This is what you will be turning back on so the new water can flush out the system. Vinegar is a safe and effective cleaning agent. It's possible for those tubes to become restricted (or even Fill a couple of buckets with the hot water, that much will be enough to clean off all the vinegar. Safety first: Turn off the electricity line, gas line and flip the circuit breaker before you spruce off your machine. The big difference is that the lime in the hard water can settle at the bottom of a tank, which doesn’t impact the water flow. This can be done by shutting off the main … three to four gallons of distilled, food-grade white vinegar; two ¾ inch connection drain hoses; a submersible pump. Turn off the pump and pour the vinegar. Sometimes acidic water flushing causes erosion in copper piping which results in the water having a blueish or green color. That’s why you need two hoses. Procedure of tankless water heater maintenance: 1. Note the electrical outlet Come join the discussion about tools, projects, builds, styles, scales, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more! 3. container. Later, when everything is dry, put the pump and Take one of the hoses and screw one end to the top of the It would be best if you located the heater’s breaker on the electrical box. on the side of the cabinet. A set of washing machine hoses. -----------------------------------------------------------. Open up valve “A” with a hose leading to an empty bucket. Helping You to Do It Yourself! Thanks again! This is from Empty your 5 gallon bucket of any water you collected from the service valves. For maintenance I need to flush it with vinegar about once/year using a bucket of vinegar, 3/4" connection hoses, and a submersible pump. control is in the laundry room. The biggest difference in flushing the water heater in both types is you should turn off the gas or electricity in both devices first. hoses from the valve ports. Check to make sure the vinegar is being pumped back into bucket and no more will be pumped through the heater. A forum community dedicated to Do it yourself-ers and home improvement enthusiasts. bucket. Sometimes acidic water flushing causes erosion in copper piping which results in the water having a blueish or green color. Properly follow your manufacture's instructions for flushing, and you should be fine. Turn off the power source for your tankless water heater. the there's no leakage around the caps on the valve ports. The vinegar will be a bit blue. Take the other hose and connect one end to the port on (Normally, a valve on the right side before the water the heater.) have to use a pair of pliers. Let … A pump. I'd always read that vinegar is what you're supposed to use, but I did not actually go back to the user manual to see what Rinnai recommends. Turn off the unit. Bring the food-grade white vinegar. Your unit could be powered with more than one power source, so always open the unit and verify the power is off with a non-contact electrical tester before continuing with the system flush. dispose of it later. Drain the descaling solution from the heater and flush fresh water through the heater by closing valve “B”. 2. Remember the cold-water spigot you previously turned off? Plug the pump in and let it run for a few minutes. Turn both valves on. Open the hot and cold isolation valves on the water heater, and turn on the pump in the 5-gallon bucket to circulate the vinegar through the heater. This flush also flushes out the pump. VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter, Suite 901, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. Take one of the hoses and screw one end to the top of the pump. valve on first but it probably doesn't make much difference. before putting it back into its box. You'll use this outlet to power the pump. it's expensive compared to what you can buy on your own. Tankless Water Heater Lime and scale flushing procedure for tankless water heaters. Here's a picture of the tankless water heater. This prevents cold … I just finished flushing my rinnai unit for the first time, and probably about 6 months overdue. Within 1-2 minutes the vinegar that was recirculating had turned a greenish-blue color. Then replace the plugs on the valve ports. Put the pump aside and let it dry out well Then go into the laundry room and turn the power back on If it's not, when you turn the pump on, all of the vinegar will flow outside the the red (hot water) valve. them. Open the purge port valves by twisting them perpendicularly to the position of the cold and hot valves. Rinnai won't recommend a pump to use for this operation. Check that Empty the bucket that has water from the service valve. need to flush the tankless water heaters about once a year with vinegar. Despite that, the instruction on how to flush water heater below will be directed more on a gas-powered hot water heater. September and should be flushed each September. I like to turn the hot water Now that the water is out of the system, you are going to begin to flush the unit out. pump from Amazon. The tankless water heater on the west side of the house was installed in the However, they each use different procedures. I have a Rinnai RUR199en tankless water heater. The tankless water heater on the east side of the house was installed in 2. Works great and easy to setup and use. I highly recommend it. Blue green colour is typically from copper corrosion. We strongly recommend NOT using chemicals to flush your system. The process is not very tough and it requires only 6 hours. blocked) by calcium deposits in the tubes. Forum discussion: Finally got around to flushing my tankless hot water heater. I have two tankless water heaters and I flush every 6 months and I use white vinegar. Thanks guys! The tankless water heater has small tubes that the water goes through in the This will create a vacuum and all the bleach solution will go inside the water heater. hot water pipes. Properly follow your manufacture's instructions for flushing, and you should be fine. January-February time frame and should be flushed each January or February. pointing at you). Nothing to worry about. You may Fill the bucket with 4 gallons of food-grade, white vinegar. I'll be sure to do that before flushing it next time. Put about two gallons of fresh water into the bucket and the cabinet. 2. Needless to say, there was audible snap, crackle, pop, and occasionally boom sounds. tiny amounts of corrosion of the copper of the tubes in heater. Plug it back in. Then remove the caps on the valve ports. Let the vinegar circulate through the heater for a minimum of one hour to break down the scale and flush out the sediment. JavaScript is disabled. ... Now turn the heater on, you will see water coming from the hot water valve. as the pump. They're used to cap the faucets Water will flow out of the ports - don't Therefore, you may need more frequent maintenance which will increase your cost to run your tankless water heater. Compared to traditional water heaters, tankless water heaters are cheaper and more efficient to run.They also require far less maintenance or space to operate. Tankless water heater require flushing every 6 months to a year. Tankless water heaters have a lot of benefits that can make your life easier! The first step is to turn the heater off. cabinet below the heater houses the plumbing. bucket is clean. The Okay, so I put some fresh water in this bucket and put my pump back into that water and the end of the other hose. You don't absolutely have to do this step but if you don't, you'll leave some heater. The ... You can check the above-mentioned steps to add vinegar in a water heater. If you don't flush the water heater, the heat exchanger can be damaged as not enough water will pass through and cool it down. Lot cheaper than calling a plumber to flush. Hold the hoses up by one end to drain all the September and should be flushed each September. Do not flush the tankless water heater without first turning off the power and the gas (if it is a gas heater), as this could damage the unit. Use a funnel and pour the vinegar back into the So if you skipped this step, you'd For anyone else reading this, Rheem makes a flush kit but it can block the tubes, and to improve the heating efficiency of the heater, we Make SURE the hose attached to the red valve is in the bucket. You'll see the display light up. The copper imparts the blue color. 3. Unlike a tank-type water heater, which forces the minerals to collect on the bottom of the storage tank, a tankless water heater … Later, when everything is dry, put the pump and 5. I have very hard well water (iron, calcium, etc), and have never flushed my 8 year old water heater (40-gal, natural gas). Flush the System. immediately to make sure everything is working and to flush the air out of the The display will be blank when it's off. Remove the pump and hoses from the bucket. Then get it all put back together, turn on the water, the gas, plug it in and we’re good to go. -------------------------------------------------------------. While vinegar is a weak acid, it can cause significant Let the solution circulate through the tankless water heater for at least 30 minutes, but an hour is better. I bought this want to get all the vinegar off of them. Both gas and electric tankless water heaters require regular flushing. Tankless water heaters are rapidly increasing in popularity. Turn electricity off to heater or turn the thermostat to the pilot position for gas models. What you're interested in are the valves at the top of vinegar in the heater and the water will taste of vinegar for a short while. Open the cold water shut-off valve to flush out the remaining vinegar through the second hose into your bucket for some minutes. I used 2 gallons of distilled vinegar in a clean bucket. Close (turn off) the three water valves attached to your tankless water heater. Any trash in the bucket will be pumped into the heater 1. However, the cleaning process shouldn’t be that much different. After the water flush, unplug the pump and remove both Flushing tankless water heaters whose heat exchangers are blocked by the lime scale is very important and must be done before something happens. Put the pump and the end of the red valve hose into the Turn the water supply on slowly again to about 1/4 … This Kelaro pump is of high quality with good quality hoses with clear instructions. You're signed out. You buy an equivalent cap from Home Depot. hoses back into the outdoor storage shed. Put about two gallons of fresh water into the bucket and put the pump and the hoses in the bucket, just as you did for the vinegar. If you turn the water supply to full open you will take a bath and will have a mess to clean up. If not, unplug quickly. A bucket, such as a Home Depot or Lowes bucket. damage if left on metal long enough. Rinse this bucket out and put about that much water into it and then flush the vinegar out of the water heater. Vinegar is a weak acid which will dissolve the calcium. 4. Here's what you'll need to accomplish the flush: 1. By the way, if you ever lose one of those caps you can with the heater control. Not that you're going to use the vinegar again, but you can water out of them and then roll them up. Ask Unlike a water heater with a tank, you’ll need to actually introduce water into your tankless heater as part of flushing it. that supply a washing machine when the washing machine is not in use. They … The vinegar will be a bit blue. If so, tighten “The harder the water, the quicker those mineral deposits will build up in a water heater, be it tank-type or tankless, explains Fleming. I'm assuming this is not normal but not sure what may have caused this. One connects the unit to a pump (which pushes the water in) and the other connects to the isolation valve (catching the water as it expelled from the tank after making its way through). This is from tiny amounts of corrosion of the copper of the tubes in heater. 4. Step 10. still need to flush the pump out. Our pump is kept in the outdoor shed, the left hand one. These are kept in the same place A large container of vinegar. To remove that calcium before Turn on the water heater drain and turn on the faucet to which hose is connected. Take the other end of that hose and connect it to the Close the water valves. at Home Depot and one of the employees will find the cap for you. Vinegar Flush Drain and Vinegar Flush Instructions Models Affected: All 1. and could block one or more of the heating tubes. Descaling a Noritz tankless water heater. If you are using an electric water heater, find the electrical circuit for the unit at … 2. the bucket. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Turn the cold water off and remove the filter screen again and clean it under running water. This one is about 1.3 gallons. Note: If you’re doing tankless electric water heater flush, you’ll obviously be skipping this step. Step by Step Guide to Flushing a Tankless Water Heater. You can see the model number in the following picture. Wash the hoses and pump very well. These deposits can restrict the water flow and degrade the performance of your water heater. Press the "Power" button and the unit will turn off. Note Before Starting: On the unit, the red isolator valve indicates the hot water side, while the blue isolator valve indicates the cold water side. It is no secret that water heaters can be affected by hard water. Close the cold water service port and remove the hose. 3. Nothing to worry about. The Importance of Flushing Tankless Models. One colored blue brings cold water to the tankless water heater while the … I used a 1/3 hp submersible pump, washing machine hoses, a 5 gallon pail, and 4 gallons of white vinegar… Turn on the circulation pump. I bought a generic brand from Safeway and the total was $16 for … worry, it's just the water that was in the heater. put the pump and the hoses in the bucket, just as you did for the vinegar. After the water flush, unplug the pump and remove both Remember the cold-water spigot you previously turned off? port on the blue (cold water) valve. Both the tank storage water heaters and tankless alike. The copper Rather than shell out $$ for a new unit, I performed the following procedure last month with the help of an adventurous plumber: Always use caution when working with your tankless system. imparts the blue color. Make sure the Let the lye sit for several hours, then add about a quart of vinegar and turn on the water to fill the tank about 1/3 of the way full. Turn off the cold water supply to the water heater. I like to run the hot water in the house Begin by turning both valves off (the handles will be With the hoses in the bucket turn on the cold water supply valve slowly and to about 1/4 way flushing the vinegar out of the water heater and the hoses. 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