Originally posted by Podster
1) Where exactly is the bypass pump and bypass valves on my 2017 178? Pump is behind the service panel below the sink. Valves are under the bed. 2) What is the purpose of the "in between" bypass valve on the hose between the hot and cold inlet bypass valve? When closed, prevents hot and cold water from mixing when the other two valves are open. When open allows water to flow while the others are closed to prevent flow into the water heater. 3)What is the purpose of the bypass pump, if any, other then to be able to pump antifreeze thru the system for winterization? Not really a pump, but an uptake valve. It allows RV anti-freeze to be sucked up into the plumbing system by inserting the pigtail hose connected to the same valve into the anti-freeze jug, opening the valve and turning on the water pump.
Here is a great video by my main man Travis "aka...MoosePOD" on how all of this works...
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Cliff, thanks so much for the information. I really appreciate the reply. Do you own a 178? It sounds like a tremendous amount of trouble to open and close the shut the bypass valves.
I am going to get a hold of my selling dealer Monday. When we received our initial walk thru it was done by a mechanic that had prepped and serviced our R-Pod. He at that time told me that it was already winterized, but he did not find it necessary to use the pink anti-freeze, they blew the lines out with compressed air and that was it. I never asked him, nor did he mention the bypass valves and their status of being open or closed, that is why I was looking for them to know where they are at and to be able to know how to access them in the future when I do add antifreeze to the system. So all this information brings me to these questions.
1) When I winterize is simply blowing out the system with compressed air enough? Or do I want to make sure I always add pink anti-freeze to the system (I live in southern Oregon and we do get cold winters, in the 20's)?
2) If I do winterize using antifreeze how difficult is it to...
a. access the bypass valves under the bed (tips and info would be greatly appreciated)?
b. access the pump and utilize the hose for uptaking antifreeze from antifreeze container?
3) How difficult is it to utilize the access to the pump (post mentioned it is under the sink behind a service panel) to be able to add the pink anti-freeze?
4) When winterizing by blowing out the lines, in lieu of adding anti-freeze, would you still need to open and close the bypass valves for this operation ( I assume no, but hate to assume anything with my lack of experience and knowledge)?
I NOTICED THAT WHILE I WAS WRITING THE ABOVE NEW QUESTIONS THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME REPLIES THAT ADDRESS SOME OF THE QUESTIONS. I WOULD APPRECIATE AS MUCH INPUT BY THOSE HOW OWN A 178 AND DEAL WITH THE SAME ISSUES. THANKS...JOHN