Ran into an issue with the tankless water heater on my 2014 house and was able to fix it in about 10 minutes with a screwdriver and some sandpaper. I did a write-up (attached) for my neighborhood as a little marketing to a couple agents that live here and just to be neighborly. Parts here on Maui can be hard to come by and getting something running again (even if just temporarily while waiting for new parts) is nice.
These tankless water heaters are new enough that I’ve really never done any work on them. Thank goodness for YouTube! Anyway, thought it might helpful general knowledge for the group. Rinnai RL94 Igniter and flame rod cleaning.pdf (341.0 KB)
Nope… just no hot water yesterday so I went out and stood by and had one of my kids turn on hot water. It ran through the normal power-vent fan routine but just didn’t fire.
Great job! Going to assume you haven’t had maintenance performed on it like you were supposed to since 2014 There is more to it than cleaning the flame sensor. You may wish to look into it to prolong its life.
It’s technically my wife’s house so I’m not too concerned with maintenance I just wanted a hot shower… even though the water in Hawaii is never really all that cold. I managed to suffer through a couple showers yesterday before I had time to deal with it today. I’d guess it comes out of the cold tap in the 60s.
I’ve always used a piece of copy paper instead of sandpaper or emery cloth. My HVAC guy thinks sandpaper is too abrasive for the flame rod. I have to clean the flame rod on my furnace about every 5-6 years.
There is more to it than cleaning the flame sensor. You may wish to look into it to prolong its life.