Missing water heater valves RT 06P190

[sbslider]

I drained my water supply and tanks today for the first time since purchasing this camper. I found that the water heater doesn't have valves on the supply and output lines, as shown in the manual. The only benefit I can see to those valves is if one sprays/puts water back into the water heater through the anode hole, it will all stay in the water heater instead of getting pushed into the cold water line. Now that I'm writing this, I did see some small debris coming out into the toilet during the final purge of the system, perhaps that's what I was seeing.

Are there other yet unrealized (by me) benefits of these valves?

[TomF]

My '97 RT 190 doesn't have valves at the inlet or outlet of the water heater. The valves would be a benefit if they were part of a bypass setup to help winterize the water system. On mine, I have to disconnect the inlet and outlet lines and install the bypass manually. Bit of a pain, actually.

[JohnnyFry]

Many times these bypass valves were not supplied by the coach manufacturer but were installed by the first owner. The benefit is not having RV Antifreeze enter the hot water tank when winterizing. This allows you to drain the HW tank through the anode hole and use only sufficient RV Antifreeze to fill the piping. Using a bypass system allows you to isolate the HW Tank but still pump antifreeze through the hot water piping. You can also introduce the AF at the pump in order to avoid putting AF in the freshwater tank.

[jrobe]

Originally Posted by JohnnyFry

Many times these bypass valves were not supplied by the coach manufacturer but were installed by the first owner. The benefit is not having RV Antifreeze enter the hot water tank when winterizing. This allows you to drain the HW tank through the anode hole and use only sufficient RV Antifreeze to fill the piping. Using a bypass system allows you to isolate the HW Tank but still pump antifreeze through the hot water piping. You can also introduce the AF at the pump in order to avoid putting AF in the freshwater tank.

Completely agree. Assuming there is PEX tubing with decent access, you can add a couple valves with a PEX crimp tool in a few minutes and for very little expense. It is well worth fixing this foolish mistake by Roadtrek.

[sbslider]

Originally Posted by sbslider

I drained my water supply and tanks today for the first time since purchasing this camper. I found that the water heater doesn't have valves on the supply and output lines, as shown in the manual. The only benefit I can see to those valves is if one sprays/puts water back into the water heater through the anode hole, it will all stay in the water heater instead of getting pushed into the cold water line. Now that I'm writing this, I did see some small debris coming out into the toilet during the final purge of the system, perhaps that's what I was seeing.

Are there other yet unrealized (by me) benefits of these valves?

Thanks for the responses all.

In the OP I see that I failed to mention that I live in an area where I expect to never have to winterize the camper. As such closing the valves for bypass during winterizing isn't (yet) a concern. I also realized that if I have the pump on while flushing out the water heater I expect that would prevent debris from getting washed into the internal plumbing.

I can see the long term benefit of adding the valves, so its on the "list", but not a very high priority just yet. If/when I'm dealing with other plumbing issues and need to purchase the tools to open/close PEX clamps, seems like that would be a good time to make this upgrade as well.

As far as how it got this way, I expect for some reason the previous owner (who replaced the water heater shortly before my purchase, as in a couple days prior) decided to leave off these valves. Perhaps they were stuck to the original tank, or who knows. My manual clearly shows that the valves would have been installed by Roadtrek. The pipe going to the water heater is red and blue, which I'm certain would not have been done by Roadtrek.

Now you have a better picture (Oh, speaking of, now I have attached a couple of the water heater )