# Water Heater Bypass



## Mac (Mar 26, 2004)

As a proud new owner of a 2004 28BHS, I am navigating my way thru the documentation provided. I am having to do this, because my dealer walk-thru was next to useless. I knew more about the unit than my walk-thru guy did, just by my advanced reading.

My questions:

1. How do I know if I have the water heater bypass option? Where is it and where do I look for it? The documentation tells me what to do with it, but not where it is.

2. There are 2 low point drain tubes behing the right tires. I know that 1 drains the fresh water tank. What is the other one for?

3. Documentation was provided for both an electric and hydraulic slide out. How do I know which one I have? Both of the mention that there is the ability to open and close it manually with a provided tool. When I asked about it, Iwas told that the tools are no longer provided due to the great reliability of the units. Were any of you provided this tool? Does this soud right to you?

More questions to come as I read more. Thanks in advance for the help


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## djd1023 (Sep 29, 2003)

I can't speak for the 28BHS, but on my 28rss it's under one of the lower bunks in my front bunkhouse


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## KellerJames (Jan 19, 2004)

Mac,
I have the '03 21RS so there will be a huge difference between the two, though I think I can help. Where ever your water heater is located, gain access to the back of it inside the trailer. On mine, I have to remove a drawer and there it is. On the line coming into the wtr' heater, there is a small plastic valve with three wtr' lines connected to it. If it is in the bypass position, the handle of the valve will be at 90 degrees to the inlet wtr' line. In open position, the handle will be in line with the inlet line. You said your book has that info.

The low point drains you mentioned. On my 21RS, the two drains that are together are to drain the cold and hot water sides of the system. They are located under trailer just in front of the right tires. There is a single drain tube under the trailer behind the right tires for the fresh wtr' holding tank and that's the only thing it drains. Not the entire system. I'm not familiar with the 28BHS layout, but it's probably similar.

As for the slider. I have a manual pull out. If yours is elec. I would imagine there would be a switch in a highly visible location on one of the walls near the slider. That's how all the elec. slides I've seen are. But again I'm not familiar with your paticular Outback.

Well, I at least hope I helped on some level. Happy travels and be safe.


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## Drew'smom (Mar 18, 2004)

Our walk thru was horrible too! we had a kid who bad- mouthed the dealership the whole time and was clueless! When I asked him to do something wotht the propane stove because it made me nervous- he found someone else to do it because he was nervous too!!!!!!!!!!

Would love to complain to the "head" of the dealership, but want to keep a positive relationship because I am sure we will be up there often.......... I thought they were such a reputable dealership! Were we just there on a bad day????

Anyway- I, too am interested in draining the water. AND our black water tank was 1/3 full on pick-up...... What the heck is THAT all about? Ewwwww!


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

The 25 RSS water heater is under the dinette. You need a screwdriver to remove the seat panel. The bypass knobs are on the outside of the heater. I am pretty sure all OUTBACKS have the option.

My drain lines are the same as KELLER's, but in different locations under the trailer.
You can remove the water heater drain plug (on the outside) to drain the heater itself. (plastic plug)

My rear slide is manual, and the sofa slide is electric. (not sure about yours) The switch is on the wall near it, and the manual crank is inside, under the sofa. You have to take off the lower front panel on the sofa. There is a fitting under there to put a socket wrench on, (not included) and you use it to make the slide retract if you need to. It takes a lot of turning to get it in. You only need to do it if there is no way to retract it. Most times, your battery may be dead or your fuse may be blown if it doesn't work.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

> Anyway- I, too am interested in draining the water. AND our black water tank was 1/3 full on pick-up...... What the heck is THAT all about? Ewwwww!


Was it 1/3 full with black water? or was it RV antifreeze? Both of our waste tanks had antifreeze in them when we took delivery, as the unit was winterized at the factory. This was actually a good thing, as the factory had not labeled the drain valves at all. During our PDI, the dealer rep simply emptied one, then checked which one showed empty on the gauge, and then we knew which was which, and after a few seconds with a P-Touch, we will know the first time we need to drain them for real.

Tim


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## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Hi guys, Don't forget that in order to get to the manual crank on the slider you have to pop off the buttons that are on the front below the sofa, then you need a square screw driver bit to remove the screws. Also it is a good idea to get some extra fuses(30A & 15A) just in case. Our drains were also mismarked but I am a visual type and I simply spray painted the gray handle gray, just makes it easier for me to know which handle I am pulling. Kirk


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## Mountyhawks (Feb 15, 2004)

We took delivery of our 28RLS on 4-14-04. Our PDI was marginal at best. They had no power hooked up except the battery and no water. They showed us how to turn on the Fridge and work the slide. We walked around the outside and talked and pointed but didn't do much other than hook up to the TV.

When we got home, we started trying everything. So far, the hot water heater doesn't work and the tank monitoring panel reads the same (1/3 for each) for all three tanks even though we only flushed the toilet once and had no water in the fresh water tank. The battery also shows the same on the indicator. The indicator probably is not working correctly.

We are still trying to check out everything to be sure nothing else has a problem. We are taking the TT back to the dealer on Monday to fix these items, and any others we can find today.

We had sent the dealer an extensive PDI list which they pretty much ignored. We were picking up the trailer early in the morning of the first day of the dealer's 3-day open house. However, my impression was that their PDI's were all pretty much like the one we got. They explained what should happen for most of the systems but did NOT show how to do it and did not demonstrate that all systems were working.

Jim


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Wow Jim that sounds like one of the worse PDI's I've heard of, well not the worst. So far how are things your checking holding up?


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

My salesman didn't know a whole lot on OUTBACK specific items either. I did find many things (not to my liking) and the service guys were working on every one of them while I continued.


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## Mountyhawks (Feb 15, 2004)

Well, good news for me. I fooled around again today and finally identified a blown fuse on the water pump and hot water heater circuit. This solved the problem. We now have water from both the city connection and the fresh water tank and pump.

It turns out that the hot water heater is on the same circuit. We now have hot water as well. But, we don't get the red indicator light prior to the gas heater firing up. I guess we will keep that on the list of squaks for the next time to the dealer. I am going to cancel the Monday run to the dealer now that I figured everything out.

We also found that the tank / battery monitor is on that very same 15 amp fuse ( busy little guy that 15 amp fuse!). Once we changed the fuse, now the tank and battery indicators work just fine. So, we filled the fresh water tank, the gray tank, and the black tank, and all indicators worked normally. Still need to sanitize the tanks but at least we know everyting is working.

All of this is probably old hat to you TT veterans. But, this is big and new news for us being new in the TT game.

So, we finally completed the 9-page PDI checklist ourselves at home in the driveway. We did everything except get a ladder and go up on the roof to check the covers, skylights, rubber roof, and caulking. I will try to check that the best I can someday this week.

I feel better knowing that I have been through the full PDI even if I had to do it myself. I am an engineer and I am pretty good with manuals, general mechanics, and common sense. The problem is that I shouldn't have had to depend on my own abilities and the manuals for my complete education on this trailer. My wife thinks that all of the questions I raised from what I learned on this forum and the Trailer Life forum intimidated our salesman. My wife thinks that the salesman felt that I probably new more than him about the trailer despite the fact that this is my first experience with a RV of any kind. I do ask a lot of questions and sometimes suggest possible answers. The poor salesman just kept saying, "Boy, you did a lot of research on this."

To quote my teenage daughter, "Well, duh!" What do you expect when you plan to spend this much money on a new "vacation home".

I feel a lot better today knowing that I don't have to head to the dealer tomorrow. Thanks again for all of the help that all of you provide on this forum.

One last question. Where is the best place with the best price to get the sheets for the short queen size mattresses? Do you have to go to an online RV supply house like Camping World? Or, can you get them at a local retailer. We haven't been able to find them in any store,

Thanks all.

Jim


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## KellerJames (Jan 19, 2004)

Jim,
Sorry to hear about your 'walk through woes'. Now that you did the complete PDI yourself, with manuals in hand, there is NO question that you know your Outback far better than that salesman and probably most of the sevice tech's as well.







I'm sure you know that the quality of the dealer has a lot to do with the over all RV experience. Hope you didn't get one of the questionable ones. Look at the bright side. You learned a lot quickly by doing it 'hands on'. 
Lots of luck

James


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

> all of the questions I raised from what I learned on this forum and the Trailer Life forum intimidated our salesman
> 
> 
> > That's what I like to hear!


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## jnk36jnk (Mar 9, 2004)

Does the nine page PDI check list come with the TT, or some place else? We pick our 25 r ss up in three to four weeks (we hope) and have started our own list of questons to ask, but having a list from some one else would be a big help.


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## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Hi Jim, you mentioned a red lamp for the water heater on start-up. That light is for water heater failure, to test it shut off the propane and turn on the water heater it should light up in short order. Unfortunatly there is no lamp to show which is working unless you go to radio shak and buy two small LED's drill holes and put them in parallel across the swich for electric and gas, the switchs use spad connectors on the back side and this is an easy addition. Kirk


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## Mountyhawks (Feb 15, 2004)

jnk36jnk said:


> Does the nine page PDI check list come with the TT, or some place else? We pick our 25 r ss up in three to four weeks (we hope) and have started our own list of questons to ask, but having a list from some one else would be a big help.


jnk36jnk,

The PDI list did not come with the trailer. We downloaded this list off the internet. The link is:

http://www.angelfire.com/trek/buenavistas

All of the checklists are very good.

Hope this helps.

Jim


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## Mountyhawks (Feb 15, 2004)

aplvlykat,

Thanks for the reply. I will try to test the light again with the gas turned off and see if I get the light to light. Thanks.

Jim


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