Tankless water heater help

[SDHNTR]

I’ve got a Noritz N063S1 on propane up at my cabin. Not easy to get a repair man up here. It’s been acting fickle ever since the weather got cold. Over the last cpl months I’ve had to unplug and re start the thing several times but it always got going again. Now it won’t. Acts like it’s not getting power at all. Unplugging does nothing now. Wont kick on. Seems odd it just quit, but I don’t understand these contraptions. There’s no screen or readout for error codes.

Any ideas? Wife is not happy.

 

[stonewall]

Not sure this would help, but supposedly you’re supposed to flush those out regularly. I wonder if mineral deposits have built up in it to the point it won’t work?

YouTube it. One guy runs straight vinegar through his for a while. Might work

Another vid of him cleaning one out:

 

[Catchfish]

I would start looking at 3 things, your power, the water (scale) or fluctuations in water provided might have low level shutoff or a high, heating element ( high temp, or a problem with it dirty fuel, heating element). I have no experience just ideas I would check if it was mine. I had issues with a normal hot water heater when it was new had to open the blow down drain hard filled and popped the pop off valve/ psv and never had a problem again.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Not sure this would help, but supposedly you’re supposed to flush those out regularly. I wonder if mineral deposits have built up in it to the point it won’t work?

This, and I seem to remember there being small filter screens that need cleaning once in a while, especially if your water has a lot of sediment. I think there is some kind of sensor in those things that won't fully kick on the burners enough to get water really hot unless there is good enough flow going through. So you might still be getting decent pressure but the water will be cold or just warm, and it may make it seem like it's a power issue where it turns on but then turns off very quickly. Those things are hard to understand for sure.

 

[Comerade]

They often don't work as well on well water, ( low water table times)they like a constant water supply, water pressure.
I have solved these things with closed loop , pressure tank. These work well anyways, and will hold water pressure where it needs to be. Maybe this will help

 

[SDHNTR]

They often don't work as well on well water, ( low water table times)they like a constant water supply, water pressure.
I have solved these things with closed loop , pressure tank. These work well anyways, and will hold water pressure where it needs to be. Maybe this will help

Thanks, not on a well tho.

 

[Billy Goat]

It kinda sounds like a control panel problem to me. I'm not familiar with that brand, I have installed a few Rinnai's. Could be a power surge damaged something and it has just taken a while for it to go completely, or just a poor contact from the factory.

Also could be something as simple as the intake/exhaust fan. If that's not running it's not going to work. I'd think it would have some sort of diagnostic panel, but maybe not.

 

[Wolverine]

Start with changing it out with a regular water heater. Especially if you aren't able to do the service and its difficult to get service guys to come out. Thankless units are maintenance pigs. Check power source, control board and incoming propane pressure. There could be some sort of low propane pressure switch on it.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Does the outlet have power? Try plugging something else in to see if it has power.

Does the control panel power up? If not, does the unit have an internal blown fuse?

Is the flow sensor working? When a hot water faucet is open, does the exhaust fan start running? Does the glow plug get hot?

Too much scale build up can block the flow sensor.

Is the gas valve to the heater in the open position? The handle should be parallel to the gas pipe. Perpendicular is closed. Is the line clogged?

If you flush the boiler with vinegar, clean the water inlet filter, air filter and condensate drain, check the fuse, and have power and gas, you should be good to go.

Most tankless heaters are setup with service valves that have 3/4" hose thread so you can attach washing machine type hoses for a service pump.

Some may have a different size or thread type; 3/4" NPT, 1" NPT. Check your heater before you do your service or plan on taking some adapters to the cabin with you just to be safe.

Here is a link to the owner's manual.

http://support.noritz.com/download.php?file=Literature%20Page/Owners%20Guide/NR50+NR66+NR71%20OG.pdf&field=OwnersGuide

Good luck.