We recently had a Rinnai continuous hot water infinity unit installed by a plumber/gas fitter. He has installed it in the roof space saying that if installed outdoors they rust quickly and get stolen?! Anyway, in the roof space it went and works fine. BUT on Friday a friend who has had one installed last week, told me her plumber said in roof installs cause damage when they leak and if they need repairs at any stage it takes a lot longer for the plumber to get to the unit in a roof space. I am quite worried as on a very very limited budget cannot afford costly repairs. Do they leak? If so, is there some type of tray I could purchase to put under the hot water unit to catch the leaks, and where would I buy it? Thank you to all who may reply and offer assistance/advice.
daryl14,
Oct 11, 9:44pm
Seems very strange that they put it in the roof. Hope it has an exhaust to atmosphere. Sounds like a good way for the fitter to add time and money to the install job. When I had one fitted they put anti theft fixings into the brick on the side of the house.
Maybe you can purchase a cheap plastic tray of some kind (bunnings or Para rubber) and run a drain hose to somewhere outside that will act as a tell tale in case of any leak, which should be unlikely.
smalltrader2,
Oct 11, 9:58pm
There are two type of Rinnai Continuous Hot Water units. There is an indoor type and an outdoor type. The indoor type has a flu to vent the exhaust gas outdoor.
The Outdoor type is tough cookie. I recently replaced one which was nearly 20 years old and was still going fine. It was a preventive replacement. No rust on the main body at all with the old unit.
The main issue for you is that the outdoor type must not be installed indoor as there is no flu connection kit for the outdoor type. It is dangerous to vent in to the roof cavity.
I hope your plumber know what he is doing . You can ring Rinnai directly and seek a second opinion.
brenda007,
Oct 12, 6:42am
Thanks smalltrader2. I will phone rinnai tomorrow and ask if ours is an interior model. The plumber did give a code compliance? certificate, KCDC inspected but they may not know the difference between indoor or outdoor model. Confidence level in plumber was not high as he refused to come out to check on strong gas smell from freestanding oven/hob he installed until after the weekend. When he turned up he pulled unit away from wall and he had pushed it too hard backwards on the Friday when he installed it causing a nipple? to break through gib board and release gas! I was very upset when he tried to blame me - I am 45kgs, 4"11 tall - oven weighs more than me and I hadn't touched it! He eventually took responsibility and fixed problem.
smalltrader2,
Oct 12, 7:06am
Sounded like the installer is not too professional at all. Go to the Rinnai web site and you can see which model is yours. The VT series are all external heaters and my understanding is they must not be installed in house. The HD and EF series each has an internal model HDi200 and EFi250. The internal model has a flu to vent outside.
It should be quite easy to tell. Can you see a vent hole outside of the house near where the heater is? An internal model must be vented outside otherwise it is a safety issue.
lissie,
Oct 12, 10:37am
What model is it? The rinnai.co.nz website is quite clear about which are the current models and which are indoor and outdoor ones
marte,
Oct 12, 12:44pm
It should probably have a drain tray under it.
I have scrapped one for its metal. Yes it will rust out if its outside, just like heatpumps do. If its inside I think it will never rust out. = good idea.
Yes they do have a amazing amount of nice Copper and Brass inside them. So they are a target for thieves. = Insides a good idea.
jonners2013,
Oct 12, 6:59pm
what has become of this country if people are having their hot water heaters pinched?
carter19,
Oct 13, 1:23am
Brenda, have you discovered what model you have?
brenda007,
Oct 15, 2:50am
Carter19 and Smalltrader Spoke to Rinnai. They confirmed there are indoor and outdoor models. I am not sure what mine is, but there is a large black "flue?" directly above it in the roof. This is probably the vent hole you mention? I have to wait for a friend to climb into roof and see model number. Drip tray - Rinnai said cant buy one from them because they do not exist! She said service every 2 years and this will ensure unit is kept in top order and any leaks will be picked up and repaired immediately. Seems a bit excessive to me, and not only costly but as the original installer was a plonker I will now have to get someone else and hope for the best that they are reliable and honest. I am going to try and get a drip tray made though, either in aluminium or plastic. I realise this will not be much help if the unit springs a leak but hopefully if it just gets moisture drops it will contain them instead of it dripping through the ceiling. Yes - it is mind boggling that people steal copper piping from houses under construction and rip water cylinders etc from walls outside houses. I have heard it is quite common.
brenda007,
Oct 15, 3:07am
Further update: HDI 200 is what is installed. Any ideas where to get a drip tray?
Thanks to all of you who have raised queries and given advice. It is very much appreciated.
carter19,
Oct 15, 4:08am
Get a rubbish bin or a big kitty litter tray, anything that will fit under, in the space that you have
trad,
Oct 15, 4:26am
Will a drip tray big enough to do the job fit through the manhole in your ceiling? I had a roof leak and put a kids rigid plastic sand pit container ( or may have been a padling pool) up there (have a large ceiling manhole). They were available at Warehouse - got mine from op shop.
brenda007,
Oct 15, 6:23am
Carter19 & trad: thanks for the suggestions. The access to the roofspace is via pulldown ladder so looks quite big, but I cannot climb the ladder due to bad hips, so have never seen what is up there. I will get friend to go up again and see how much room underneath unit to fit a tray and then look around for something suitable once I have the measurements. Once again, thanks to all for your help and suggestions. When things are foreign to you and disability limits you, it gets very stressful, even though to able bodied "in the know" people these same problems seem trivial. I hope to get a better nights sleep tonight now my mind is at ease!
wembley1,
Oct 15, 6:31am
I'll leave it to you to decide whether you should follow the advice of the manufacturer or some anonymous person on TM as to whether you need a drip tray or not.
But I have never heard of an Infinity leak and you also need to consider that a instantaneous water heater doesn't really hold any significant amount of water, unlike a storage water heater. Drip trays are usually the preserve of storage water heaters either gas or electric.
Any leak in the Infinity would be the same sort of risk as any other joint in your water piping system. Would you place drip trays under every joint in your piping system?
PS The Infinity HDi200 is a balanced flue internal model and should be fine in the ceiling space (provided it has been installed correctly). If you have any issues with a gasfitter or plumber you can always lay a complaint with the Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers board).
smalltrader2,
Aug 31, 5:47pm
At least the HDi200 is an internal model. It would have been seriously wrong to install an external model in house.
I can tell you that my 20 years Rinnai did not leak. The old Rinnai was built to last. Hope the new ones are too but everything seems to be built cheap nowadays.
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