Rinnai Leaking Help
Comments
-
Your cold inlet is the blue line entering the combi unit above and to the left of the joint in question.
The leaker is on the space heating return. It is called a dielectric union and it uses a flat rubber gasket, this is an extremely common problem with dielectric unions. Not sure what sort of hydraulic separator is in that insulation block, but eliminating the dielectrics would be a good move if possible. If not, replace the gaskets for $10 and wait for another leak to appear.
1 -
-
Your response made me laugh! "replace the gaskets for $10 and wait for another leak to appear." Thanks that was a good one. Also thanks for information on the name of this fitting. It helped very much! Have a great weekend.
0 -
What's odd is that it's only a half union and that the threads of the union match the threads on the separator. I'll bet the dielectricts came with the separator. I've seen it with IBC and other brands and wish they just gave us brass unions.
8.33 lbs./gal. x 60 min./hr. x 20°ΔT = 10,000 BTU's/hour
Two btu per sq ft for degree difference for a slab0 -
-
@Alan (California Radiant) Forbes and @GroundUp, here is a better shot of what is under the insulator.
1 -
I found two leaks. The 90 degree angle connector is leaking. Your assistance with finding the size of the pex pipe and types of crimp would be appreciated. This is what I was thinking of with regards to fixing the pex part. Cut the hose at the bottom and place a straight connector in it. Connect that to another short piece of pex and then connect that shorter side to the plastic elbow. Then cut off the part at the top with a Dremel so I can reuse it. I am not apposed to getting new hardware but will need your assistance finding the correct hardware. Then I would crimp this with another short bit of pex and crimp that to the bottom pipe. Open to your suggestions.
0 -
is there a name on the tube? those look like viega fittings of some sort.
i think the 2 halves of that styrofoam insulation pop apart to expose the manifold. i'd look at what sort of fittings go in to the manifold. it looks like it might just be npt or that might be a npt to bsp adapter. i'd make a short piece of copper to screw in to the manifold with an npt adapter to screw in to the manifold and adapt the ell to the pex but if you don't know how to sweat pipe black iron nipples and an ell or pex fittings for all of it might be easier.
0 -
Does this help with the name?
0 -
That is Viega Fosta Pex and is no longer made. It appears to be a 1.25" nominal NPT dielectric union and a 1.25" X 1" black reducing bushing and then a 1" MPT X PEX adapter. It's not exactly clear what is leaking, but if it's the top side of the elbow below the union, you can zip the collar off of the tubing with your Dremel and carefully remove the vertical tubing from it. If it were mine, I'd replace the union and bushing with brass ones then screw a new adapter into the bushing (or buy a 1.25" MPT X 1" PEX adapter and skip the bushing) then run a new piece of oxygen barrier PEX down to the existing elbow. Any crimp system will work here, whether copper rings, stainless collars, or cinch clamps. Be very careful though, that Viega tubing has a tendency to leak at the joints after it's been disturbed and may open up a can of worms for you. You can usually re-crimp them to seal, but that requires the same collar type crimper that was used originally. You cannot use a copper ring crimper to crimp the stainless collars. 9 times out of 10 when I work on these Viega systems, a new leak appears that wasn't there before and I have to re-crimp a few joints.
1 -
"Be very careful though, that Viega tubing has a tendency to leak at the joints after it's been disturbed…"
I didn't know that FostaPEX was so fragile. Now you have me worried.
8.33 lbs./gal. x 60 min./hr. x 20°ΔT = 10,000 BTU's/hour
Two btu per sq ft for degree difference for a slab0 -
"Be very careful though, that Viega tubing has a tendency to leak at the joints after it's been disturbed…" this is exactly the hell I am experiencing now. I fix one thing another things starts to fail. ". You cannot use a copper ring crimper to crimp the stainless collars." thanks for this detail I was missing. I was making this mistake.
0 -
It's not the Fosta specifically and I don't know that I'd call it fragile, but my experience is that Viega tubing of any variety has a tendency to leak if you stress the joint after it's been in service awhile. Maybe the collars open up over time or something, because re-crimping solves it 99% of the time. I did have one recently on a 3/4" Viega domestic line that was dripping (I rotated an elbow to meet the heat exchanger I was installing) and it took about 20 crimps in different directions with my PureFlow jaws to finally make it seal, but I ended up replacing it anyway because I didn't feel comfortable leaving it like that. Heck, maybe it's the Viega fittings? I really don't know.
1 -
@lindylex the copper ring has a slightly larger outside diameter than the stainless collars, so using the copper crimper on the collars doesn't squeeze them all the way. If you have the copper ring tool, you can just replace the collar with a ring. The FostaPex has an aluminum layer on the outside which requires a stripping tool or a steady hand with a knife to strip it down to the black tubing, which is just a standard PEX sizes and will allow any crimp/cinch type of fitting.
0 -
i woudln't think you could rotate a fitting after you crimped it, the variances in the od of the fitting would some combination of expand the ring and force the tubing out from under the ring, at least not without installing a new ring
0 -
@Groundr this is information that was new to me that would have helped me much in the begging "The FostaPex has an aluminum layer on the outside which requires a stripping tool or a steady hand with a knife to strip it down to the black tubing, which is just a standard PEX sizes and will allow any crimp/cinch type of fitting." I was confused with the larger outer diameter I was getting from my measurements. It was after looking at it I recognize that it has a thin metal sleeve on the outside. When I dremeled off the one end I noticed that a tool must have been used to strip back that metal cover to 1 inch pex below. Next I was on a quest to find this tool. No retailer had it because that type of tubing has not been produced in a long enough time. This sent me into a panic. The next issue I was having was using the wrong crimper. That tip about using the correct crimper was the game changer. I could see that is was not crimping tight enough and needed a solution. I got the correct stainless steel crimper and from the effort of the first crimp it was obvious we had found love.
Thanks everyone for the assistance that was an interesting situation. Here is a photo of the final work.
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 87.6K THE MAIN WALL
- 3.3K A-C, Heat Pumps & Refrigeration
- 59 Biomass
- 430 Carbon Monoxide Awareness
- 125 Chimneys & Flues
- 2.2K Domestic Hot Water
- 5.9K Gas Heating
- 121 Geothermal
- 170 Indoor-Air Quality
- 3.8K Oil Heating
- 78 Pipe Deterioration
- 1K Plumbing
- 6.6K Radiant Heating
- 396 Solar
- 16K Strictly Steam
- 3.5K Thermostats and Controls
- 56 Water Quality
- 51 Industry Classes
- 51 Job Opportunities
- 18 Recall Announcements




