Any experts on Radiant heat and tankless water heater systems?

[plexiform]

Been cold las few days on the central coast and noticed today the heating system is not working. We have a tankless water heater (Rinnai model #2424) set up with a radiant heat system. The radiant temperature adjuster is showing 61 degrees and flashing and does not let me turn up the temp. This system seems to have been working for the past 6 years I've lived in the house and just now not working. Although I was never convinced it was working as well as it should. Any advice from experienced folks would be appreciated before I hire someone and start shedding out big $$ if its not needed.

[look 171]

Many of those will throw a code telling you what's wrong with the unit. Go back to your manual and look for them. Have you ever clean out your little filter where the water enters the unit?

[plexiform]

Thanks for the response. Im wondering if the flashing "61" on the thermostat is actually the error code and not the temp. If it is error code 61 is a failed blower motor. No I haven't cleaned the filter.

[ckelly78z]

Most of these "hands off" systems still require a bit of attention...clean any filters, check for any leaks, listen for any noises. Does the blower motor make any noise when normally running ?

[ossiblue]

Agree that the flashing "61" is probably a code and the failed blower motor would account for the poor performance of the heating system. The tankless systems require regular maintenance of the items mentioned in the other posts, as well as regular flushing and descaling of the lines. Many owners do not perform those tasks with resultant early failure of the heat exchangers.

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by ossiblue

. . . regular flushing and descaling of the lines. Many owners do not perform those tasks with resultant early failure of the heat exchangers.

^^^ This

[Tobra]

My parent's system crapped out after about 7 years. Took about a month of no hot water with the installer not figuring it out before the company that made the system sent some guys out who fixed it. I will ask what it was that went wrong. Not the recirc pump, which the installer replaced while still in a state of confusion about the problem.

[Cajundaddy]

The Rinnai is a pretty good unit but works best if cleaned, serviced, and descaled annually by you or a qualified tech. Sometimes rodents will move in, chew on the wiring or sensors and cause a #61 failure.

[plexiform]

Thanks for the responses. I've called a pro and am assuming the position.

[rusnak]

I looked at tankless water heaters, but decided instead to get a super efficient big ass water heater with a recirculating pump. I'm so glad that I did. We have never run out of hot water.

[Brian 162]

I'm a retired hvac guy. I once had a bird wind up in a ventor motor assembly on a 2 pipe high efficiency boiler years ago. The bird wedged its way into the housing jamming the motor so couldn't spin. Once I removed the bird the unit fired up.
Hey you never know.

[unclebilly]

We have a Rinnai for our home water heating.

The only troubles we have had with it are: the intake plugging with frost so it shuts down and throws a code occasionally in the winter and the blower motor went in it like yours appears to have. I noticed that the fan had gotten louder before it threw the code.

When I replaced the blower (really simple to do), I noticed that there were about 10 moths in the squirrel cage. They threw the fan out of balance and took out the bearing. It’s been fine since I changed it.

Here are the error codes for your reference.

https://www.rinnai.us/support/error-codes

[plexiform]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

We have a Rinnai for our home water heating.

The only troubles we have had with it are: the intake plugging with frost so it shuts down and throws a code occasionally in the winter and the blower motor went in it like yours appears to have. I noticed that the fan had gotten louder before it threw the code.

When I replaced the blower (really simple to do), I noticed that there were about 10 moths in the squirrel cage. They threw the fan out of balance and took out the bearing. It’s been fine since I changed it.

Here are the error codes for your reference.

https://www.rinnai.us/support/error-codes

Thank you. I have a Rinnai tech coming tomorrow to service the unit. Its going to cost me an arm and a leg but he is willing to teach me what to do so I can service this myself next time. I actually have a second Rinnai tankless heater for the water we use in the house in addition to the radiant heat setup so I will do the service on the other one myself. Should be a good learning experience. I probably should have investigated and learned about this stuff when I moved in to this house.

[unclebilly]

When I got the new blower motor, the electrical connections were different than on the original one so I had to cut and splice on the original connectors. Otherwise it was no big deal.

[Evans, Marv]

Another reason this BBS is great. I had never thought of a site for error codes. Thanks !!!!