast. It only takes a second or two for the element to go once 110v hits it with no water in the tank.

Not sure about your unit but on mine I can only control the AC operation of the HW from an outside switch which is found on the bottom left hand corner of the HW tank. You have to lower the outside cover and look at the HW tank from the outside to access this small, black rocker switch. I have no interior control for AC - only gas.

You can always tell if your HW tank element is burned out by turning on the AC 110v supply to the tank and if it doesn't heat, then the element is probably gone.

I quoted this post because it seemed to go along with it....so the question is, what if you don't have a hot water bypass? I guess it doesn't matter at that point because the RV antifreeze must of went in there?

The reason I ask is because the keystone manual says hot water bypass -- if equipped.

I also do not have a rocker switch for ac on the outside, I looked this morning. Of course if I did do something to cause it to fail, I can always run it off propane until I fix it, but still sucks lol.

[Festus2]

Originally Posted by {tpc}

I quoted this post because it seemed to go along with it....so the question is, what if you don't have a hot water bypass? I guess it doesn't matter at that point because the RV antifreeze must of went in there?

The reason I ask is because the keystone manual says hot water bypass -- if equipped.
.

I'm not aware of any models that do not have some form of HW tank bypass. When your winterize your RV and fill the lines with antifreeze, you do not want to fill up your HW tank with that solution. The tank is best left empty - with no water in it at all - then it cannot freeze.

The purpose of the bypass is to allow you to "bypass" or go around the HW tank and not fill it. This is accomplished by turning the bypass lever to the winterizing position and this will stop any water or RV antifreeze from entering the tank. You don't want 6 or 10 gallons of RV antifreeze in your HW tank - it is a waste and unnecessary if the tank is drained.

I can imagine not having a bypass of some kind to allow the winterization process to take place.

Did you get a chance to locate this bypass? Or do you know where to look for it?

[{tpc}]

Originally Posted by Festus2

I'm not aware of any models that do not have some form of HW tank bypass. When your winterize your RV and fill the lines with antifreeze, you do not want to fill up your HW tank with that solution. The tank is best left empty - with no water in it at all - then it cannot freeze.

The purpose of the bypass is to allow you to "bypass" or go around the HW tank and not fill it. This is accomplished by turning the bypass lever to the winterizing position and this will stop any water or RV antifreeze from entering the tank. You don't want 6 or 10 gallons of RV antifreeze in your HW tank - it is a waste and unnecessary if the tank is drained.

I can imagine not having a bypass of some kind to allow the winterization process to take place.

Did you get a chance to locate this bypass? Or do you know where to look for it?

I'm going to take a look tonight. The hot water tank is located under the bottom bunk, oddly (maybe poorly) situation near the main breaker panel. They never screwed that panel back down, so I assume its under there. When I looked this morning on the outside I didn't see any bypass valve, so it must be inside.

[{tpc}]

Ok so last night I worked on this a bit and again this morning. Somewhere in the process, I managed to fill the HW tank. I don't know if it was using city water or the bleach water, or some combination of the two. I have since drained and refilled and drained again, and I plan on doing this process once more this afternoon.

But I really need to figure out how this hot water tank thing works. I took some pictures of the bypass valve. I am thinking in its "up" position, which is not what the pictures show, that this would be the "winterized" position, and in its down position, which is how you see it here, thats the "normal" position for use.

Would it be ok to fill the fresh water tank again, but run the pump with the HW drain open? I just want to verify the positions. I assume if I can pressurize the system with the pump and the valve in the "winterized" position, that no water will flow into the HW tank, and then as soon as I open the valve water should rush in there?

[BirchyBoy]

My 238ML has the tank in the back corner under a bunk as well. On mine, the cold water comes in from the bathroom using blue pipe, nearest the floor. There is a "T" with a handle on the inside, towards the tank. I can rotate the handle and have the water go up another blue pipe (bypassing the tank) or into the tank via a red pipe. On mine, the alignment of the handle indicates which path the water will take. That handle (valve) is the bypass.

[BirchyBoy]

TPC - where does the elbow go that is on the right side of the valve, near the floor?

[{tpc}]

Originally Posted by BirchyBoy

TPC - where does the elbow go that is on the right side of the valve, near the floor?

It goes into the bottom of the HW tank.

The second photo shows it better -- blue line on floor going to valve, just after valve, blue line goes up to red line, on the top as well as the bottom, on the right side of that vertical blue line, the lines both connect into the HW tank, red on top and blue on bottom.

[Javi]

While you're in there futzing with the hot water heater it might be a good time to make this mod and save yourself that COLD blast during showers..

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/sho...+heater+bypass


You don't have to use the brass valves and sharkbite fittings the regular PEX fittings work just fine.. the sharkbite are just better.