De-winterizing, white, foamy water

[davescounry]

Hello all -

Thanks in advance for helping, and if this info is somewhere else, I apologize for being repetitive.

Just picked up my new Heartlend about a week ago and getting ready for our first trip. This is a 2018 Trail Runner 22 SLE.

I went to test out my water systems, and apparently the unit was still winterized. I probably didn’t do this right, and can’t seem to figure it out now. I filled up the fresh water tank, which was the gravity fill type, and then tried to run the pump. Some pink fluid came out and the nothing.

It took me a bit to figure out there was a panel below the oven that I needed to access and that I needed to open a few different valves to get things flowing. I opened everything and filled the water heater. In hindsight, I have read maybe I shouldn't have opened the water heater lines at first. Now, all my water is very white and foamy and I can’t seem to get rid of that. The water seems to have a chemical smell also, which I assume is the antifreeze.

I tried to drain the fresh water tank, refill it with some bleach added to the water, but nothing seems to have changed. I don't think I am smelling the bleach in the water, which I had expected to be able to smell it. So far, it has been about 12 hours, and I have periodically ran the taps, so about helf my fresh water tank is full now.

Also, FWIW, it seems like when I go straight to city water, meaning when I screw the hose in and leave it, the water seems to be OK.

What should I be doing here? I believe this is still chemical based and not air since I detect some odor, and the milkiness to the water doesn't dissipate when I let it sit.

 

[danemayer]

Hi davescounry,

Congratulations on the new Trail Runner and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

I may be confused, but if I follow your description correctly:

- The pump is pulling water out of the fresh tank and through the water faucets, etc.
- The water coming out of the fresh tank doesn't smell like bleach, despite you having added bleach to the fresh tank
- The water coming out of the fresh tank is foamy and smells like antifreeze
- When using city water, the water coming out of the faucet seems fine.
- You think you may have antifreeze in the water heater.

If you did get antifreeze in the water heater, you should be getting the same smell and foam on city water as when pumping from the fresh tank. That's because either source pushes water through the water heater when you open a hot water faucet.

I think you'll have to flush quite a bit of water through the water heater to get rid of the antifreeze smell and foaming. You might start by draining the water heater and flushing it with a water heater tank rinser that you can get from a local dealer or from Amazon.com. If you're not sure how to drain the water heater, take a look at our owner-written Water Heater Usage Guide.

I don't know why you didn't get a bleach smell when pumping from the fresh tank after adding bleach.

You might also want to take a look at our Water Systems Guide to make sure you have all 4 valves in the correct position for de-winterizing (hot & cold open, crossover closed, anti-freeze suction closed).

 

[davescounry]

Dan -

Thanks for the reply. I knew I probably had not written my scenario correctly, but you interpreted almost perfectly.

If I had one correction, it is that I am wondering if the antifreeze is in the fresh water tank as much or more than simply the lines and the water heater. I assume, but may be wrong, that when running on city water (hose connected) that by passes the fresh water tank, and that would be why the water clears up when running that way. Only speculation on my part.

I will download and read the guides today. If there is anything else I can do to help troubleshoot, please direct me.

 

[danemayer]

When on city water, the fresh tank contents don't come into play, so running on city water could be clear while running from the fresh tank could be foamy.

But antifreeze is not usually put into the fresh tank when winterizing.

You might also open the drain for the fresh tank, let it drain, refill, drain to get as much as possible out of it without running it through the water heater or the rest of the plumbing system.

Everything will probably clear up after a lot of rinsing.

 

[Gary521]

I would like to add one thing. When flushing the lines of antifreeze, do all the faucets, toilet, outside shower, washing machine lines and inside shower both hot and cold. If you do not do everything, some residual will be there for a long time. Do the opposite when winterizing.

 

[davescounry]

All -

Thanks for the advice and the link to the guides. My understanding of systems grew a lot.

I had emailed the dealer and they called me a couple of times. Between advice here and what they told, I think I was able to triangulate the problem. Apparently, if the valves are not opened a certain way, some anti-freeze can leak back into the fresh water tank. This is why when I run city water, I am not having a problem. So, the solution is basically to pump/drain the fresh water tank. I have opened the drain valve under the unit, but that is a small drain, so it might take a while. I am also parked in my driveway and likely at a slight tilt, so I need to perhaps adjust my level.

So, the fix might take a few rounds of flushing, but I am sure I will get there. I was hoping for some solution that didn't involve copious amounts of water. Ordinarily, I would direct it to my lawn, but it has been so wet where I am at, my lawn is over saturated already.

On our first outing, the place we are going doesn't have city water. I don't know that we would drink from the fresh water tank, but would like to take showers. Hopefully I can get enough out that it won't impact that. I have heard this stuff is non-toxic, but I'd like to at least get the odor minimized.

On the bright side, I felt my dealer was nicely responsive to me. I actually drove about 250 miles, from one major metro to another major metro area because the dealers around here struck me as a little too much like snake oil salesmen. I don't know if the forum rules allow me to mention names, but the one I finally bought from took the perspective of actively helping me put the deal together, not like it was some type of adversarial relationship. If anyone is ever shopping in the Mid West region, I sure am willing to provide a recommendation.

 

[CoveredWagon]

Think of bottled water for drinking and food prep etc. I know lots of folks do that anyway. We always carry a case or two just in case