Rinai R94Lsi sucking in moisture from intake/exhaust pipe

DrGrafix

So my R94Lsi tankless is acting up again. Worked fine all winter made sure all my furnace & hot water heater vents were completely clear of snow. It's been raining cats & dogs all day and tonight... Code 61 is back. Last time this happened I found some moisture in the fan assembly, blew it out, let it dry, did some hand spins and bada-bing we had hot water.

My exhaust/intake is a pipe within a pipe and it's basically 30" from the ground, packed mulch is there. It looks perfectly horizontal so I'm confused as to why I've had one fan failure bc of moisture and last year a clog bc of moisture? Maybe there needs to be something like a sink trap where the moisture that somehow gets sucked in can drain off before going inside? I did drill some 1/4" holes in the outer section of the pipe, but obviously it sounds like the same problem again. Hopefully I can get it going in the morning.

Just seems like a design flaw... A pipe within a pipe. Even a "T" with a rain shield on top would sound like a better solution than a straight pipe in the wind & weather. I'd also like to know how to access/clean the rod with a dollar bill.

Mike

kcopp

This is a real problem w/ the concentric design... Any Mfg concentric set up. I have seen this issue w/ Embassy, Triangle tube, weil mclain and now Rinnai. Reversion/ cross contamination is a real problem.
Its less of an issue when the unit is in high fire and the exhaust is pushed away from the building. The real problem is when either wind blows the ehaus back at the unit and/or the boiler is is mid/low fire and they suck the exhaust back in. The damage long term can be significant. Separate the vents to different heights and at least 18" apart.

DrGrafix

Perhaps if enough people complained, Rinnai and other manufacturers would be looking at a class action lawsuit versus sending out a better pipe design as a retrofit. After breakfast, I'll tackle the moisture in the fan, see if I can salvage it. Stay tuned.

Slimpickins

It's not the pipe it's the installation. If you're in warm climate the termination should be pitched down toward the termination so condensate can drain out and rain can't get in. If you're in a cold climate, the vent should be pitched back to the water heater and a condensate drain installed on the condensate collector. It's in the installation manual.

4Johnpipe

Inside the unit is a clear tube running from the gas valve to the blower area. Remove that tube if its holding water it will code out. The unit has a plunged condensate drain at the top of the SS collector. If you have a longer horizontal run or go vertical at all it should be used to drain. As was mentioned the concentric piping should be pitched down towards the termination.

DrGrafix

Slimpickins said:

It's not the pipe it's the installation. If you're in warm climate the termination should be pitched down toward the termination so condensate can drain out and rain can't get in. If you're in a cold climate, the vent should be pitched back to the water heater and a condensate drain installed on the condensate collector. It's in the installation manual.

I'm in Western Massachusetts, and I still have a couple of patches of snow in my yard even though it will reach the high 60's today. My unit does have a condensate drain with clear tube to a catch can, but more water poured out of the motor through the electrical connection slot than was in the catch can. We were so happy with this unit that we had the same installer put a Rinnai in my sons house across town 3 months after he did ours. Son & DIL love it, not one problem in 5+ years.

Wondering if ours maybe has a leak inside since the upper seal area where the foam mount is was physically wet. I still don't know exactly how water travels and collects inside the actual motor housing. Is there enough clearance in the shaft and motor bearings to allow water to weep into the motor shell?

New motor assembly ordered Thursday, should've been here Friday but ups screwup means Monday. Stay tuned.

DrGrafix

New blower assembly arrived Monday and I installed it in 10 minutes. Turned on the hot water and it worked just fine. So I buttoned it all up, absolutely no problems. Waiting to see what the Rinnai Customer Service people say about multiple experiences of water filling the actual motor housing in less than 5 years, plus me spending over $500 on a part that continues to fail. Short of building a roof over the concentric pipe so not one drop of rain can even blow into the pipe, I don't know what else to do.

Jack

That pipe system, when properly installed is rock solid. The termination should not be set so it can become a rainwater leader. If the vent is grading up, then the final piece of the vent should grade down so as to prevent moisture coming in from outside. Did you install this or a contractor?

Tjswear

I have a Rinnai R94LS at my cabin outside of Flagstaff. We are getting an error code of 10 after running for about 5 minutes. There are no obvious blockages, but it looks like it is possible some of the rain has seeped in.

4Johnpipe

Was the condensate discharge used? This will also remove wind driven rain that may find its way into the collector.

jonny88

Jack as you know unit is always at fault and never down to installer.I never have a hesitation for choosing Rinnai and no problems as of yet.Read and follow instructions every unit is different.

Snowmelt

error 10 comes up a lot