If you are having any issues with performing my steps on your water heater or are unsure if you are actually cleaning the heat exchanger, check out my follow-up video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html
Clear and to the point directions. Super easy to follow. Saved me time and $$ (plumber was asking $300). I'll put this on my yearly maintenance reminder. Thank you.
I actually watched a video for the flushing of a different brand hot water heater and it didn't work on my Rheem. They recommended emptying the water out of the unit before connecting the hose. When I turned on the pump nothing came out of the hot water side into the bucket. After watching and following the Fix It Scotty video everything worked perfectly. Thanks, easy to follow and thorough, an excellent video!
@@FixItScottyHow did you fix it? nothing came out my hot hose either so I turned on the cold water for a second and it seemed to open it up but now after a 30 minutes its barely draining out the hot side. my pump is 2450gal/hour. I thought it would flow a lot more. plus my water in the bucket is a blueish color. does this sound normal?
@@walterbeechler4709 I don't know what model you have, but if you haven't watched my advanced flush video, there may be some tips in there. I linked it at the end of the video or in the description.
Nice job. I just completed this on a State (built by Takagi) heater. Only difference mine had a brass strainer above the cold shut off that I cleaned. Hadn’t cleaned unit for five years and we are on well water-but we do have a water softener. Vinegar solution didn’t really get that dark which I attribute to the soft water. Takagi recommends running for a minute at 150 degrees but I didn’t want to chance that considering the time gap between cleans. Your video was excellent for anyone considering this maintenance job.
I had a tankless today that no matter what I did the vinegar wouldn't pump through the vinegar. I ran a hose from the outside hose bid and it had no problem going through. A real headscratcher
So you're saying you couldn't flush the vinegar through the water heater's service valves, so you had to connect your pump to a hose bib to flush it through the piping? Interesting! Something must be wrong with the service valves.
Thanks! In my follow-up flush video I pulled some of the vinegar out of the orange bucket into a clear bowl and it looked similar to what you described. The orange bucket really affects the color.
mine was installed in November 2018 , just now doing a flush,for the first time , been running for 30 minutes and water still look very clean , using Calci-free , using it because it never been done and was installed 5 yrs ago , idont have a softener, just straight from the main
Good for you! Yeah, my orange bucket really colors my solution. In my advanced video (linked at the end), I pour my finished solution into a clear bowl. It's really not that cloudy. It has a blue-green tinge from copper corrosion and maybe a little bit of gray cloudiness. But otherwise it is clear.
Thanks for the video. Hard to beleive most people dont know this. Gotta different model trying to find my fittings. Looking like they did not install on my brand new house. 🧐
I keep hearing about tankless installations without maintenance valves. That's a shame; not sure why builders are doing this. In my advanced flush video (linked in my top comment), I talk a little about alternative maintenance valves. Thanks for watching! 🙂
Scott, I performed the same steps only with a Stiebel Tempra and I couldn't get the pump to push the vinegar through. Although I have a small filter in the fitting, it was clear. I couldn't find out why the the flow was blocked. I tried the pump in a bucket outside and it pumped fine. The reason I was cleaning the unit is because only one element is heating the water instead of two. The manufacturer recommended that I do what you did. It didn't work well for me.
If your pump is blocked, there may be an internal valve preventing flow while the unit is off. Have you seen my newest video? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html. I present two additional techniques to make sure your bypass valve is open when cleaning. If you still can't get it to work, try calling the manufacturer's support again to get a better answer.
@@FixItScotty Thank you Scott!! That's interesting. I watched your second video and I'll try performing the same thing I did last time only with the unit turned on. What I don't understand is Stiebel Tempra didn't mention anything about this.
I don't think backflushing is necessary unless the equipment has solids dissolved in the water flowing through it; like coffee or beer. I could be wrong. But I have only seen the advise from Rheem to do the flush as I showed in the direction of the flow. Thanks for watching!
@@FixItScotty thanks! I just ordered the pumps and hoses. I didn't know you were supposed to flush them so it's been 7 years! The igniter just went out so it's a good time to clean it.
thanks for the video. I have a water softener system and noticed recently I was getting limescale on my shower head. seems like this might be the culprit. unfortunately whoever installed the tankless water heater did not install the service valves to it. so theres no way for me to flush the system out. ive had it for about 2 years. so I hope im not at the point where I just have to replace the whole thing cuz of that buildup.
Have your softener checked. I had my softener for 10 years and I noticed scaling coming back. The unit had to be replaced because the resin in the main tank killed it. They don't last forever. After a few days with the replacement softener, I saw an improvement in scaling. You're not the first to mention the lack of service valves on a tankless heater. I don't know why some plumbers aren't installing them. How do they expect to flush it without them? Maybe ask the original plumber that question. Good luck and thanks for watching!
Hi Scott I have a rheem tankless for prob 10 yrs. Didn’t realize maintenance was required. Now I’m getting intermittent times where the water does not get hot. The code #12 appears which is no gas. Mostly this happens at my kitchen sink, which is only about 12 feet from the unit itself, which is located in the basement. I could turn the hot water on in my shower, which is much further away and that will get hot but remain cold at the kitchen sink. Being that has never been flushed or descaled would you recommend doing the Hosher descaling chemical and then going to the vinegar the following year.
I haven't memorized the codes for this heater, but it does seem like your heater is suffering from scale buildup and is not functioning properly as a result. I would suggest you use a chemical descaler like this product: amzn.to/4a5T0sv. You will do it the same way I showed here or in my follow-up video, but follow the directions on the product for specific mixing and flushing instructions. I can't really explain why you are getting better hot water further away from the heater though. That is a head scratcher!
My plumber did not recommend installing isolation valves seven years ago. After having water runs cold mid-shower getting more frequently in the last one year, I’d decided to do it today. No pump, no isolation valves, i managed to finish it within two hours, for about two dollars, and never hat cold shower again! Simply turn off gas supply, turn off and unplug electric power supply, run hot water taps dry, and you are ready. You need two flexible shower hose with suitable threaded ends (usually 20mm), a large plastic syringe of 100-200ml ( if you don’t have electric water pump or electric drill-driven water pump), bucket, vinegar (1-2L will do). Usually inlet and outlet hose are of rigid copper tubing. Now it’s the fun part; To seperate copper hoses, you’ll first loosen their 20mm nuts, both inlet copper tube and outlet copper tube. Next, remove copper tubes sideways by lift the heater upwards for a few millimeters by loosening its wall mounting screws (loosen a few turns ONLY! Not removing them). Now, fasten shower hoses onto inlet and outlet. Outlet hose into bucket of vinegar (1-2L will do). (PROCEDURE WITHOUT PUMP) Inlet hose’ open end placed higher up, about the same height as top of heater. Use syringe to draw vinegar from bucket, pump vinegar into inlet hose’ open end. Repeat for a total of 100 repetitions ( that’s about 10L of vinegar flow, from the same amount of vinegar in bucket, recycled), this can be done in an hour or two, with a helper preferably. You’ll see vinegar turns to green tinted color. Then purge all vinegar (properly). After that, its about flushing out vinegar residue with clean tap water. Find ways to inject clean tap water through inlet hose (garden hose will do), for a few buckets full of clean water out through outlet hose. Then its time to reinstall everything back. Remove shower hoses, both inlet and outlet. Reinstall copper tubes, both inlet and outlet. Gradually turns water back on, check for leaks at both inlet and outlet. Wipe clean everything. Turn gas back on. Dry your hands. Plug in and turn electric power back on. Check for hot water at taps everywhere in the house for continuous flow of hot water, and you’re good now.
I think my isolation valves were an additional $80. I am glad I used them because lifting my unit off of the wall (even a few millimeters) to separate it from the solid plumbing would be a pain and could introduce leaks. But I'm glad you were able to get it done on your unit. Thanks for watching and giving us such a detailed description of your process! I'm sure others without isolation valves will benefit from your comment.
@@FixItScotty i dearly wished i have isolation valves on my unit, but i don’t, and i almost gave up yesterday, for not having the most important tools (pump) and facilities (isolation valves), and all my local hardware stalls closed for Good Friday! Above all, thanks for your vids Scotty.
This was very helpful!! A couple questions…do you turn off the gas to the unit?? And does the process change if you have one of those circulator pumps?
I think the official instructions say to turn off the gas and unplug the unit to make double sure the heat exchanger doesn't fire during the cleaning. I just turned off the unit and made sure everyone in my house was aware of what I was doing. For a re-circulator pump - you likely have it on a timer or some kind of switch because it shouldn't run constantly with a tankless heater. I would turn the re-circulator pump off while you are bypassed for cleaning, just to be safe.
Oh no! I didn't include this in the video as it is an outlier, but if your main service valves aren't properly shutting off, you could end up overflowing your vinegar bucket with water. Is that what happened? If so, check your service valves by shutting both sides off and put a hose just on the hot side. Slowly open the smaller service valve on the hot side. A little water may come out, but it should stop immediately. If you have a continuous stream of water, your main valves aren't shutting off properly.
The people who installed the rheem in my house before I bought straight lined it with a shut off valve before the entrance. There isn’t any flush valves. Is there anything I can do? At first I had no pressure for hot water. I cleaned out the screen at the entrance to unit and it started working. Now I have pressure when turned to hot but it won’t get hot.
I mentioned in my advanced flush video an alternate method to the maintenance valves is to plumb in shutoffs and boiler drains on each side to replicate the functionality of the maintenance valves. If you can disconnect the unit, you may as well retrofit proper maintenance valves. However, if the unit isn't firing and you aren't getting any hot water at all, first look into that - I doubt flushing it will fix that. Are you getting any error codes like gas pressure issues? Prioritize making sure the unit works before dumping more $$ into it. Good luck!
No need to make your own filter. I show you how to clean the sediment filter that already exists on the cold water intake. It's in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html
@@FixItScotty it seems to me the debris that’s coming out of the system would clog up that tiny filter very quickly. I wonder if the water coming out of the heater back into the bucket is clear as it passes out of the hose. I’m assuming based on the view of the filter you showed on the other video that it’s not much filtering material, more like a screen. And the screen must have big enough holes to allow some sediment through or it would quickly be clogged up.
I discussed this a little in my advanced flush video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html. Unless you have flexible supply lines that can be disconnected, you need shutoff valves on both the cold (input) and hot (output) sides to isolate the unit from your water. You also need some kind of inline hose bibs to connect the cleaning hoses. I've heard of plumbers shutting off the water to the whole house and pumping the vinegar in and out of exterior hose spigots. But that seems like it would take A LOT of vinegar and would need a lot of flushing.
Thanks for the kind words. Despite me saying it wrong every time, the pump I used was a 1/6HP pump. Technically 1/4HP should be more power. But it really comes down to the quality of it. It doesn't hurt to hook it up like I showed and check the flow - even with some water. Your output should resemble a 20 year old dude peeing; not an 80 year old. 😄
Scott, we also have a Rheem tankless ELECTRIC water heater. There are to water connections on the bottom and the one on the left is turning green. I think they are copper water inlet pipes. Why is it turning green, a leak?
I hear about first turning the hot water on from a faucet to open the heat exchanger then unplugging the power to the unit so that the heat exchanger stays open when you flush the system. Any thoughts about that step? Btw, very helpful video. Thank you.
It's my understanding the water always flows through the heat exchanger. Turning the hot water on while the unit it plugged in will fire the burners on the heat exchanger. So there is no "opening" of the exchanger. I have heard it can help to run the process I show while the unit is on to heat up the liquid as it is circulated, but you have to be careful to not burn the solution and it's also a little hard on the unit to run constantly for that long.
I recently did this procedure and did run the hot water on a faucet inside my house prior to unplugging the unit.....I let the vinegar run through the system for over an hour. By the time I was done the vinegar was clear like new. It has been over 5 years since the last maintenance was done and I'm puzzled why my results are what they are...any help would be greatly appreciated
@@PillCosbylovesPills Hey PILL, check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yiKnFOhFaNc.html The guy seems to think a certain wire should be removed to bypass the system closing off the path to the heat exchanger. I'm not sure what to think of this.
@@peterflaten1521 after I made the comment, I retried the whole procedure again. I did have blue vinegar however it's very faint so I know it was working. Just didn't have much build up to take out in the first place
There could be multiple reasons (these are just guesses). Perhaps your pump is not working as well as before? You may need to clean your sediment trap (see my Advanced flush video pinned in the first comment). Your maintenance valves could have some crud in them restricting the flow?
When I start cycling, it runs for a 5 or 10 seconds and stop flowing the solution. And also I tried opening the cold water inlet and check if the water coming from the outlet. That did not work either. can there be a automatic value inside the unit that closes itself? I have two units, one flushed perfectly.
That's strange. I am not aware of a valve inside the unit that may be closing - especially if you are doing the cleaning when the unit has no power. I can't conclude based on what you wrote if the problem is in the unit or your pump is shutting off prematurely. Maybe try it again with the power and gas completely shut off and try using a different pump.
Its been 5 years and I never did this to my tank!!! Should I use a de scaler? We use a product called D-Scale for the dishwashing machine here. Would that be better for a first time then follow up with vinegar the following year ?
Unless you have a whole-house filtration system, if it's been 5 years, I would recommend a descaler like this: www.homedepot.com/p/Hercules-Haymaker-Tankless-Water-Heater-Descaler-35230/205086908. My video shows you how to do the cleaning in general, but follow the instructions on the bottle for specific mixing and flushing. Then you can move to vinegar thereafter.
I have the same or very close water heater and I need to do my flush soon. Should I take the cover off to check or replace the condensate neutralizer too?
I need to check my unit, but the Perf. Platinum model has a built-in neutralizer. That unit also has error codes for the neutralizer; one error code if it's clogged and 2 warnings based on flow logs that indicate it is needing replacement or soon to be needing replacement. It wouldn't hurt to check it, but you can also wait to see the code.
Good question. I have never used this product. But I can tell you that my water softener has been very effective at reducing scale. Not just in my water heater, but also my dishwasher, washing machine, and shower heads. If you have hard water and see excessive scaling in your plumbing, I would start with a water softener and then add something like this product in front of the water heater for additional insurance.
Do you need to flush the tankless hot water heater if you have city water?? Since you have a well water with hard water it makes sense. Just need to know if city water is treated, do I need to flush mine?
I have city water. The water is hard where we live. Regardless, you will have to flush it. If your water is softer where you are, you may not have to clean it every year, but at least every couple years.
See my follow-up video. It is not necessary (nor does it work) on this unit. But other Rheem models it may be necessary. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html
Should have taken a sample of the vinegar in a clear jar before starting in order to compare clarity. Next after an hour or two, another sample in a glass jar. You will have been surprised. You should have clear vinegar. WHY? Because you have a water softener which removes the magnesium and calcium from the water; the "scale" minerals in the ground water of a limestone aquifer in Northern Illinois. In other words, you don't need to "descale" with vinegar if the water is soft! Additionally, the SLOWER the vinegar moves through the heater the BETTER because it will then have time to dissolve scale. A bypass on the pump or just a MUCH smaller pump (1/50 HP) to slow the flow will increase the effect of the vinegar. Only need enough to keep flow going through the heater. Maybe two gallons at most. What's more, you should have a carbon water filter followed by a scale inhibitor and prior to the water softener/tankless heater. The carbon removes chlorine put in by the city. Chlorine attacks the phosphate that the inhibitor is filled with shortening its lifespan. If you don't have a water softener, as a minimum should have the carbon filter and inhibitor to condition the water before it gets to the water heater, and the vinegar flush must be done periodically depending on how much water goes through the heater. Finally, with a water softener, there is NO need for a vinegar flush AND the heater will last about 30 YEARS. NO softener means vinegar flushes and the heater will last about ten years. To be happy, one could vinegar flush every five years to take out any minor accumulation of scale. FYI I a have a similar Rheem heater. Mine is 9.4GPM. Bypass valves and all. FYI the gas valve at the water heater is so the sediment trap can be cleaned out once in a great while, and of course as a failsafe way to turn the unit off; and ALWAYS unplug when flushing. I would have kept that fairly new tank water heater and used it to temper the incoming water. Used as just a tank it would probably last 50 years. And lastly, add a 5 micron water filter for the whole house except the garden hose bibs.
I don't have an air filter, but I show in my advanced flush video how to clean the inlet water filter (if that is what you meant). ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html
Great question. Yes there is an inlet filter that I didn't show in this video, but I address it in my follow-up video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html
I set my pump to the min. and it went through 5 gal. in about 2 minutes! How did you get the pump to run so slow? I bought a kit specifically for tank flushing,
I put the link to the Everbilt pump I used in the video description. Here is a similar one that is cheaper. www.amazon.com/Superior-Pump-91250-Submersible-Thermoplastic/dp/B000X05G1A/
Yes, I just turned mine off. Unplugging would be safer to keep someone else from turning it on accidentally during the process. The reason to turn it off is because the unit would heat the solution while it is flowing through the exchanger. If you did that for an hour, it would burn a lot of gas and it could burn the vinegar solution. Some people say turning the unit on for just the last 5-10 minutes could help the cleaning by heating up the vinegar, but I don't know how effective that is.
The purpose of a pressure relief valve is to automatically open if the internal pressure of the unit builds too high (like if you have an expansion tank and it goes bad). So it wouldn't work properly if you put a manual valve in between it.
I have done the annual maintenance on the hot water heater. I have a rheem tankless. I can not remember how to reset the UMC117 controller so that the 1L error code goes away. It was easy before and I did not have to open the water heater but can not for the life of me remember how it was done.
I'm not sure about your model. But on mine... if I want to reset the codes if one is fixed, I turn the power off for 5 minutes (make sure no hot water is flowing too) and turn it back on.
You could either retrofit this kit: www.homedepot.com/p/Watts-3-4-in-Lead-Free-Copper-Tankless-Water-Heater-Valve-Installation-Kit-0100156/205078015. Or a cheaper approach may be to add a T fitting between your main valves and add drain cock valves (like they do on boilers).
If you have a small "point of use" water heater, they usual have 1/2" or 3/4" NPT threaded fittings. As long as you have a shutoff valve on the incoming line, you can just disconnect the hoses and do the flush as I showed here. Isolation valves are probably not necessary.
Yes, there is a filter on the cold water inlet. I forgot to film on this video, but I show it on my follow-up video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html.
Thanks for the video!!! Are you using recirculation pump? Currently, I have one with conventional water heater, and I need it since the water heater is at the other side of the house.
Thanks for watching! I do not have a recirculation pump. Tankless heaters use a lot of gas to quickly heat water. They are only more efficient than a tank because they only burn fuel when in use; ie: when flow is detected. If you circulate the water, the tankless could actually be a lot more expensive to operate than a tank heater. That said, if you put a timer on the circulator pump, you can limit the time the tankless is burning fuel (like in the morning when you need instant hot water). My wife, myself, and my older sons bathe at such different times of the day that recirculating on a timer would not be helpful for us. So we just have to wait for the water to heat up.
@@FixItScotty thanks for replying back so soon. 😃 The trick is we’re using a smart switch by calling Alexa or Siri. We can turn on the pump only when we need hot water.
@@ohsc2007 Controlling the circulator with a wifi-enabled smart switch? That is a great idea! I'm debating whether to tell my wife about that or I'll have another weekend project to add to my list. LOL!
Before trying to pump vinegar, you may need to test your isolation valves. Connect your hose to the hot side and put it into an empty bucket. Close both of the main valves and open the service valve on the hot side. If water comes out, the isolation valves are bad.
Try watching my advanced maintenance flush video to see if some other techniques work for your particular model or brand. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html.
Thank you for your reply. I already had watched your Advanced video. I watched it again. It doesn't address my issue: slowed down flow. But that's OK. Some extra information - for yourself and anyone else out there. I have two Rheem RTEX-24 electric. Both had the similar issue. My original pump was, I think, a 1/6 HP. It was an old pump I got from someone and I am not sure how effective it was. Within 30 seconds to 1 minute, the flow really came down to a trickle. If I stopped and re started it, it would start with a nice flow but then slow down again. I went and purchased a 1/4 HP brand new pump. so, from 0.1666 HP to 0.25 HP. The same thing happened: slow down after a minute or so. But, with the more powerful (and brand new) pump (1/4 HP) the slowed down flow is much better. Not a trickle anymore, but rather a regular but slowler flow of water (well, vinegar). I did this for 1 hour on each unit and then flushed with water. I'll try again next year.
The water was green when poured out. There is no acidity in the heat exchanger. The acidic water is in the exhaust that rolls out of the condensate trap.
@@FixItScotty I believe he was referring to the acidity of the vinegar running through the repurposed washing machine hoses during flushing. (Not saying he's right or wrong -- just clarifying the original comment.)
@@BrentRossow Oh, good point. The distilled white vinegar has a ph of 4-5. I still think the EDPM rubber hoses can easily handle that without breaking down. Thanks for clarifying.
The instructions for flushing my Rheem unit say two gallons of vinegar are all that is needed. Also, my instructions include one more important step: 3. To properly flush the heater the electronic bypass valve inside the heater must be closed. Follow these steps to do this: At the remote control, turn OFF the power and wait 10 seconds. Turn ON the power at the remote control, wait 10 seconds, and disconnect the water heater from the electrical source. To me this means turn off the breaker that supplies power to the unit. JUST BE SURE TO CHECK THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR UNIT.
Thanks for the information! I actually did a new flush video (in my pinned comment) where I did those instructions you mentioned. For my model, that doesn't work. But for other Rheem models, you may need to do that in order to get the vinegar through the heat exchanger. I agree with you; follow the manufacture instructions for your model because they are all a little different.
I do have the manufacturer's warranty. In addition, I was able to talk to Rheem's tech support on the phone. That said, I have heard other manufacturer's do have licensed installer requirements for warranty or tech support.
It's actually the orange bucket that tints the color. Watch my follow-up video where I pull some of the solution out into a clear bowl to see what it really looks like after cleaning. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CfC-WXNDnHo.html
I do not know that. Mine was set to Fahrenheit degrees from the factory, but I assume there is a way to change it to read Celcius instead. Nothing in the manual describes how change the display. You may have to call Rheem support about this.
Mine looked grey only because the bucket is orange. When poured out, it had a blue-green color. That is the scale that you are cleaning. You could do it twice if it is really bad, or some people will turn the unit on for 5 minutes to heat the vinegar which can clean more effectively. You need to be careful not to leave the unit on for too long or it could burn the solution.
Good video but two things. First, you didn't clean out the pump of vinegar...good to do. Also, there are 1-2 filters that on the tankless heater that need to be checked/cleaned. But other than that, good video.
