# Hot Water Bypass?



## Stolenfates (Jun 11, 2009)

I have a 2008 29KBH. Two winters ago I had it winterized for the first time. I only got to use it once last year but when I did, I wasn't getting any hot water. I could turn the hot water tap on and water flowed fine, it just didn't heat up, with electric and/or gas turned on.

I never checked if the RV has a hot water bypass. Does anyone know if they come installed by the factory and if so where is it located? I am assuming inside the RV near the heater but that is kind of where the fridge is so I didn't want to start taking stuff apart to look for something that might not exist.

Any help locating a hot water bypass or a possible reason I wasn't getting any hot water is appreciated since I'm going to get to use it a lot more this year.

Thanks


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Yes they are all installed with a bypass. It is located at the back of the water heater on the lower pipe going into the tank. The handle of the valve points to the direction of the water flow.


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## Stolenfates (Jun 11, 2009)

CamperAndy said:


> Yes they are all installed with a bypass. It is located at the back of the water heater on the lower pipe going into the tank. The handle of the valve points to the direction of the water flow.


So I access it from the outside by dropping down the exterior access pane or is there a different way?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

That would be the front on the outside. The back is inside the trailer.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

But be forewarned...you may have burnt it up last year when you ran it without any water in it.


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## Stolenfates (Jun 11, 2009)

CamperAndy said:


> That would be the front on the outside. The back is inside the trailer.


Thanks, I didn't realize I would have to take off the rear mattress and the unbolt the plywood that it rests on before. So yeah, there it is probably all F*ed up cause I didn't know to look for it before. I would make a comment to Outback that their owners manuals should include some info on this. I looked and looked through mine and there wasn't any.

So I'm guessing I can just fill my tank up, run water through everything until its clean, then switch the bypass over so it fills the water heater. After that I figured I could start up the electric and the gas individually to make sure they still work or should I dismantle the thing to see if I wrecked the element before I fill the water heater? I'm assuming the gas heater wouldn't be damaged.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

When I get ready for camping each spring, I will fill the fresh water tank, add a cup or 2 of bleach to the water, pump that through the water lines until all the pink stuff is out and the lines are full of bleach water. Then I let the lines set with the bleach water in them for a couple of hours to kill any fricknoids that may have started to grow over the winter. After they have set, find the drain for your fresh water tank, uncap it and let the bleach water drain out. Then I proceed to fill and drain the tank a few more times to get all the bleach out. Then I pump fresh water through the lines until they no longer smell like bleach. It is at this point that I switch the bypass back to normal operation. Fill up your HWH, turn it on and see what happens. Hopefully, everything will be fine.


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