Trying to winterize our 2008 Teton but having trouble

leavingsoon · December 24, 2017

I am in the process of trying to winterize our 2008 Teton but have run into a problem I can't figure out if I am doing something wrong. I have been following my owner's manual but can't figure out the by-pass water heater process.

I have drained the hot water heater but have not put the plug/electrode rod back in yet....I was actually planning to leave it out and just replace with new next year. Plus I wanted to leave the plug out so I could be sure I was properly bypassing the water heater when I go to run the antifreeze thru it.

I have turned the cold and hot water lines to by-pass (both vertical) as the manual picture instructs but the system will not pressurize with air because the air is continuing to be released out of the electrode rod plug. Is it suppose to do that? I would have thought that if I was by-passing the water heater there would be no air coming out of it???

Am I suppose to plug the hole? Does that mean when I try to pump the pink stuff thru the lines I am going to have to fill up the water heater??

I double checked the pictures in the manual and I made sure I have the valves turned as described in the manual.

Later I did go ahead and re-install the electrode rod just to see what happens....the system pressurizes properly with air now. But this makes me think I will end up having to fill up the water heater with pink stuff unless there is something else I am suppose to be doing???

I removed the plywood cover in the sink cabinet to expose the backside of the heater in order to see if there is another valve there....but none.

What am I doing wrong???

Phil

I'mdonewiththis forum · December 24, 2017

Did you turn each valve 90*? In other words did you turn them from horizontal to vertical? That should shut the water heater off and usually there is another valve that you would open up that is in a line between the two valves you closed. It sounds to me like there is a valve still open going into the water heater. Does your manual say there are three valves?

leavingsoon · December 24, 2017

Thanks for the response.

Yes....the valves were both horizontal and I turned both 90 degree to be vertical now, just as the manual says to do.

There is no other valve in the line and the manual doesn't mention anything about a third valve either.

I removed the cover in the sink cabinet to expose the backside of the heater and there are no other valves or water lines going into or out of the heater except the cold and hot water lines.

Someone suggested to me that it sounds like I have a leaking/faulty shut off valve??? I'm beginning to think it might have to be that....I can't think of any other reason.

Phil

I'mdonewiththis forum · December 24, 2017

23 minutes ago, leavingsoon said:

Someone suggested to me that it sounds like I have a leaking/faulty shut off valve??? I'm beginning to think it might have to be that....I can't think of any other reason.

Phil

That's what it sounds like to me too since you only have a cold into the water heater and a hot out. One of the two must be leaking.

roy67ss · December 24, 2017

Make sure that the handles of valves you have turned are now at 90 degrees to the lines or direction of flow.

It sounds to me like you have shut both in/out lines to the tank. That is good. There should be another valve that should be opened to allow water to flow from the cold to the hot line. It is normally very close to the 2 that you have closed but may be further down in the plumbing. My bypass line and valve is located below the tank and is actually in the basement directly below the tank.

leavingsoon · December 24, 2017

Thanks guys!

I can't find a third valve and the owners manual does not mention anything about operating a third valve during the winterizing process.

The picture in the owners manual shows the exact setup I have under the sink. There is a horizontal water line for the cold at the bottom and a horizontal water line for the hot at the top, each with a shut off, and then a single vertical line tying the two shutoffs together. I have turned the shutoffs so they are both vertical to the vertical line.

I have also posted on the Teton owner's forum and there is a gentleman there who has indicated to me that he owned a 2008 in the past and this is the same setup he had. He also says I have a leaking valve because when he winterized his coach in the past there was no air escaping into the water heater tank.

So I guess I will either play with the valves some more and see if I can correct it or just go find 10 more gallons of the pink stuff.

Thanks guys!

Phil

leavingsoon · December 24, 2017

I disconnected the two shutoffs and did discover that one was faulty.... so I just used a flex water line to tie the system together. I needed to get the coach winterized and will work on replacing the valve next spring.

Thanks for the help,

Phil

I'mdonewiththis forum · December 24, 2017

Congrats on finding the cause. At least it will not be a hard thing to fix.

Ray,IN · December 25, 2017

Is your valve configuration like this image.png.d6ecb730451ee6c296c8d0ce50cb7566.png

or have only 2 valves?

leavingsoon · December 25, 2017

Yea.... was glad to find the problem and realize won't be a difficult fix when warm weather comes .

Hey Ray.... great illustration.... if I knew how to post a picture I would show you. My set up is only two valves (not shutoff's....rather like a divert'er is what I would call it) and they are located at the T's in your picture, then the vertical line does not have a shut off in it.

Thanks guys!

Kirk W · December 25, 2017

18 minutes ago, leavingsoon said:

My set up is only two valves (not shutoff's....rather like a divert'er is what I would call it) and they are located at the T's in your picture, then the vertical line does not have a shut off in it.