Winterizing?

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Dave Cassidy

Winterizing?

Post by Dave Cassidy »

Just winterized my '04 26' RSB.
1. drained hot water tank,turned valves going into tank to the "off"(horizontal to line going into tank)position
2. drained fresh water tank, & opened low point drains,closed drains.
3. put the anti freeze fill tube on water pump. connected to the left side of pump.(side with the white plastic fitting on it)
4. turned on pump & opened all faucets,vanity,galley sink,toilet shower,shower hose on toilet & ooutside shower, one @ a time 'til pink stuff ran out.

PROBLEM: Nothing came out of faucets when opened to the hot side.
WHY? :?: what'd i do wrong?
Thanks,
Dave Cassidy
Stafford,Va
Bill Ruh

Winterizing?

Post by Bill Ruh »

Hi Dave,

You said you closed the in and out hot water heater valves, but did you open the bypass valve?
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whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

Post by whemme »

Dave,

Bill Ruh is right, you may have forgot to change the hot water heat bypass valve to let antifreeze bypass the heater going into the rest of the hot water plumbing.

Also, I would recommend that with your water pump on and with the short hose into your supply of antifreeze that you turn on briefly the total of 4 floor drains until you see the pink stuff coming out of the bottom of your coach from those drains. That will make sure that all of the plumbing up to and including these drain valves have antifreeze in them. On my 2002 26' RSB, two of these floor drains are near the back side of the hot water heater and the other two floor drains are under the kitchen sink area.
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
Dave Cassidy

Winterizing

Post by Dave Cassidy »

Yes, i have antifreeze coming out of the floor drains. I can't seem to locate the W.H. bypass valve. There is a valve to a line that goes directly into the W.H.,tjhat 1 is closed. Is the bypass valve above the floor & on a line going to a low point drain. THere are about 6 valves in the area of the W.H>, can't seem to locate the bypass. :oops:
thanks again,
Dave Cassidy
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whemme
Posts: 2110
Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:05 pm

Post by whemme »

Dave,

I don't know what model Born Free you have but I will explain where the water heater bypass valve is in my 2002 26' RSB unit. The water heater in this unit is located in the right rear corner of the motorhome body. The water line going into the top fitting on the water heater is the inlet line and the bottom fitting is the outlet line. Both of these two lines have shut off valves located in the lines very close to the fittings on the water heater. Then back from these two valves on both of these two lines are T fittings with a water line connecting the input and output lines together with this crossover line having a valve in it also. When you shut off the input and output line valves, then you should open the valve in this crossover line which allows the hot water lines to bypass the water heater.

Don't know if your BF has a similar bypass valve or not but it should have one somewhere.

You say that you have approximately 6 valves in the area of your water heater. Mine has only 5 - not 6. Two valves on the floor for draining the cold and hot water lines, 1 valve on the inlet and 1 valve on the outlet of the water heater and the 5th valve being the crossover line or bypass valve.
Bill Hemme - Spencer, Iowa
E-mail: whemme@earthlink.net
2002 Born Free (Ford E-450 V10) 26' RSB
2016 VW Golf GTI - toad
Bill Ruh

Winterizing

Post by Bill Ruh »

Hi Dave,

BillH described it pretty well, but sometimes a picture helps. Les Doll's site has step-by-step instructions at:

http://www.rverscorner.com/winterize/index.html

Our born free has valves like

http://www.rverscorner.com/winterize/threevalve.jpg

The middle valve is the bypass valve (it's closed in the picture).

Hope this helps...
Dave Cassidy

winterizing

Post by Dave Cassidy »

THANK'S to all!!
Found the valve @ the TEE fitting. Now all is well. This board is great.
Thanks again,
Dave Cassidy
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