New travel trailer owner, bypass question

[Higg412]

I have a 2024 Springdale 2010BH and curious as to where the bypass is if I need to add antifreeze to my lines. I’ve seen simply blowing them out and adding RV antifreeze to traps in toilet, kitchen and bath sink and shower is sufficient. So any advice would be appreciated

[NH_Bulldog]

On that unit, you will need to access the onboard pump and install a winterizing kit. It is basically a "tee" with a valve and a length of hose installed on the suction side of the pump. The hose end is put into a jug of antifreeze and you turn the valve and turn on the pump which will suck antifreeze throughout the plumbing when a fixture is opened. Turn the valve back and the pump will draw from the fresh water tank like normal.

Depending on where you are located, your current method may be appropriate as-is. Where I live, I can't rely on just air to blow out the lines, I absolutely must add antifreeze due to my climate.

[dutchmensport]

Depending on your system, your water heater by-pass is probably located very near the water heater, usually on the back side (inside of the camper). You may have to remove a panel from a cabinet to access it, or it might be under a bench.

There are 3 types of by-pass models. Single valve, Double valve, Triple valve.

The water line coming into and out of the water heater forms an H look. One side will have blue or white water lines (this is the cold "in") side. The other will have red lines (this is the hot side "out" water flow). The middle (or cross over line) is the by-pass line (usually blue or white depending on the age of your camper)

A system that has only 1 valve used "check valves" on the other two lines to prevent back-flow of water.

A system with 2 valves diverts the water from one water line to the other and the other valve shuts off the back-flow into the water heater.

A system with 3 valves is simply 3 valves that are either on-or-off (open or closed). On a 3 valve system, the "in" is closed forcing the water to bypass. The by-pass line is now opened, allowing cold water to flow directly back into the hot water line. The 3rd valve prevents the cold water from flowing backward (on the hot side) into the water heater.

Here is what the 3 types look like:

1 valve system:




2 valve system:



3 valve system:



And 4th, if you have a "convenience center" on your camper, then all you need to do is flip a single valve in the "wet bay" area to put the water heater in bypass. This should labeled clearly if you have this.

Now, the water pump is a different animal completely. If you do not have a winterizing port in a convenience center, then you'll need to pump-the-pink RV antifreeze directly from your water pump. It is very easy to install a T valve which will divert the "in" water from either your fresh water tank OR from another attached hose from the RV antifreeze container.

You can also disconnect the "in" line to your water pump and hook-up a new "in" line (hose) to pump-the-pink from the RV antifreeze container if you don't want to hook-up an actual flip valve. You do it like this:

[NH_Bulldog]

The OP has a Girard tankless water heater with no bypass, no way to bypass it, and no need to bypass it. Also, he has no convenience center, just an outside hose connection port and water fill port. But the rest of your info on the pump is spot-on accurate and exactly what I was referring to that I had on my Passport!

[fourwalshes]

Exactly what I do!

[Higg412]

Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog

The OP has a Girard tankless water heater with no bypass, no way to bypass it, and no need to bypass it. Also, he has no convenience center, just an outside hose connection port and water fill port. But the rest of your info on the pump is spot-on accurate and exactly what I was referring to that I had on my Passport!

Thank you all for the responses