Stop wasting antifreeze filling a tank that doesn't need it. Camco's 35983 Quick Turn Permanent Bypass Kit lets you route antifreeze around your RV water heater with a single valve turn -- permanently installed, ready every season, no tools required at winterization time.
Every RV water heater -- whether it's a 6-gallon Atwood or a 10-gallon Suburban -- holds several gallons of water in its tank. Without a bypass, you have to pump all of that volume full of RV antifreeze just to protect the lines downstream. That's a lot of pink fluid going down the drain in spring.
The Camco 35983 installs once and stays in place permanently between your cold water inlet line and the hot water outlet. When winterization time comes, you simply turn the single valve handle to isolate the tank. Antifreeze flows through the bypass line directly into the hot side of your plumbing -- the water heater tank stays empty and dry.
One handle rotation fully redirects flow away from the water heater tank -- no multi-step valve juggling required.
Durable brass valve body and fittings resist corrosion and handle the repeated seasonal cycling RV plumbing demands.
Integrated backflow preventer stops cold water from migrating into the hot side when the system is under pressure.
Install once and leave it. No need to wrestle with temporary plug kits or loose fittings year after year.
In normal operation (summer/camping mode), the valve is open and water flows through the heater tank as designed. When you switch to bypass mode, the valve closes off both the cold inlet and hot outlet to the tank and opens a direct bridge line between them. Antifreeze or pressurized air pushed through the cold side goes straight to the hot side -- and from there throughout all your hot water lines -- without entering the tank.
In spring, simply switch back to normal operation, flush the lines with fresh water, and you're ready to go. The backflow preventer ensures that when the water heater builds pressure (especially with an electric element or propane), hot water can't push back into the cold supply line.
The 35983 kit is designed for a straightforward DIY installation on most standard RV water heater plumbing configurations. You will be working with the inlet and outlet connections at the back of your water heater, typically accessible from an exterior compartment panel.