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Atlincabin
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 11:39am
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I have an EZTankless (basically an eccotemp) LP instant hot water heater. The problem I'm having is that it will light when I turn on the hot water faucet and then it will almost immediately go out. Turn off the faucet and back on, it relights and (usually) stays on. Sometimes I have to get it to relight multiple times before it will stay on continuously. I have good water pressure/flow, good gas pressure, plenty of air supply and have tried new batteries. Anybody have ideas of why this happens and potential fixes? It's not life-threatening, just annoying.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 12:54pm
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Inlet to the WH water pressure maybe triggering off? The sensor needs to detect the pressure or it shut off the flame to prevent a melt-down.
Might check the inlet line for sediment/partial blockage? I dont remember if our old Ecotemp had a screen or not.
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Steve_S
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 01:11pm
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Also check your faucet aerator, almost all of them have restrictors to reduce water use to below 2.0gpm. I had to pull out my aerators to ensure my Eccotemp works without cutting off. Even my shower handle had a restrictor. Hard Water buildup will also restrict flow and my model of eccotemp FVI12 has a removable filter that need occassional cleaning.
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Atlincabin
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 04:01pm
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Thanks for the thoughts. I have plenty of water pressure and the water/water line is clear. This basically occurs the first time one turns on the water faucet. Turn the faucet off and back on and the heater seems to work fine.
Troubleshooting using the manual and online suggests the limit sensor or the gas solenoid may be bad, but I've checked those and no apparent issues.
What I did find, however, is that the flame sensor can cause intermittent problems, so I cleaned that and (at least for the past few times starting) it seems to work. So perhaps a dirty flame sensor has been the problem.
I figured it was worth posting this in case someone has similar problems and can't figure out the solution from the owners manuals.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 6 Jun 2023 04:24pm
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sounds like the same issue I had with my water flow sensor, but mine started to drip within the unit as well. It was a cheap part and not hard to replace and solved my issues.
Or any chance you have air somewhere else in your line, that is causing pressure in your lines to drop on initial startup and then when you try again its not an issue? I have separate lines running to my kitchen. One year when I started my water system back up I didn't bleed all my lines first and couldn't get the water heater to keep running. Once I purged all lines of air it wasn't an issue again.
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scott100
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# Posted: 22 Sep 2023 10:46pm - Edited by: scott100
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Pulling this thread out of at least recent mothballs as I just went through trouble shooting my Ecotemp L10 today and thought I'd add a couple of things.
There are several switches that can shut down the gas solenoid on it. There's a flow micro switch, a tilt switch that shuts it down if it tips more than 45 degrees, an over heat switch that shuts it down if it over heats maybe due to reduced flow, or a rodent nest over the burner (had that happen before). Last, there is the flame sensor.
You can bypass all the above switches, except the flame sensor, by jumpering across the individual switch wires (they are normally closed). If they all check out (ie, it still doesn't stay lit with them jumpered) then it's either the flame sensor or the ignition box. As mentioned in the OP's post, try cleaning the flame sensor AND the top of the burner under it with a piece of emery cloth. It needs to complete that circuit through the flames, and mine still didn't work when I just cleaned the flame sensor with some steel wool. I ended up using a piece of fine sandpaper and cleaned the sensor and the top of the burner. Warm showers again.
The tech support people at Ecotemp are always quick to jump on a flow problem and the fact that it hasn't been descaled but never has one suggested an issue with the flame sensor to me. Today, when I called them, they were pretty sure I needed a new gas valve assembly so I ordered one that I'll have to return if I can't stop the order before it ships.
I'd love it if anyone here can tell me exactly what the 2 flow screws on the unit do. I have notes on 3 different settings for them from talks with tech support and online tech info from the company I've found. It doesn't really seem to matter how I have them set. I'm running it on a Seaflow pump (45 psi 3.3 gpm). The only way it ignites at all is with the flow knob at a very low setting and the temp knob set low to compensate. Most of the time, it works fine that way. FWIW, if I set the flow knob just a bit too high, I will have the issue of it shutting down in the middle of a shower and have to cycle the hot water to restart it.
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razmichael
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2023 08:14am - Edited by: razmichael
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scott100, sorry if this is already known but there is an internal adjustment available, at least on the L5.
How to do a Water Pressure Adjustment
I need to adjust this to get consistent performance as my pressure is a bit low to work well. I wasn't sure if you were talking about these when you asked "I'd love it if anyone here can tell me exactly what the 2 flow screws on the unit do". Also not sure if it is the same with the L10 unit.
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scott100
Member
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2023 03:14pm
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Yep. Those are them.
Mine came with the left screw 1 1/4 turns open, rt. screw 1/2 turn
I found a service bulletin that recommended this setting for lower pressure applications. left 1 turn rt. 1 /3 turn
Last year when I was having the same issue which fixed itself while I was on the phone with tech support, he told me to set them to left 1/4 rt 1.
I recently came across a repair ticket for an L10 where they told him to set both screws to 1/8 turn open.
So you see my confusion and why I'd like to know what exactly these screws do.
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scott100
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# Posted: 3 Oct 2023 09:39pm - Edited by: scott100
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Just an update in case someone with an Ecotemp runs across this thread.
I had a call back from tech support after a recent inquiry, and he explained what the screws do. They are for inlet and outlet flow adjustment. The left one adjusts the outflow and the right one the inflow.
He suggested I set the outflow (left one) to 1 turn open, and the inflow (right one) to 1/4 turn open.
He also said that they have had multiple issues with people that are using the Seaflo / Sureflo 110 v pump. He claims that the pump puts out too much flow at 3.3 gpm and that the portable units are meant to be used with pumps that put out no more than 3 gal / min. So, he recommends using a 12 v pump instead. He said the newer units made for indoor use work better with the 110v pump. Now that doesn't really explain why the shower has a tendency to shut the heater down if you mix too much cold water in and thereby reduce the flow further, but he may still have a point.
Anyhow, I reset the screws to his recommendation, and things are operating better. I still have to run it with the flow knob just off the lowest setting, but I now have more control than I did with the temp knob. No scalding showers, even though it is unseasonably warm out this week.
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