Rinnai R85e Intermittent power loss to controller/No hot water/No codes

rwparrot

Hello,
I have a Rinnai R85e on propane, originally installed in 2007 in a single family home. Recently I have been having a problem with the unit shutting itself off, no hot water, no power to the controller (I have tested this with multimeter) and no response to shutting off the breaker at the house panel and flipping it back on. At some point it will come back to life and work like it should until the next day, week or month(s). I have had the unit flushed and the water flow unit replaced, both done by a qualified contractor.

NOTE: My first floor furnace is also on the same propane tank and it functions fine whenever it receives a demand for heat. Also we are on a private well with a Kinetico water softener and whole house filter.

Here is where it gets weird.... I have been home for several days and have noticed that the unit delivers hot water in the morning up until around 11a-12p when it will shut itself off and not respond to anything I try until around 7p-9p(ish) then it will just turn itself back on and run fine until the next time. This last week it has been a daily event.

I live in central North Carolina and the weather this week has been mild, High in the low 70's / Low in the mid 40's to lower 50's

Has any one experienced this type of issue or have any ideas/advice?

Thanks in advance

Jamie Hall

It may not be the Rinnai. Are you getting power to the unit from the breaker box? Your timings sound suspiciously like there may be an off-peak control on your power supply.

rwparrot

the line coming into the Rinnai is showing 0.230 volts right now as it has decided to shut off and not respond again. It was on at 6am this morning when i checked it, but, it is off again
at 9am.

lchmb

any chance you have a light switch someone may be turning off and on at odd times during the day? a multi switch that someone's turning off some room lights and maybe hitting another switch...

Jamie Hall

rwparrot said:

the line coming into the Rinnai is showing 0.230 volts right now as it has decided to shut off and not respond again. It was on at 6am this morning when i checked it, but, it is off again

at 9am.

0.230 volts on a multimeter? On the hot side of the line coming in? That's purely from stray capacitance -- it should show 120 volts. Somewhere power is being turned off, perhaps an odd switch as @Ichmb said. However, that shouldn't happen. There should be one switch for the unit near it, and another (in series) near the access to the space in which it is located, and it should be wired to its own independent circuit on your breaker board or fuse box. Nothing else on that circuit.

If it is wired that way, then those two switches may need guards on them to keep stray fingers from turning them off. If it isn't wired that way, then you probably need an electrician to straighten it out. I should add that if it is miswired, or on a circuit with something else in the building, be sure that the neutral and grounds are also properly connected through to the breaker board.