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Old 11-03-2019, 12:14 PM   #1
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Winterize hot water lines

Am i suppose to get antifreeze through hot water lines? Have winterize switch on and getting antifreeze through cold water lines but with water heater by passed i get nothing on hot water side. The bypass valve had been changed from the electric one to a manual one.
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Old 11-03-2019, 02:29 PM   #2
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I assume based on your public profile you have a Journey, you might get more help if you add to the thread with exact model and year. You can set up an auto signature that will add this to all your future posts.

My Vista just had manual winterizing valves but when you operate them it cross connects the cold to hot line and isolates the hot water heater tank so you can draw RV antifreeze into hot water lines, too. In my experience it's impossible to winterize with only 1 gallon jug, I barely get it done with 2 jugs on my 29.5' long Vista.
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Old 11-03-2019, 02:41 PM   #3
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Yes i do have a 2003 journey, my past 5th and motorhome i was able to pull antifreeze after turning the bypass valve.
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Old 11-05-2019, 08:10 AM   #4
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You should absolutly be getting anti-freeze showing in every hot water outlet. All the bypass does is direct cold water (in this case anti-freeze) which would be destined for the HW tank, to the hot water lines after the tank. Are you getting anything from a hot water source? air? water?
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Old 11-05-2019, 08:22 AM   #5
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Nothing, even the manual does not say anything about running antifreeze through the hot water lines. It says open cold water at each faucet
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Old 11-05-2019, 11:07 AM   #6
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As steved28 states, opening the HWH bypass valve will cross connect the hot water lines to the cold water lines and completely bypass the HWH. If you're not getting anything out the lines, then my guess would be that you don't have enough antifreeze in the lines. Another option might be the bypass valve is not properly positioned and the antifreeze is going into the HWH. You could verify that is not happening by opening the HWH drain plug.

As far as the manual not saying anything about running antifreeze through the hot water lines, it doesn't matter...you need to get the water in the lines replaced with antifreeze or completely removed by other methods such as blowing air through the lines. Any remaining water will freeze if the temperature gets down low enough as the freezing point of water doesn't care if it is in a hot water line, cold water line or simply out on the ground.

I would double check the position of the bypass valve, verify no antifreeze is in the HWH and then try pumping more antifreeze into the lines with only one hot water point (ie kitchen sink) open at a time.

Good luck and let us know what you find out!

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Old 11-05-2019, 11:26 AM   #7
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Also - make sure you don't have your city water selector valve set to the "fill" position in the fill position your cold water lines in the RV are connected to the fresh water tank fill port and most (but not all) of the liquid your water pump is pumping ends up in the fresh water tank.
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Old 11-05-2019, 01:05 PM   #8
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I completely understand what should be happening, the last 2 units I have owned had the 3 valves on the back of the water heater and I was able to get antifreeze to every line. This is the first year with the Journey. It came with an electronic bypass that was controlled by a switch in the toilet area next to the winterize switch. The electronic valve has been replaced with a manual bypass valve. I can push water to the hwh in normal but when i bypass it nothing comes out anywhere. didnt know if there was a reason for this or not. Ill have to dig into the valve and see if maybe some genius hooked it up wrong. will post my findings.
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Old 11-05-2019, 02:32 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by csmart94 View Post
I completely understand what should be happening, the last 2 units I have owned had the 3 valves on the back of the water heater and I was able to get antifreeze to every line. This is the first year with the Journey. It came with an electronic bypass that was controlled by a switch in the toilet area next to the winterize switch. The electronic valve has been replaced with a manual bypass valve. I can push water to the hwh in normal but when i bypass it nothing comes out anywhere. didnt know if there was a reason for this or not. Ill have to dig into the valve and see if maybe some genius hooked it up wrong. will post my findings.
The more I think about it, the more I think the bypass valve may be the issue with what you describe. Often times the previous owner's genius gets in the way of something working the way it is designed/supposed to! Often times not when you actually had a genius but I have seen more mods in various rigs that leaves me scratching my head. I'm curious to see what you find!

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Old 11-10-2019, 08:31 PM   #10
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Or, you could empty the hot water tank (re-install the plug after it is empty), remove the filter and blow out both the hot and cold water with air. 40 - 50 lbs is all that is needed, and you don't get the fizzies and bad taste that the antifreeze leaves. I did the antifreeze the firest year I had my 2011 Journey 40U and the have used the blow out method the past 5 years. No issues, and no regrets.
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Old 11-11-2019, 05:01 AM   #11
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Thats what i did. Still need to figure out the bypass valve. I dont really like the anti freeze in the lines. We never used it on our fithwheel.
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Old 11-11-2019, 08:33 AM   #12
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Sounds to me that the bypass valve is in backwards, opening the HWH side NOT the intake side
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Old 11-11-2019, 11:24 AM   #13
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Sounds to me that the bypass valve is in backwards, opening the HWH side NOT the intake side
My thought exactly
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