Winter prep for water heater without Alde

luv2travel

Hi! I have been checking many posts, but I cannot seem to find an answer.  I have a 2012 "L" version T@B.  I have no bath/shower or the Alde system.  I am planning on adding a bit the pink antifreeze again this year, but I think I have been treating the water heater in the past (after draining the water heater). Should I bypass the heater?  If yes, how? I can only find one valve associated with the heater and I will try to attach a photo I found on these forums ( I can't find the pic again, so I can't properly thank that person). Which way should I have the valve before putting in the "pink stuff"?     I also have a slightly different question:  When I last drained the water heater, I seemed to have a lot of calcium? pour out of the hose.  I kept running water through it until it seemed to clear up.  Should I be addressing this issue?  Thanks so much for any advice.

ScottG

I can't speak for your specific system, but can offer some thoughts based on general plumbing knowledge.

First (and someone correct me if I've got this wrong) I seem to recall that the reason for bypassing the Alde had to do with it's dual use as a cabin and water heater. There was some concern that using the cabin heat would heat the antifreeze in the hot water tank and potentially cause some sort of problem. Since your water heater is not used for cabin heat, this would not be a concern in your case.

I doubt your heater has a built-in bypass like the Alde. If you did want to bypass it, you might try locating the CW inlet and the HW outlet, detaching them from the tank, and attaching them together with some sort of fitting from the hardware store. I can't be more specific without a better sense of how your lines are hooked up.

Vinegar can help dissolve calcium deposits. I think there are also chemicals you can get from plumbing suppliers. However, I'm not sure I'd go through the additional trouble as long as everything is working properly.

Hopefully someone else can chime in here with some more specific advice. Most of us have the newer T@Bs with Aldes.

luv2travel

Thanks for your advice.  I will check on those ideas this weekend.  I have since looked on a Rheem site (the water heater brand) and it seems that pink stuff in the water heater is pretty harmless- just a pain in the Spring when it takes a lot of water to rinse out. 

irvingj

It sounds as though you have the "winterizing" part figured out, but I can add this --

The whitish granules come from two sources:

One, the sacrificial anode in the heater. Usually magnesium, its function is to erode first, thus saving the insides of the tank from doing so. They need to be replaced when they're eaten away. I believe all heaters have/use these.

Two, from minerals which naturally occur in water. When the heater is running, the very high temps close to the heat exchanger will cause these minerals to precipitate, coming out of solution and falling to the bottom of the tank. This somewhat sandy-feeling material should also be removed, as it will act as an insulator. Eventually, if it gets deep enough, it will block the transfer of heat and potentially --most likely-- cause the heating element (whether gas or electric) to overheat and burn out. You did the right thing by flushing the heater out with fresh water.

Cyclonic

Sorry I missed this earlier.  That is one of my photos, so we have the same system.

I took a couple of shots yesterday while winterizing, so I created a little diagram of how the system works.



When the valve down it is open, meaning water will flow into your hot water tank.  Turning it a quarter turn to the left will close the valve and stop the flow.

To winterize I use air pressure, flushing the system valve by valve starting with the water heater.  That is why you see the hose connected here.

Basically what I do is first I connect a hose to the water heater and open that valve (twisting the large white knob counter clockwise opens the valve).

Next, I connect a air blow out to the city water intake.  To that I connect a compressor and set it for about 25PSI.  Let it flush for a while.

I now follow this order, opening the next valve before closing the previous valve.

• Sink hot water
• Shower hot water
• Sink cold water
• Close the valve under the sink that leads to the water tank
• Shower cold water

I have an outdoor shower that I don't use, but it always has water in it.

Turn off the compressor once water has been purged from the system.

Close all valves.

I now add a gallon of RV antifreeze to the fresh water tank and turn on the pump to pressurize the system.  I open the sink cold and shower cold to draw the antifreeze up to them, letting some into the sink trap as well.

My understanding is you can put antifreeze in the hot water heater, but it will require several more gallons, will take a lot more time and water to flush in the spring, and is not needed.  I never have and have yet to have a problem with it.

Hope this all helps.

luv2travel

Irvingj and cyclonic- Thanks for the help!  I already winterized it for this year, but I will save cyclonic's steps for next year.  I was able to get a little pink coming out of everything, hot and cold, with 2 gallons of pink fun.  Thanks again!

irvingj

luv2travel, have you determined whether or not your heater uses a sacrificial anode?

I know I was surprised at how quickly the one in our Roadtrek RV (T@B's replacement) deteriorated. It has been used for one long trip across the country, and good trip to KY (from NH) and a couple of other shorter trips. Only 2 seasons old, and I plan to replace it as soon as I get the thing out of storage next spring.

I suspect campground water can vary a great deal in quality, which may explain rapid deterioration; good thing to keep an eye on if your heater has one!

luv2travel

I never thought of that- thanks!  I bought my like-new camper from a friend who almost never used it at all, and I almost never use the water when camping.  I bring my own drinking/cooking water, so I was surprised to see the particles washing out of the water heater. Am I guessing correctly that the sacrificial anode can be sacrificed?  Is that a fairly simple fix for next Spring?  Thanks!

Nomad

Sacrificial anode are there to be sacrificed and replaced. Home hot water heaters have them to.
We had very good, clean, no mineral water where I lived and a lot of plumbers would just remove them as not needed. Can't remember why they didn't just leave it but they had a reason.

wizard1880

Do we know if the Alde has a replaceable anode?  I don't remember anything in the maintenance instructions about it or if it even exists.

irvingj

On our Roadtrek, the sacrificial anode is screwed in with an 1-1/16" nut. A socket of like size will remove it, but if it's never been removed it may be a bit tight (unmentionable words may come to mind...."Get a bigger breaker bar..."). Always use fresh teflon tape or plumber's "dope" around the threads to ease removal the next time as well as to seal the threads.

Our "old" Dutchmen T@B did't have any water system to speak of, so a water heater was a new experience for us.

Here are some pics of the anode (from the outside) in our Roadtrek water heater. The anode is at the bottom of the water heater enclosure, beneath the gold-colored burner tube. Ours is propane powered, and is also used as the water heater drain when winterizing. Usually, quite a lot of white, sandy granules come out every time I drain it.