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#1
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system.
Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? |
#2
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 08:58:28 -0700 (PDT), cyd
wrote: Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? Not to me, but it might to others. Perhaps the unit is defective, so contact the manufacturer for advice. |
#3
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:58:28 -0700, cyd wrote:
Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? Do you have debris in the line before the heater that it would restrict the flow? How about checking for debris in all fixtures and aerators? Are there any pressure switches or activators that need adjusting? Have you consulted the manufacturer? -- ================================================= Franz Fripplfrappl |
#4
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:58:28 -0700, cyd wrote:
Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? http://www.seisco.com/pages/service-troubleshoot.html may not be your manufacturer, make or model, but might give you some leads. The one which caught my attention: pipes reversed. -- ================================================= Franz Fripplfrappl |
#5
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 08:58:28 -0700 (PDT), cyd
wrote: Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? Sounds like a mis-adjusted, mis-sized, or failed flow sensor. When you have a lot of flow from both tub and sink on, the unit heats, but not when you have lower flow. A complaint with many early tankless units was that the flow sensor wouldn't detect small flows, such as when you have a sink tap only slightly open. I think this has mostly been corrected by most manufacturers, but it sounds like your sensor isn't working right. HTH, Paul |
#6
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Jul 8, 1:19 pm, franz fripplfrappl wrote:
On Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:58:28 -0700, cyd wrote: Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? http://www.seisco.com/pages/service-...eshoot.htmlmay not be your manufacturer, make or model, but might give you some leads. The one which caught my attention: pipes reversed. -- ================================================= Franz Fripplfrappl Thanks. I printed out their trouble-shooting guide and I'll show it to my contractor when he shows up today. The pipes aren't reversed, because it all worked fine for several days. |
#7
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Jul 8, 1:12 pm, franz fripplfrappl wrote:
Do you have debris in the line before the heater that it would restrict the flow? How about checking for debris in all fixtures and aerators? Are there any pressure switches or activators that need adjusting? Have you consulted the manufacturer? Yes, there could have been debris in the line. We've had lots of junk coming out of the faucets and aerators, including one pea-sized rock out of the tub valve. The plumber opened up all the lines yesterday and blew pressurized air through the pipes. Also, when the plumber was soldering one day, he used one of those dissolvable gooey beads to stop water from coming up the pipe and bothering his soldering... anyway, this slime keeps coming out of the kitchen sink, which I'm sure is that dissolved bead. The manufacturer is sending us a replacement heater, in case that's the trouble. |
#8
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
That makes sense to me. Hopefully the new unit will work better. But
how would that explain the fact that hot water will not come out of the tub, which has good flow? On Jul 8, 8:51 pm, Paul Franklin wrote: On Tue, 8 Jul 2008 08:58:28 -0700 (PDT), cyd wrote: Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? Sounds like a mis-adjusted, mis-sized, or failed flow sensor. When you have a lot of flow from both tub and sink on, the unit heats, but not when you have lower flow. A complaint with many early tankless units was that the flow sensor wouldn't detect small flows, such as when you have a sink tap only slightly open. I think this has mostly been corrected by most manufacturers, but it sounds like your sensor isn't working right. HTH, Paul |
#9
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Jul 8, 11:58 am, cyd wrote:
Last week we installed an electric tankless hot water system. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange hot water problem that no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Hot water will only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Hot water will not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. The hot water to the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Hot water will not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Hot water will go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the only hot water in the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is a hot water line leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? When you say "hot water will not come out of ...", do you mean that water comes out, but it is not hot -- or do you mean that no water at all comes out? |
#10
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Jul 10, 7:17 am, Pat wrote:
On Jul 8, 11:58 am, cyd wrote: Last week we installed an electric tanklessho****ersystem. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange ho****erproblemthat no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Ho****erwill only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Ho****erwill not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. Theho****erto the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Ho****erwill not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Ho****erwill go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the onlyho****erin the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is aho****erline leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? When you say "ho****erwill not come out of ...", do you mean tha****ercomes out, but it is nothot-- or do you mean that nowaterat all comes out? Cold water comes out. |
#11
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Perplexing Hot Water Problem
On Jul 13, 11:29 am, cyd wrote:
On Jul 10, 7:17 am, Pat wrote: On Jul 8, 11:58 am, cyd wrote: Last week we installed an electric tanklessho****ersystem. Everything worked as expected for several days, so we know things were hooked up right. For the last couple of days there has been a strange ho****erproblemthat no one can figure out. Here's what's happening: Ho****erwill only come out of the kitchen sink, but only if the bathtub is running full blast. Ho****erwill not come out of the kitchen sink if the tub is not running. Theho****erto the kitchen sink does not cut out as long as the bath is running. Ho****erwill not come out of the tub valve or the valve in the bath sink at all now. Ho****erwill go into the clothes washer for a few seconds and then goes cold. IOW, the onlyho****erin the house goes to the kitchen sink, and then only when the tub is running. Other info: the bath valve is a single-control type. we tried replacing the mixing valve in the tub twice; no effect. we looked under the house to see if there is aho****erline leak, but there isn't. Does this make sense to anyone out there? When you say "ho****erwill not come out of ...", do you mean tha****ercomes out, but it is nothot-- or do you mean that nowaterat all comes out? Coldwatercomes out. UPDATE: PROBLEM SOLVED It turned out that most of the problem was with the water heater itself. We swapped a new unit in and sent the old one back. CL here was right--the problem was with the flow sensor. The unit couldn't tell when a low-flow faucet wanted hot water, so the tub had to be running so there was enough hot water draw to kick in the heater. But there was also another coincidental problem. When the contractor took the tub valve off to replace the mixing valve, it was put back in in such a way that the faucet handle couldn't be turned far enough to "ask" for hot water, so that's why the tub faucet wasn't kicking out hot water when we thought it should/could. Thanks for all of your theories and suggestions. |
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