Water heater bypass valve failure?

[GL243]

Update - I checked the bypass valves again, both were closed as tight as they go, so not having the bottom one closed all the way was not the problem. I ran another bottle of pink into the lines, water pump came up to pressure and stopped, but would periodically run a bit, about half a second, every 20 or 30 seconds after stopping at pressure, which indicates a leak somewhere. I left the WH drain plug out, with a white bucket under it, then ran 3 hot water faucets and the toilet, had pink coming out of all (so should be adequately winterized, I think), but also had pink running out of the WH tank again although not by the amount being pulled from the jug, and ended up with less than a pint in the white bucket.

So, all I can figure is one or both bypass valves is/are failing partially, and allowing antifreeze into the WH tank. Will have dealer check it out for warranty repair.

Thanks for all of the replies and help.

[JFlightRisk]

There'll be a little more antifreeze left in your water heater. About a quart or better. The drain hole isn't at the very bottom of the tank. It's not going to hurt a thing, but wanted to let you know, so when you go to flush it out later and get more out, you're not alarmed.

[GL243]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

There'll be a little more antifreeze left in your water heater. About a quart or better. The drain hole isn't at the very bottom of the tank. It's not going to hurt a thing, but wanted to let you know, so when you go to flush it out later and get more out, you're not alarmed.

Thanks, did not know that.

I guess that undrained water never causes any freeze damage, since it apparently has room to expand without breaking anything.

[JFlightRisk]

That's right. All water heaters have a little water left in the bottom. I'm not sure why they design them like that, but they do. It never causes a freeze problem.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

That's right. All water heaters have a little water left in the bottom. I'm not sure why they design them like that, but they do. It never causes a freeze problem.

So, is it worth it to send a little burst of AF into the WH to give some winter protection to that standing water? Plus, this would put some AF into that short piece of tubing between the shut off valve and tank entry.

[JFlightRisk]

I don't think it a necessary thing to do, since the water left in the tank after draining, won't damage anything. Any antifreeze introduced into the water heater would be diluted, so I don't believe there would be any advantage to do it.

[RetiredOne]

I would still be concerned about that cold inlet pipe, since it's on the downward slope. Even if the HW tank is drained, there will be water sitting in that pipe and in the pex tubing on the cold water side by the valve. I would think mixing some AF in that point would be a good ounce of prevention from freezing.

[JFlightRisk]

There's nothing wrong with adding antifreeze there, and insuring it being winter proof. I drain everything, blow out the lines ,bypass, and pump in the pink. So far it's worked well, but there's so many different plumbing configurations, you just never know. The good thing is that the PEX will expand some, so it won't split like the old stuff if there's a low spot that holds some water. It's a personal choice, and that's just fine.

[eagle55]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

I would still be concerned about that cold inlet pipe, since it's on the downward slope. Even if the HW tank is drained, there will be water sitting in that pipe and in the pex tubing on the cold water side by the valve. I would think mixing some AF in that point would be a good ounce of prevention from freezing.

I'm
pretty certain that water in the WH inlet line is higher than the drain plug and so drains out on its own along with the water in the water heater . Otherwise there would be a lot of damage reports about this..

[mjohn25000]

I had this same thing happen to me. Told the dealer about it when he had it in for warranty work and now when I winterized it last week everything worked fine. I think they replaced a valve but I'm not sure since we don't get a receipt for warranty work. All is good now.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by eagle55

I'm
pretty certain that water in the WH inlet line is higher than the drain plug and so drains out on its own along with the water in the water heater . Otherwise there would be a lot of damage reports about this..

That picture was from when I first got the rig. In that picture, it looks like the inlet pipe runs at a downward angle to the tank, so if that's the case, it wouldn't matter where it entered the tank, and the relation to the drain, it would still trap water.

I'm going to be in there next week winterizing, so I'm going to confirm if it really is a water trap, or just an optical illusion in the picture.

[GL243]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

I would still be concerned about that cold inlet pipe, since it's on the downward slope. Even if the HW tank is drained, there will be water sitting in that pipe and in the pex tubing on the cold water side by the valve. I would think mixing some AF in that point would be a good ounce of prevention from freezing.

I wondered about this as well. Am even wondering a bit if this might have caused a little freeze damage to the lower bypass valve, perhaps? I guess I'm lucky the valve only allows some water or antifreeze to get past it and not leak it out onto the floor.

[GL243]

Originally Posted by mjohn25000

I had this same thing happen to me. Told the dealer about it when he had it in for warranty work and now when I winterized it last week everything worked fine. I think they replaced a valve but I'm not sure since we don't get a receipt for warranty work. All is good now.

Thanks, good to know. This answered one of my main questions I mentioned at the start.