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Troubleshooting |
Your tankless water heater is a relatively new
type of heater and there is a learning curve in using your
new heater. We ask that you read this to diagnose any issues
you might encounter. We expect you will have many, energy
efficient, money saving years with your new Champion Tankless
Water Heater.
Disclaimer: Tankless Hot Water, a division of philmccullem.com
LLC, assumes no responsibility for impoperly installed
heaters, nor does it assume any responsibility for the
end user troubleshooting or self diagnosing water heater
related issues. If you are unable or not familiar with
any of the issues discussed below, do not attempt self
diagnostics. Call a qualified service mechanic.
| 1 - I
have no hot water. |
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Do you have hot water, but just
not as hot as it has been? Or do you literally have
no, as in zero, hot water?
Is your LED light on? Does the red activation light come on
as water is flowing thru the unit?
The first thing to do here is to verify that the
LED light is on, meaning you have power to the
unit. If the LED light is not on, check the circuit
breaker to make sure it is not tripped. Keep in mind,
with a tripped breaker, when it trips it goes to
a neutral position, not on and not off, dead but
not off. So, put the breaker in a full off position
to reset, then turn it on. Do you now have a LED
light, if so, try calling for hot water.
If you have power to the unit, the LED light
is on, but the red activation light don't come on when calling
for hot water, you might have a dead water heater.
What is suggested here is to verify that you have
proper voltage to the heater. If you have the
voltage, have good connections, then you might have
a faulty heater.
If you have power to the unit, the LED light
is on, and the activation light comes on when calling for
hot water, yet you have no hot water, then it sounds
like you have a dead water heater.
If the water is just not as hot as it was earlier,
consider whether the groundwater temperature has
dropped. Usually this is only a concern to people
experiencing their first winter with a tankless water
heater. Sometimes, in colder weather, mainly November
thru March, the groundwater temperature, meaning
the incoming water to the heater, has cooled 5 to
15 degrees, resulting in a lower output temperature.
The answer here is to not max out the capacity of
the heater. So, in cooler months,
do not push to capacity. Once the ground warms
up, all will return to normal. We suggest people
set the temperature to 46C to 48C during the hot months,
and then when it cools a bit, you can increase the
temperature to offset the cooler groundwater. |
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| 2 - The heater
is making a clicking noise. |
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There is a flow switch that clicks
on and off when water starts and stops flowing thru
the heater. This is normal and few, as in very few,
people ever notice it. Those that notice it, usually
have the heater located in the house somewhere, not
in the garage where the bulk of the heaters are located. |
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3 - My lights
flicker when the water heater is
heating water. |
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This can sometimes happen, though
rarely. This is usually in a house that has a small
or old electric panel. Sometimes this is unavoidable.
Ever notice how sometimes when your AC kicks in, the
lights might flicker for just a spit second. This is
because it take the most amps to get the AC compressor
to start turning, once it is turning, the amps needed
to turn it drop considerably. Not with a tankless.
When it fires, it goes to 90 to 100% of capacity and
can sometimes stay there, depending on the temperature
and the amount of hot water you are calling for. An
important thing here is to make sure you have sufficient
amp capacity in your electrical panel. We recommend
a minimum of 100 AMP panel for a T-12 up to a 300 AMP
panel for a T-36. Exceptions to this might be a gas
home, a home without cental air, or without multiple
220 volt appliances. Another thing to keep in mind,
all your 220 Volt breakers
should be nearest the main lugs feeding your electrical panel, and evenly balanced.
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| 4 - There
is water dripping from inside the heater. |
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This is rare, but it does happen.
We glady replace leaky water heaters. Just verify that
the actual water heater is leaking, not a valve, or
fitting, or the AC above, and call us. |
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| 5 - My heater
comes on when the toilet is flushed or something
calls for cold water in the house. |
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It took us a long time to figure
this one out. This is very rare, yet once or twice
a year we hear about this. What is happening here is
that cold water pressure is holding the flow switch
in place preventing the unit from activating. When
something calls for cold water in your home, such as
a toilet, faucet or washer, it relieves some of the
pressure and the red lights might turn on for a nanosecond. Rest
assured that the heater is not coming on, it is just
a little confused about the water pressure reduction. |
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6 - Sometimes
I get a blast of cooler water, then it
goes to hot again. |
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Couple of things here. If you are
downstream using hot water, and somebody between you
and the water heater calls for hot water, they will
get the hot water first till the heater figures out
it needs to provide more hot water. It then does, and
you once again have hotter water. Also keep in mind
it takes a .4GPM flow rate to a .9 GPM flow rate, depending on the model, to activate the heater. This
is part of the learning curve in adjusting to a tankless
water heater. |
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| 7 - I can't
seem to fill my bathtub with hot enough hot water. |
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Once again, part of the learning
curve here. Most people when they fill a tub, open
the hot wide open knowing they will soon run out of
hot water. This is because, with a standard type of
water heater, when you take 10 gallons of hot water
out of it, you have then replaced that with 10 gallons
of cold water, diluting the reservoir. 20 gallons of
hot out, 20 gallons of cold in, simple as that. However,
since there is no reservoir to dilute with a tankless
water heater, you need to slow the flow of hot water
allowing the tankless unit to keep up with demand.
Please note that if you open the hot water valve all
the way, you might be pulling 4, 5, 6 gallons
or more a minute thru it. The tankless will try, but
will be unable to keep up. The answer is to open the
cold half way, add enough hot to make it almost too
hot, and fill up the tub. You will be able to fill
that tub, the next tub, and the next tub. |
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8 - My washing
machine does not put out as much
hot water. |
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Kind of like the battub thing. Too
much demand. The answer is to close both the hot and
cold valves completely. Then open or adjust both valves
until you get the desired mix. This might take a minute
or two longer to fill the washer, but it will be nice
and hot when needed. |
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9 - But what
about my dishwasher, it needs 140
degree water to
sanitize the dishes. |
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A big mistake people make here.
Some people mistakenly set their water heater at 140
degrees, which by the way voids the water heater warranty
and is terrilbly expensive to maintain 40 or 50 gallons,
or more, or 140 degree water 24 hours a day whether
they are home or not. The first thing you are
going to do with 140 degree water is add a lot of cold
water to it. All water heaters have a sticker on it
that says water over 125 degrees will burn you. If
you have children or grandchildren, I am sure you have
noticed that. Take a look at your heater, find the
sticker. There is no need to have your heater set that
high, it is foolish, dangerous and expensive. Unless
you have a $39 dishwasher, it has a preheater in it
to take the water to 140 degrees. Let the dishwasher
do the job. Most people bathe in about 100 to 105 degree
water. |
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| 10 - What
about service and service calls? |
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If we installed, we offer these
options:
| A |
Within 30 days of installation,
there is no charge for a service call. |
| B |
After 30 days, there is a county specific service call. |
If you installed, or had installed, we
offer these options:
| A |
We can, at our option, provide
a county specific service call. |
| B |
We can ship you another heater,
and you have it reinstalled. |
| C |
You can stop by the office
and exchange heaters at no charge. |
Please note, heaters that are improperly installed,
will not be exchanged.
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11 - What
about shipping costs and reinstallation
costs? |
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Shipping costs incurred for any
reason, and/or reinstallation costs, are not reimburseable
to the consumer. |
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