Water Heater Check Valve ?

[Cate&Rob]

I have read several threads that discuss problems caused by a malfunctioning check valve on the hot water outlet from the water heater . . . so, I figured some preemptive maintenance would be to upgrade that valve . . . except that I don't seem to have one .

My understanding of the purpose for this valve (and I could be wrong here) is that this one-way valve prevents water/antifreeze from flowing back into the water heater outlet connection when "water heater bypass" is selected.

A little more investigation and I find that the Kantleak panel "Water heater bypass selector valve" actually has four connections and not the three that you might expect. It does two things. In the "normal" position it connects incoming cold water to the water heater inlet and connects hot water to the faucets. In the "bypass" position, it connects incoming cold water (or antifreeze) to the hot water faucets and isolates the water heater inlet and outlet by connecting them to each other.

This seems like a pretty clever way to not need a problematic check valve. Am I missing something here ??

Rob