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instant water heaters

OldPeculier

By OldPeculier
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Jakubuk Gongoozler

Jakubuk

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I have a problem with my Rinnai heater (58E): it's performance have slowly dropped down and now it will not ignite easily on any settings (LO, HI, 3,4,5 etc).

 

I suspect - after reading several posts - that it might be a lime scale problem.

 

Is it any easy way to a.) check it is indeed a lime scale problem b.) cure it - descale the unit?

 

 

thank you for all your advice!

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BEngo Veteran II

BEngoDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I have a problem with my Rinnai heater (58E): it's performance have slowly dropped down and now it will not ignite easily on any settings (LO, HI, 3,4,5 etc).

 

I suspect - after reading several posts - that it might be a lime scale problem.

 

Is it any easy way to a.) check it is indeed a lime scale problem b.) cure it - descale the unit?

 

 

thank you for all your advice!

 

 

What is the water flow like? Has it reduced over time? If so limescale is possible but really the water at the outlet would have to be pretty hot for limescale to form in the heater.

 

Check also for other obstructions in the water flow to and from the heater-in line filters, connections sealed with washers and partiocularly at the taps themselves. The sprayer things in the outlet of taps are very prone to scaling up, then not enough water can get throough the heater for it to allow itself to fire up.

 

To descale it use kettle descaler sold in hard water areas (not the wimpy stuff sold in medium soft water areas). Attakka is my favourite but there are others or, provided you are sure there are no steel bits in the water circuit, brick cleaner (hydrochloric acid) from builders merchants. Rinse it well when you have finished. These will also work if it is your taps that are scaled up but beware of the effect of brick cleaner on chrome finishes.

 

Remove the water heater from the pipework and circulate either hot descaler solution or the brick cleaner through the heater with the flow control set to max. Keep going until there are no more bubbles. Unfortunately it's hard to keep the descaler hot enough to go on working so you have to stop and re-heat every so often. Brick cleaner works when cold.

 

 

I have seen it done by filling the upside down heater with descaler/brick cleaner, wait, rinse, repeat but this is slow and the bubbles have a nasty tendency to push the descaler back out of the inlet.

 

N

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Posted (edited)

I have a calorifier and a Vaillant (non-room sealed) instant gas water heater. I mainly use the immersion heater on the calorifier when I'm on shore power and the engine/calorifier if I'm on the move. But the Vaillant is really handy to have if the calorifier is cold and I need hot water.

Edited by blackrose
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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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daft question guys, does non room sealed mean it vents inside the room ?

 

The newer room-sealed models draw air from outside and so are considered safer.

 

Personally, I don't know what all the fuss is about. It's not like a water heater stays on for more than a few minutes at a time and even if it does a properly vented boat will allow more air in. Anyway, until they invent a room-sealed solid fuel stove and room-sealed human beings I'm not going to worry about it.

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jakub Contributor

jakub

Posted
Posted

Thanks, Bengo.

 

Unfortunately I did not manage to remove the heat exchanger bit from my heater, because the flue hood was in the way and I couldn't find the way to pull it out:(

However: I disconnected the pipework at the heater and using huge plastic syrynge I flushed it with a. Vinegar b. Kettle descaler (Oust).

I put the heater back together, but before that I used the well-proven method: tapped it gently with the spanner, here and there....

 

And: hey presto, it works again.

 

Thanks for advice.

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bramley Community Regular

bramley

Posted
Posted

sorry again.

 

If I had a paloma that vented into the cabin is that right? i.e I have no flue...

 

i mean i would only really use it for washing up so probably wont use it often at all, but it passed bss till 2014

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

Posted
Posted

amazing, I noticed it earlier, the paloma vents to the cabin and must had done for many years with BSS certs to show this.

 

Il make sure i dont use it then.

Its funny your ceiling is not scorched.

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bramley Community Regular

bramley

Posted
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Its funny your ceiling is not scorched.

thats what made me realise where it went, there is heat protectant around the top of the vent to stop this, but even if it vented upwards it would vent into the stearn hood cover lol

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

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thats what made me realise where it went, there is heat protectant around the top of the vent to stop this, but even if it vented upwards it would vent into the stearn hood cover lol

The exhaust flu goes out through the roof to the outside like a coal stove flu and chimney.

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

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The exhaust flu goes out through the roof to the outside like a coal stove flu and chimney.

 

It's a 'flue', not a 'flu'. Flu is short for influenza innit ;)

 

Despite popular opinion, flueless appliances (e.g. water heaters, and cookers) are perfectly safe and legitimate, provided they are installed and used in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions.

 

Mike

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Chris Pink Veteran II

Chris Pink

Posted
Posted

sorry again.

 

If I had a paloma that vented into the cabin is that right? i.e I have no flue...

 

i mean i would only really use it for washing up so probably wont use it often at all, but it passed bss till 2014

 

If it's only connected to one tap you don't need an outside flue for the BSC, though if you use if for long periods a CO alarm may be a good idea.

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bizzard Veteran II

bizzard

Posted
Posted

It's a 'flue', not a 'flu'. Flu is short for influenza innit ;)

 

Despite popular opinion, flueless appliances (e.g. water heaters, and cookers) are perfectly safe and legitimate, provided they are installed and used in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions.

 

Mike

It was a toss up between Flu and flew, Inflewenza.

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pinkoi Contributor

pinkoi

Posted
Posted

 

I guess I'm thinking about the reality of us both comming home from work late, cold and fed up. I quite like the idea of sparking up the Refleks, sticking the kettle on top and jumping into a hot shower.

 

We have a refleks and while we wouldn't be without it (and we did have 500 quids worth of reason to skip it recently) life isn't quit as simple as your picture paints. Just a word from the wise :)

 

They need regular cleaning, it takes about 3 hrs to heat a 60 litre tank of water. They are the kind of stove you should leave running low in the background rather than turning off all the time. How much you have to clean it depends a lot on how much you turn it off and on.

 

The kettle on the top thing is great and you can do a good stew on it or boil the potatoes if you don't have a spare hob.

 

Refleks is out only source of hot water so we are thinking of going down the gas heater route for summer too.

 

Hope this helps

 

:)

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Radiomariner Rising Star

Radiomariner

Posted
Posted (edited)

If it's only connected to one tap you don't need an outside flue for the BSC, though if you use if for long periods a CO alarm may be a good idea.

 

That is absoloutly correct. The BSS phrasing is "single point instant water heater". Multiple point water heaters must have a flue.

The required ventilation for the unflued device will of course be very much higher.

Unflued water heaters generally have a metal plate to divert most of the heat from any flamable material above.

 

I recommend CO alarms for all boats with gas cookers, and/or non room sealed heating systems, (Including Solid fuel and diesel).

They will also detect CO from exhausts from your boat engine or generator (or even those of others) if the wind is in the wrong direction.

BSS has launched a new safety leaflet on CO. Check it out on the BSS website.

http://staysafe.boatsafetyscheme.com/media/180329/co%20safety%20on%20boats%20final%20(web)%20june%202012.pdf

 

Edited to add link

Edited by Radiomariner
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OldPeculier Community Regular

OldPeculier

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We have a refleks and while we wouldn't be without it (and we did have 500 quids worth of reason to skip it recently) life isn't quit as simple as your picture paints. Just a word from the wise :)

 

They need regular cleaning, it takes about 3 hrs to heat a 60 litre tank of water. They are the kind of stove you should leave running low in the background rather than turning off all the time. How much you have to clean it depends a lot on how much you turn it off and on.

 

The kettle on the top thing is great and you can do a good stew on it or boil the potatoes if you don't have a spare hob.

 

Refleks is out only source of hot water so we are thinking of going down the gas heater route for summer too.

 

Hope this helps

 

:)

 

Thanks. I wouldnt be heating our hot water with the Refleks, just the cabin space with three rads running from it in an unvented system. One of the reasons I like them is as you say, you can have them running on low in the background.

 

Can you still get the cleaning blocks? I used to use them once a month. just drop it in and it de-cokes the thing for you.

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