Winterizing issue using compressed air

[sbenhoff]

Though we've owned our 2015 38RL for three years, this will be the first winter I've had to winterize, as we no longer live in it full-time.

I'm having an issue while trying to winterize using my air compressor. After emptying the water heater and turning it to "bypass", I'm unable to get pressure to build up on the cold water side. The hot water side works as expected. I've tried closing all the valves, including the low point drains, and I've closed out the valve to the water pump.

The one thing I've not done yet is to put in my new anode and heating element, as I am waiting to be able to get the water heater rinsed out of any remaining sediment in the bottom. Even though the water heater is in "bypass", could the fact that these two items not being reinstalled yet, be my issue?

I've added a picture of the valve I closed on the water pump to make sure that wasn't my problem.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. This is driving me nuts....

[XCMARK]

Originally Posted by sbenhoff

Though we've owned our 2015 38RL for three years, this will be the first winter I've had to winterize, as we no longer live in it full-time.

I'm having an issue while trying to winterize using my air compressor. After emptying the water heater and turning it to "bypass", I'm unable to get pressure to build up on the cold water side. The hot water side works as expected. I've tried closing all the valves, including the low point drains, and I've closed out the valve to the water pump.

The one thing I've not done yet is to put in my new anode and heating element, as I am waiting to be able to get the water heater rinsed out of any remaining sediment in the bottom. Even though the water heater is in "bypass", could the fact that these two items not being reinstalled yet, be my issue?




Any suggestions would be much appreciated. This is driving me nuts....

do you have a ice maker? you may need to close that valve under the sink to get pressure in the system. You could put the plug back in the water heater and turn the bypass back off . . just make sure your not putting over 50 psi into the water system with compressed air. I blow mine out and have never had to close the pump valves, are you getting air past the water pump? there is check valves in the pump so it doesn't feed water into the tank when your connected to city water.

[sbenhoff]

Mark.....I do have an ice maker and will need to check to make sure it is closed. I honestly don't remember if I turned that off or not. I agree that I might have to go ahead and put the new elements back in just to plug up all the holes. It'll definitely be worth trying at this point.

[sbenhoff]

Just so everyone else can learn from my stupid mistake.....when you winterize and put your water heater in "bypass mode", be sure to put it back to normal when you are ready to blow out your system with compressed air.

Not only did I still have it on "bypass mode", I also still had the heating element and anode rod out of the water heater. I discovered this all was not good when I attempted to hook up to city water and couldn't get any cold water. The hot water side ran fine, but nothing on the cold water.

After consulting a friend, he told me to put the new heating element and new anode rod in and put the water heater back to "normal" mode. Voila!!!! I was now able to completely blow out both the hot and cold side lines and finished my winterizing.

And thanks to Mark, I also closed my water line to my ice maker, which was also keeping me from blowing out the system.

Lesson learned.......

[shrode]

Originally Posted by sbenhoff

Just so everyone else can learn from my stupid mistake.....when you winterize and put your water heater in "bypass mode", be sure to put it back to normal when you are ready to blow out your system with compressed air.

Not only did I still have it on "bypass mode", I also still had the heating element and anode rod out of the water heater. I discovered this all was not good when I attempted to hook up to city water and couldn't get any cold water. The hot water side ran fine, but nothing on the cold water.

After consulting a friend, he told me to put the new heating element and new anode rod in and put the water heater back to "normal" mode. Voila!!!! I was now able to completely blow out both the hot and cold side lines and finished my winterizing.

And thanks to Mark, I also closed my water line to my ice maker, which was also keeping me from blowing out the system.

Lesson learned.......

I guess my 2017 31SL is plumbed differently. I bypass the water heater, pull the anode to drain it, and then blow out all the hot and cold water lines without any problems. I blow the refrigerator line using the water dispenser. Go figure...

[atom ant]

How come you were putting in a new heating element?

[LoSt]

Do you have the water filter removed? If they canister is slightly crossthreaded you'll leak air around the water filter canister. Since mine is behind the wall over the water pump, I never would hear the air leak.

[sbenhoff]

Originally Posted by atom ant

How come you were putting in a new heating element?

I knew it had been a couple of years since I had put a new one in, so I thought it was a good time to check them out. As it turned out, I probably would not have made it through the next camping season without having issues. It was pretty well shot.

[sbenhoff]

Originally Posted by LoSt

Do you have the water filter removed? If they canister is slightly crossthreaded you'll leak air around the water filter canister. Since mine is behind the wall over the water pump, I never would hear the air leak.

I did check out that filter while I was trying to determine my issue and didn't find any issue with it. I did however go ahead and take it out. I'll decide later if I want to replace it or not. I've read on this forum where many have actually bypassed that filter completely, especially since it is so hard to get to.