Water heater bypass
I've been reading several "winterizing" posts, and something just occurred to me. If you are blowing out the water lines instead of adding antifreeze, is it even necessary to bypass the water heater?...
Forum Discussion
ewarnerusa wrote:
IF you don't bypass the water heater tank when using air, then you've got to pressurize the entire volume of the water heater tank along with all the plumbing lines. I suppose that's not a problem if you have a large air compressor, but I've got a tiny little one with a 1 gallon tank. It would take a long time for that little compressor to get everything including the water heater tank pressurized to 20+ psi or whatever air pressure you like to use for the blow out. So I always bypass the water heater tank, drain it, and leave the plug out for the winter.
You should not be pressurizing anything. It is the volume of air that is *blowing* the lines out. If you are using a small 1gal tank to "pressurize" your water system, you are risking an incomplete evacuation of water.
Does your manual suggest that you should pressurize the system with all the faucet valves closed?
