# Winterize Bypass For Water Pump.



## obnewbie (Mar 9, 2011)

Hey all,

Wondering if I did something wrong or if I have a goofy (bad?) bypass valve. We've got a 2011 OB 312BH. First RV. First time winterizing. Blew the lines out with air first (and then found the two drains by the front steps and got some more water out that way. (Why two, I wonder?)

Bought the bypass kit from the local fleet farm (tip: get there right before closing; it will reduce, but not eliminate impulse purchases). Got back home and found the pump mounted on a vertical surface and deduced that the water comes in from the bottom and out the top, so attached the bypass valve to the bottom. The pump itself is apparently a little loose from the mounting bracket and the bypass valve actually causes the pump to sit closer to horizontal (it's pushing up on the side that was sagging) ... will need to fix that or remount the pump, but I digress.

Anywho, I go to turn on the pump and there's no suction at all. I try tipping the bottle to encourage it, but there's nothing. So, I fiddle with the valve a little and the water starts moving, but nothing's making it's way to the kitchen faucet, not even air or gurgling noises. I can see it's leaving the bottle, but where's it going? Well, someone left the freshwater drain open and I was wondering if the rig was leaking ... turns out it was. I was pumping water into the fresh water tank (or maybe created a siphon condition and the pump was spinning in futility?).

So, back to fiddling with the bypass valve. If I turned it all they way to the bypass position, all motion of fluids stopped (by the way, how hard is that on the pump?) If I turned it just a smidge towards the "open" position, the pink stuff would start moving. Not sure how much was going back to the fresh water tank at that point, but we were able to get pink goo through to all faucets (hot and cold one at a time). I ended up using 1.5 gallons, including the little that spilled through the tank.

So ... some questions:
a) Is this normal? 







Did I get a bogus valve somehow?
c) What's the downside of having pink stuff in the freshwater tank? I'll flush it some tomorrow and we plan on doing the whole sanitize thing in the spring anyway, so I assume it will all work out.

Thanks!

-Bill.


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## Jewellfamily (Sep 25, 2010)

Can you take a few pictures of how you hooked it up. I installed one on my 2011 312BH this year and didnt have any trouble. It sounds like its hooked up wrong, but a few pictures would help. I removed the 4 screws holding the box enclosure around the pump and removed the box for better access.


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## Andover Family (Mar 4, 2011)

obnewbie said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Wondering if I did something wrong or if I have a goofy (bad?) bypass valve. We've got a 2011 OB 312BH. First RV. First time winterizing. Blew the lines out with air first (and then found the two drains by the front steps and got some more water out that way. (Why two, I wonder?)
> 
> ...


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## Andover Family (Mar 4, 2011)

I had a similar situation, i think the air had to be purged from the lines before the pink stuff flowed. 
I don't see how it could go to fresh water tank.


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## ftwildernessguy (Oct 12, 2009)

Andover Family said:


> I had a similar situation, i think the air had to be purged from the lines before the pink stuff flowed.
> I don't see how it could go to fresh water tank.


I agree. The pump would have to be hooked up backwards to push fluid into the freshwater tank. 1.5 gallons of antifreeze to cover all the lines sounds about right to me. Pour the other half gallon you have left down all the drains to fill the P traps.


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## Red Beard (Feb 13, 2010)

Something doesn't sound right....

1st - make sure your assembly is tight if there is an air leak the pump will suck air.

2nd- You will need to open a valve at one of the sinks before anyhting will flow. 
If that is not your issue then It sounds like you either have it connected incorectly or that you have backflow valve causing you some issues.

3rd -if you have installed the bypass inline with the fresh water tank you may have a problem that the pump is trying to pump from an empty fresh water tank and also the bottle of antifreeze. In that case you may need another valve to shut off the line coming from the fresh water tank.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Don't trust that the flow arrow is correct on the winterizing valve.


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## obnewbie (Mar 9, 2011)

So here's the picture.

The brass fitting below the pump is the bypass valve kit. I put the brass cap back on and just coiled up the hose. The valve is currently in the open position.

I decided today that I had pink stuff everywhere we needed it including down the drains to cover the p-traps, so I'm leaving it alone until spring.

Picture...


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## joeymac (Aug 19, 2010)

Did you turn the hot water heater bypass on ? If not then you most likely filled the hot water heater with anti-freeze.. Make sure you empty the the hot water heater off all water as well.


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## obnewbie (Mar 9, 2011)

Yep. Got that. Cleaned off the anode rod with hot water and a scrubby ... it was nasty looking. Now, it's just a little pitted.



joeymac said:


> Did you turn the hot water heater bypass on ? If not then you most likely filled the hot water heater with anti-freeze.. Make sure you empty the the hot water heater off all water as well.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

obnewbie said:


> So here's the picture.
> 
> The brass fitting below the pump is the bypass valve kit. I put the brass cap back on and just coiled up the hose. The valve is currently in the open position.
> 
> ...


Your link did not work.


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## Jewellfamily (Sep 25, 2010)

CamperAndy said:


> So here's the picture.
> 
> The brass fitting below the pump is the bypass valve kit. I put the brass cap back on and just coiled up the hose. The valve is currently in the open position.
> 
> ...


Your link did not work.
[/quote]
yep, link didnt work.


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