Forum

Hi everyone,

Winterized our 19BH for the first time I quickly realized it was going to be a pain since we were planning on going on several trips (Texas and Florida) this year while it was below freezing here in Michigan. The dealer that sold us the TT said all I needed was a bypass hose for the hot water tank and RZ antifreeze. Well, he was correct; if you planned on parking the TT over the winter and not using it till spring and without the bypass valve for the pump I had to put an extra gallon of antifreeze in the water tank. I figured I’d go to my local Home Depot and pick up some three way valves and add them to the bypass hose as well as put in a bypass for the main tank in addition to picking up a an inch and a quarter socket for the hot water drain plug. Well, HD didn’t have the three way valves or the socket. I was able to find the socket at a local auto supply store and I ordered the valves/kits Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC 

1 "Camco 36543 RV Pump Converter Winterizing Kit"

Automotive; $13.98

 1 "Camco 35953 RV 8″ Supreme Permanent By-Pass Kit for 6 Gallon Tank"

Automotive; $20.15

When we were ready for our first trip (It was below freezing) I flushed out the system. Started to add the bypass valves to the hot water tank and couldn’t remove the brass fittings from the hot water tank so rather than damaging the fittings/hot water tank  I went to HD and got two female and male brass fittings and hooked up the bypass valves. There was not enough room between the pump and wall to add the bypass valve so I had to move the pump (Simple unscrew, move the pump and re-screw). There were these weird looking clips that someone else mentioned on one of the other posts, I didn’t have to mess with them since there was a screw clamp between the pump and the backflow preventer so that’s where I put the pump bypass. I used the extra hose from the original bypass  I did to extend the hose from the pump bypass kit directly to a gallon of antifreeze to an area next to the main tank where I used some scrap 2×4 pieces to make a secured area to store two gallons of antifreeze.

When we returned from our trip from Texas, I drained the main water and hot water tank, flipped the bypass valves and in minutes had the TT winterized and used less than a gallon of antifreeze! Wen we go to Florida I’ll use the drain valves under the TT to empty the antifreeze into a gallon container for reuse, flush the system (Main tank is OK, no antifreeze) and off we go!

Hope this helps for anyone else attempting to put permanent bypasses. PS: I work in Finance, not a mechanic so if I can do it, anyone can!

Here are some pics!