Tankless Water Heater Flush - How to Descale
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- Опубликовано: 25 янв 2019
- Have you done this yet? Chances are that if you have a tankless water heater, this is something you've overlooked or forgotten about like me. In this video, I show you how to do it yourself for about a $70 one time investment (items listed below). Update: If you decide to turn off the power, do not do it in the middle of the flush! Do it at the beginning and see specific instructions below!
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I left the electricity on during the flushing, which is okay to do, but for safety, you may choose to cut the power. If you do, there's a very specific procedure to follow, given by the manufacturer, so all of the correct valves stay open without electricity. Here's the procedure to shut off electricity:
1. Follow these steps after gas has been turned OFF.
2. At the remote control, turn OFF the power and wait 10 seconds.
3. Turn ON the power at the remote control, wait 10 seconds.
4. At the tankless water heater site, disconnect the water heater from the electrical source. Electrical source will either be a plug, or in the case of my water heater, a switch.
5. Flush the system as shown in the video.
6. Reconnect power at site of tankless water heater right before you turn the gas back ON.
Supplies you'll need:
1. 5 Gallon Bucket - homedepot.sjv.io/JGAxq or amzn.to/2METVce
2. 2-3 Gallons of White Distilled Vinegar (cheaper in grocery store, but here's an Amazon link) amzn.to/33b9pdX
3. A Submersible Pump amzn.to/33eqtj5 or homedepot.sjv.io/Qodjx
4. 2 Washing Machine Hoses amzn.to/2YEgjon or homedepot.sjv.io/jk6e6
![How to descale a Tankless water heater. Chromex Tankless water heater descaler kit [557]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NNJEGX4AApo/mqdefault.jpg)
Love the video. Very informative but also hilarious with all the extra video effects. Good luck HFH!
Thank you, Jeff!
Bought the same pump from Amazon, thing worked brilliantly.
Awesome! Same! I've used it several times now and loaned it to many neighbors. Everyone seems to like it a lot.
very instructive with full details. I come back to this video every year when it’s time to flush the water heater. Thank you!
Thanks! Glad it helped! I go back to this video when I do mine too. Haha.
Note -- The Rinnai website specifies vinegar only, no chemicals! Also, power and gas OFF.
Great video doing this for the first time with my own unit here in North Florida (Saint Augustine) its been 4 yrs since we bought the home. Very easy process thanks for your knowledge and time.
You're very welcome! We are practically neighbors. I live about 20 minutes from downtown St. Augustine. Glad you found the video helpful!
Good grief... turn off the power. I read your instructions but most people wouldn't. There is still gas pressure between the valve and the heater allowing the heater to light off. If the low water pressure switch was gummed up and not shutting down the unit, it would have lit and melted your tubes inside (looks like a 200 BTU unit). Also the pump could satisfy the low water pressure switch. You put alarm codes in your unit that when a tech comes to diagnose it, he will be like yup... you broke it. The switch is right there man. The only thing you would have to maybe do is set your temperature on the inside panel when you turn it back on. The pump you used is going to corrode inside, but it will last a pretty good bit. Another thing is I use 1 gallon and run it for a while then dump that and then do a fresh gallon. Sometimes 3 or 4 gallons ran separate is what it takes (you can dilute the gallon with fresh water if your panties are bunched up). Each new gallon will fizzle when you start circulating. Also put something in the bottom of the bucket to keep the pump from sucking up and pushing crud back into the heater. Definitely clean the strainer when finished. And then put your return hose to a drain and put a garden hose into the bucket to refill it while the pump is running allowing the fresh water to flush your pump, hoses, and heater. Thanks tho for taking the time to make a video. I am not a pro... just a resident hillbilly.
So this is my first rodeo also. Yes I didn’t hear him unplugging the power source. But my main concern is when powering off the gas line and doing all the steps and reverse, when turning on the gas line how will it fire back up??? Do I have to light it up like old school or it’ll be automatically because it tankless? I know the old water heater big tank is you have to light it up in order to fire back on. So is this automatic???? Thanks for any advice
@@earlrdxturbo46 Tankless heaters are electronic auto ignition.
If using vinegar, you might want to run for a minimum of 2 hours (commercial cleaners for about 30 min). Vinegar is pretty weak, and therefore takes more time. But, it is much cheaper than commercial cleaners.
Also, to avoid vinegar smell in your lines after, leave the hot side hose connected to your line and bucket, and reconnect the cold water feed to the system to let it run for a bit. This will flush clean water through the system and into the bucket to clear out any remaining vinegar.
You are spot on! Excellent suggestions!
Great tutorial. Thanks!
Thanks!
Nice video. Glad to see others in Nocatee able to do some basic maintenance!
Very simple and clean process just by you!
Thank you! Hope it goes well for you!
Definitely will be doing this over the weekend since we been in our new home for 3 years and I refuse to pay someone $500.00 to do something I can knockout. Thanks for the informative video.
You're welcome. Let me know how it goes!
Our unit went out after 4 years in our new home. Eemax won't warranty it so we are out a big expense!!
@@dianadaughterofthemosthigh2610 I'm sorry to hear that. We're at 4.5 years now, but the Florida climate is tough on our tankless water heater. I'm sure we'll have to start replacing parts in the near future.
@@HandzforHire Why dont you guys put those tanks inside a utility room like we do up north here, they will last longer not being exposed to the elements?
Who tried to charge u 500.00 dollars
Great video! Well done!!
Thank you!
Thanks Jay. Never knew we should do this to our tankless water heater. Will have to put it on our things to do list.
You're welcome! It definitely helps extend the life of your tankless water heater - especially if you have hard water like we do in Floida.
Great video!, now I can install one in my house
Awesome! Thanks!
Super easy thanks for the help.
Reload Nominal glad it helped! I just redid mine about a month ago.
Nice job super informative. 👍
Thank you!
cool video thanks for sharing, I dug the science bit at the end
Thank you!
you should flesh cold water tank (use domestic water) with close hot water valve...
Thanks for the shout out! You rock Jay!
You're welcome! Happy to do it! You guys are doing great things over at iDriveFast!
The heat is activate by water movement, which also occurs while descaling, so TURN IT OFF or you will have hot vinegar and possibly damage your pump (depending on its thermal rating).
Hey, thanks for the tip. I have the gas valve shutoff so the heater has no energy source to activate. If I kept the gas on then we'd have a vinegar heating issue for sure. It's best practice though to turn all power off regardless. Have a great day!
Great video! Pleasure to watch, fun little video clips to add interest. (And the announcer’s voice also sounds familiar. 😉😁) subscribed and will share.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
I apologize if I missed something but 2 things I missed from your video. (1) *****The most important and is that you forgot to unplug the heater unit or at the least turn off at the control box during the whole process. (2) You didn't flush the vinegar from the unit with fresh water for 2-5 minutes after after you cleaned.
Hi Robert, I appreciate your feedback. I have always left the power on and not had an issue, however it is always safest to turn off all electricity. I talk about this in my description and give clear instruction on how to proceed with the power off. Also, you're right about flushing the tankless water heater before opening up the closed loop. I have such hard water and the quantity of vinegar left in inside the unit is so small that I sometime just run it through my internal pipes. While waiting for hot water, it flushes out almost immediately. Once again, it's never a bad idea to flush it. I always flush my submersible pump because I don't want vinegar sitting on it for a long period of time. Have a great day!
@@HandzforHire My question is you turned off the gas while leaving the electric on? wouldnt that starve the unit trying to call for fuel and be more harmful to the unit than just turning off the electricity?
Good video, my only suggestion would be to keep the pump elevated a bit so you are not circulating solid bits.
Hi Rich, thanks so much! Good suggestion. The pump is built to be slightly elevated off the bottom of the bucket. I do flush the pump and entire system with fresh water after and am surprised each time at the lack of debris in the vinegar solution. I guess most of the solids end up being fairly soluble.
Also good to flush with filter screen removed, pump flushes better, less resistance.
Great info. When you unplugged the pump it would've been funny if you would've said "I'm gonna pull the plug on this operation ".. corny, I know.
I drive fast also, haha. I race with champcar and World racing league. I'll be taking my new racecar build to the firm in the next couple weeks for a test day
Haha, that would have been good. That's awesome about racing. I've had a lot of fun at the FIRM with my friends who race. Have a great time!
so when you unscrew the caps that cover the ports just above the hot and cold lines that go into and out of the house, why doesn't water come shooting out? does port have a check valve?
It's hard to see and looks two dimensional, but the caps that I unscrew stick out from the main pipe and each port has a shut off valve (blue and red) directly above it. You seem me turn off the main cold water valve and the hot water valve that flows into the house. That creates a closed loop in the tankless water heater, and water is trapped inside the tankless water heater. I then open the valves to the ports with the caps, and the whole tankless water heater drains. I hope that helps!
Hi, thanks for the video. Can you put the link for the pump and hoses from Amazon.
Cyrus A hey, there are links in the description of the video. Have a great day!
Great little tutorial, particular for a first timer! Very helpful. Only question I have is that since you did not flush out the vinegar solution from the heater after you were done, did you have an initial problem with vinegar water flowing through the faucets your house and if so, for how long?
Tad, thanks so much! Glad it’s helpful! You are correct that I didn’t flush out the vinegar, but I did let it drain before I closed the flushing valves. When I closed the flushing valves and then opened up the cold valve, cold water did fill the tankless water heater immediately. I’m sure that there was a little residual vinegar mixed with the water. After I finished, I did run the hot water in the bathroom sink just to check because I had the same question as you. I did smell vinegar for a fraction of a second and then it disappeared. That was it, so I imagine it was a very small quantity. I hope that helps!
@@HandzforHire Thanks so much for your prompt reply, it was very helpful!
You’re welcome!
Flushed my tankless water after a year or so of use and the end result of the vinegar solution was pretty dark n black is this normal? Excellent video btw.
Thanks! I think if you have very hard water, and your tankless water heater lines are corroded, then you'll see a pretty dark solution. Mine has come out pretty dark and filthy as well. The water in this video was bluish and that's because some copper does react with the vinegar and the copper II compounds are blue in solution. When you flushed out the vinegar at the end was the water coming out pretty clear? Good luck and thanks for reaching out!
I watched like 10 of these videos and no one does this flush twice to see how clean they can get the system
Isn't that alot of ho to be pumping though the heater, how many times have u done this and how is it handling it...I read that 1/6th should be the limit
When I turn the gas back on, will it automatically lite by itself? I have propane but didn’t want to turn it off unless I knew it would light again. Thanks!
Hi Becky, great question! Most tankless water heaters do not have a standing pilot light but an electronic ignition. That means there’s no pilot light while the tankless water heater is not in use. The gas is lit electronically each time hot water is turned on in the house. You won’t need to do anything in regards to the pilot light. I hope that helps!!
Handz for Hire Thanks so much. I figured that but wanted to make sure. Don’t want to be stuck without hot water! Video is very helpful! Thank you!
Becky Dale you’re welcome!
how long should you run the fresh water through the heater for vinegar clearing?
Hi Alex, I just recently did mine again and after I finished flushing it with vinegar, I kept the system closed to the house. I then filled one bucket with water and pumped it through for just a minute, stopped the pump, changed the water and then pumped through again for another minute. I then closed it up and opened it back up to the house. I didn’t notice any vinegar smell in my home. Good luck!
Would 800gph submersive pump be ok enough to flush tanlless water heater?
Hi Dave, if you own the pump already, then by all means try it. The 1/4 HP pump I bought on Amazon can do up to 1800 gph, but as long as the pump is strong enough to keep the cycle going for 60-90 minutes, then you're good to go!
Excuse me after you cleaning and disconnected the hoses why only you turn o the bottom valves and you leave the top valves closed? I am a little confuses ? Thank you
The top valves open and bottom valves closed create a closed loop within the tankless water heater. While cleaning if the bottom valves were open, then you'd end up with vinegar in your house. After cleaning, flushing, etc. I closed the upper valves so that water wouldn't leak out of my tankless water heater, and then opened the bottom water valves. This allows cold water to flow into the tankless water heater, and once heated flow into my house. I hope that helps clarify!
I turned off the control unit while descaling so it would stop beeping. Does anyone know if I need to wait for it to finish before I try turning it back on cause it’s not turning on while it’s still descaling. Not sure it’s some type of safety mechanism.
Sorry to hear. I also had a beep when I did it at my hot water thermostat. Luckily it's inside my home in our master bedroom closet so I don't have to hear it while flushing. For me it's triggered when I turn off the flow into the house. I think the thermostat senses that it doesn't have a water source anymore and starts beeping. Maybe mine is different than yours, but that's my take on it. haha good luck!!
You need to flush it by keep the hot side open
So you can dump the remaining vinegar and lose calcium outside the system.
Not push it it towards you house faucet, shower valve
ect.
Wasn't the outlet near the heater working?
Hi Angel, I wish that was an outlet for convenience, but it's the on/off switch for the power to the tankless water heater.
Don’t forget to relieve the pressure from your tankless heater when you charge it back with water!!
Same day shipping? 🤯
Were you able to get same day shipping? If so, nice!!
@@HandzforHire I haven’t ordered yet. I was referring to your comment at 1:30 thanks for the tips!
No no don’t buy tankless not hot ! I setup 140 degree in the shower 30 degree may be lower I’m happy with it
We've never had an issue. Ours is set to 120 degrees and we always have hot water quickly. Have a great day!
Definitely turn it off.
TURN OFF THE WATER TO THE HOUSE BEFORE YOU USE THE IMMERSION PUMP.
Hi Leslie Colonello - I did! There was a shut off valve leading into the tankless water heater and a shutoff valve leading out of the tankless water heater. It was a completely closed system. Thanks for watching and have a great day.
Why is this important? If the valve at the heater inlet is off, why would you have to turn off the water main to the house?