Forum Discussion
DrewE
Nov 11, 2016Explorer II
I assume it's a typo, but you're missing an important step in the general sanitize procedure. After you fill the tank, turn off the fill valve and disconnect (or at least turn off) the city water connection and turn on the pump in the RV. The goal is to get water from the tank to the faucets, rather than water from your house which has no bleach in it.
It generally doesn't take too long to get the bleachy water to the faucets. It's pretty easy to tell by smell when you're set.
The water heater can be sanitized in the same basic way--after having the drain plug in and the bypass valves set to normal operation etc, open a hot water valve and let the air out until you get bleachy (cold) water coming out. The water heater is then full of the bleachy water. There's no need to turn it on; in fact, doing so would tend to drive off the chlorine more quickly.
Once sanitized, it can take a good bit of water to get most of the chlorine out of the water heater. I suppose one could speed up the process by draining it with the drain plug, but at least on my heater manipulating the drain plug is inconvenient. I don't consider it necessary to completely refill the fresh water tank and drain it, either; a minisucle concentration of bleach in water is not dangerous. I just drain the solution out as best as it will and rinse it with a little fresh water. There's nothing dangerous about being more thorough, of course.
I'm afraid I can't offer any suggestions about the ice maker. (My ice maker consists of a set of plastic trays that are set on the freezer floor manually, and they're cleaned by washing them with the dishes.)
It generally doesn't take too long to get the bleachy water to the faucets. It's pretty easy to tell by smell when you're set.
The water heater can be sanitized in the same basic way--after having the drain plug in and the bypass valves set to normal operation etc, open a hot water valve and let the air out until you get bleachy (cold) water coming out. The water heater is then full of the bleachy water. There's no need to turn it on; in fact, doing so would tend to drive off the chlorine more quickly.
Once sanitized, it can take a good bit of water to get most of the chlorine out of the water heater. I suppose one could speed up the process by draining it with the drain plug, but at least on my heater manipulating the drain plug is inconvenient. I don't consider it necessary to completely refill the fresh water tank and drain it, either; a minisucle concentration of bleach in water is not dangerous. I just drain the solution out as best as it will and rinse it with a little fresh water. There's nothing dangerous about being more thorough, of course.
I'm afraid I can't offer any suggestions about the ice maker. (My ice maker consists of a set of plastic trays that are set on the freezer floor manually, and they're cleaned by washing them with the dishes.)
About Motorhome Group
38,705 PostsLatest Activity: Jan 26, 2025