Stop pumping antifreeze through your water heater every winter. The Camco 35963 Supreme Bypass Kit installs once and gives you a simple, permanent way to isolate and drain your 10-gallon RV water heater -- saving gallons of antifreeze and hours of hassle season after season.
Most RV water heaters sit inline with the fresh water system. Without a bypass, every drop of antifreeze you pump into the lines also fills the tank -- wasting 6 or 10 gallons of pink antifreeze on a tank that doesn't need it. The Camco Supreme kit adds two brass 3-way valves and a 12-inch connecting hose that permanently reroute flow around the heater tank when it's time to winterize.
Once installed, winterizing takes a valve turn, not a tank swap. The 12-inch hose fits neatly in the confined plumbing bay behind most Atwood and Suburban water heaters. Brass valve bodies resist corrosion and provide full, non-restrictive flow during normal seasonal use when the bypass is closed.
Two full-flow brass valves resist corrosion and provide leak-free shutoff for both bypass and normal operation modes.
The 12-inch connecting hose is crimp-resistant and reinforced to maintain shape and flow in tight plumbing bays.
Bypassing a 10-gallon tank saves up to 10 gallons of antifreeze per winterizing cycle -- a meaningful reduction in cost and chemical waste.
Permanent installation means no annual removal or temporary fittings. Toggle bypass on or off with a simple valve turn each season.
The two 3-way valves are plumbed at the cold-water inlet and hot-water outlet of your water heater. The 12-inch hose bridges the two valves. In normal (summer) operation, both valves route water through the tank as usual. When winterizing, turning both valves redirects flow through the bypass hose, isolating the tank so it can be drained and left empty while antifreeze is pumped only through the supply lines.
This approach is far more reliable than plastic inline bypass valves and doesn't require you to remove the tank's anode rod or drain plug every time you want to isolate the heater.
Skipping the tank fill saves roughly 10 gallons of RV antifreeze per winterization. Over several seasons, the kit pays for itself in antifreeze alone -- and protects your tank from freeze damage at the same time.
This kit is sized for 10-gallon RV water heaters. It is compatible with most standard RV water heater plumbing connections. Common applications include Atwood and Suburban 10-gallon units found in travel trailers, fifth wheels, and Class A/C motorhomes.
No additional fittings are included. Depending on your existing plumbing, short nipples or adapter fittings may be needed to connect the valves to your heater's inlet and outlet ports.
Always drain the water heater tank completely before closing the bypass and storing the rig. An undrained tank can still freeze and crack even with the bypass active. Turn off the water heater (gas or electric) well before draining to allow the tank to cool.