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Old 10-19-2019, 02:06 PM   #1
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work around needed for water heater check valve

When trying to winterize my 2004 Adventurer, the antifreeze ends up in the water heater. Replaced the bypass valve did not solve the problem. I think the problem is the check valve in the hot water heater.
Is there a place in the hot water line that is accessible where I can install a shut off valve just for winterizing?
Thanks for any help
Creede
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Old 10-20-2019, 08:45 AM   #2
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Thanks to those who read my post. I am now pretty sure, there is no work around for the check valve problem. The only solution is to pull the heater and replace the valve. Bummer!!


Thanks again.
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Old 11-03-2019, 05:46 PM   #3
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Water heater

No Need to pull heater. Just access the back of it. There should be two
check valves. The top one is the one to replace.
Those valves don't last. I have to replace mine most every year when winterizing.
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Old 11-03-2019, 05:47 PM   #4
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I believe you could replace the check valve with a shutoff valve - making it like almost all other manufacturers method.
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Old 11-03-2019, 06:20 PM   #5
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Thanks for the reply.
I don't think I am agile enough to change the valve without pulling the heater. I replaced the motoraid blower this Fall and had the heater out but did not know the valve had failed.
I thought about a shut off valve but it would almost require pulling the heater. I don't think I can put one in without opening it up. Might be able to pull the plywood and get at it but still pretty tight quarters.

antifeeeze is $2.50 a gallon at Walmart,I can just fill the heater and then save 10 gallons for next year.
Thanks for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it and when it warms up, I might try to do something.


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Old 11-03-2019, 08:09 PM   #6
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I live in Denver, Creede….. so I know (what with our 7 degree nights a short while ago) you have finished your winterizing job in Boulder for this year. I just thought others might benefit from my 'sperience re a leaky upper check valve and its effect on my winterization (mine's a Class C but then, water is water.)

Perhaps some CV's develop catastrophic backflow leaks from failure of the poppet, but I suspect most do not………..at least mine has been a bit of a leaker for 2 years now. SOooo, I do the usual stuff re opening the FW tank drain, closing the WH bypass valve and all; and then after I open the low point drains and the faucet valves, etc, I rock n roll around the storage lot for about 20 minutes to try to get the lines as free of water as possible.

When I do eventually pump in the "pink stuff" via the on-board pump, I do the cold side first and then with the water heater drain plug still removed (to keep the delta P across that CV as high as possible) I open the hot side of the sinks/shower(s) one at a time ….. just until I see pink. I end up with about a teacup of anti freeze dribbling out of the WH drain plug opening. So, not much is wasted.

It would be interesting to know more about the failure mode for these CV's. Maybe mine is about ready to fail completely and back-flow in the "wide open" mode. If so, I will dump a LOT more of the pink stuff out on the ground next year. If that happens, I will certainly have to pull the WH to replace the CV on mine. If so, I may try to sneak in 2 in series …… space permitting; that would slow the faucet flow rate a bit with 2 CV's, but I doubt it would be a big deal.

Good luck with the Check Valve change out in the future….. and safe travels.
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Old 11-04-2019, 06:01 AM   #7
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I took both my check valves off and tickled them and put them back on, worked fine after that.
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