Riviera: draining the plumbing?

[winedown]

Midnightsun, After you have drained the hot water tank, should you leave the drain valve open or does this matter..Thx

[Midnightsun]

Does not matter as no more water can get in once bypassed. Personally I leave it open as well as bypassed.

Part of my ritual when opening up all systems in spring is to get all the pink stuff out of the lines. With water heater bypassed it insures no pink stuff will get in there to foam up the lines for several weeks!

Once fresh water has been fed through ALL the lines, I un-bypass the water heater, shut off the drain valve and close the relief valve. Once again I turn on the pump with a hot water tap open to allow the tank to fill.

Important. Turn off your breaker for the water heater and do not turn it on until it is full of water again in spring or you may burn out the heating element.