Water heater manufacturers, such as Rinnai, are smart. They recognize that hard water can cause some big problems, like damaging the heat exchanger.
Your well water and even your city water have varying levels of rock in the water. This dissolved rock precipitates back out as rock and produce scale- a white buildup that you usually see on your shower walls, your dishes and shower heads. What you feel is dry skin, unmanageable hair, scratchy clothes. And your appliances become significantly less efficient. What you DON’T see is the white buildup on your heating coils or heat exchanger.
Rinnai’s Service Manual states that “Water that contains chemicals exceeding the levels below affect and damage the heat exchanger. Replacement of the heat exchanger due to water quality damage is not covered by the warranty.” In fact, there’s even a Lime Condition Warning Signal on some water heater models. They state:
• Total Hardness maximum level not to exceed 200 mg/l or 11.7 grains
• Iron maximum level not to exceed 0.3 mg/l
• Manganese maximum level not to exceed 0.05 mg/l
• pH not to go below 6.5 or above 8.5
Click here to check out their service manual to see their “Care & Lime Condition Warning” on page 24.
Need help? Call us for a free water test. We will test your well water or city water for iron, hardness, manganese, TDS and pH for free.