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forrman's avatar
forrman
Explorer
Nov 25, 2019

Lance 2285 Water Heater Shutoff Valve

We have a 2015 Lance 2285 TT. I am winterizing it and need to shut off the water heater so I can input 2 gallons of RV antifreeze. I looked at the back of the heater, where the hoses go from the fresh water tank to the heater, and from the heater to the faucet lines, and there are no shutoff switches. I searched the lines, the outside compartment where the pilot light is, and found not shut off valves. Have you ever seen a modern TT that does not have shutoff valves come to-and-from the the water heater? Where else could these valves be located?
  • Dusty_R's avatar
    Dusty_R
    Explorer
    Nov 25, 2019
    I have never put antifreeze in our mh water heater, I just drain the water out of it and leave it empty.

    Dusty
  • DFord's avatar
    DFord
    Explorer
    Nov 25, 2019
    If there's no water heater bypass, I'd install one. Water heaters don't need antifreeze to protect them. Draining the tank is sufficient but a some sort of bypass is a must to keep from wasting antifreeze and the arduous task of flushing it all back out when you want to de-winterize.
  • forrman's avatar
    forrman
    Explorer
    Nov 25, 2019
    Thanks, guys! Your input has been extremely valuable! We bought this unit in Los Angeles but we live in St. George, Utah, now. The weather here gets below freezing at night but up in the 40s-50s during the day, between now and spring time. I just drained the water heater and system and left it dry.

    Do you have any tips on good ways to connect your air compressor to your water system in order to blow out all the water?
  • DFord's avatar
    DFord
    Explorer
    Nov 25, 2019
    YouTube video: Installing RV Water Heater Bypass For Winterizing The video shows a one valve bypass which relies on a check valve in the water heater outlet. There are 3 valve kits without check valves that work just as well. The check valves are problematic and are known to come apart of block the outlet.

    Even after bypassing the water heater and draining it, it's important to blow the rest of the lines out really good to prevent water from collecting in the low spots.
  • schlep1967's avatar
    schlep1967
    Nomad
    Nov 25, 2019
    A few thoughts if you are not adding a bypass right now.
    Drain the water heater. With the drain still open blow air through the lines. This will clear the "before" side of the water heater blowing it into the water heater and out the drain. Put the plug or anode back in place and blow again opening one faucet at a time. This will clear the "after" side of the water lines. After doing that I would remove the plug/anode again just to allow any residual water to drain.

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