Professional Tankless Water Heater Repairs & Maintenance in Frisco, TX
Tankless water heaters are an energy-efficient, low-maintenance way to get hot water on demand in your home or business. Highly popular in Frisco and McKinney, these systems give home and business owners an endless supply of hot water with ease. But if a unit wasn’t properly installed or isn’t regularly maintained, it may start giving you trouble: cold water, leaks, a strange taste or color, or other malfunctions.
Great brands rarely need repairs, but when they do, Earl’s Plumbing is the place to call. Our team of licensed plumbers is manufacturer-trained on a variety of tankless water heater brands. And we always carry the tools and equipment needed to get your tankless system back up and running at full capacity in no time.
Comprehensive Tankless Water Heater Services
Earl’s Plumbing can perform diagnostics and repairs on all major brands of tankless water heaters. We have experienced technicians that specialize in tankless repairs but also the required tools and equipment that the various Manufacturer Technical Support staffs require.
To properly diagnose a problem with a tankless water heater, your plumber needs a manometer for gas measurements, a voltmeter for electrical & circuitry testing, and an extra-long, magnetic, Phillips-head screwdriver. You would think these three most important pieces of equipment would be on every plumber’s truck—but that’s not the case. Some of the equipment is very specialized, and because it is not used frequently, most technicians and plumbing companies do not keep these in their everyday bag of tools. Earl’s Plumbing is different!
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Answers to Your Frequently Asked Questions
Earl’s Plumbing technicians all have various levels of manufacturer training and certifications. More specifically, we are factory certified in both Navien and Rheem tankless water heaters. We also have considerable experience in repairing Rinnai and Noritz brand tankless heaters.
This qualification allows us to complete almost all Navien repairs on the same day that we are dispatched. We also have a direct line to Navien Tech Support’s most senior technicians, which allows us to bypass the normal call waiting queue and save you time and money.
We find far too often that improper installation is the primary reason for tankless system problems. Usually, the issue is the venting, gas, or condensation. Generally speaking, per the manufacturer’s call statistics, about 90% of all Navien service & repair calls are due to poor or improper installation. This is what we see in the field as well, to the tune of at least 5-7 calls per month about poor installation.
In most service calls, improper installation has caused a part to wear prematurely or caused the heater to produce an error code (which should be listed in the user manual). Sometimes, poor and/or improper installation takes several months or even a year or more to produce problems. That may sound odd, but Navien heaters are so good that they can overcome a lot of obstacles. Therefore, they may not show signs of problems for an extended period of time.
Some customers also think the tankless water heater is simply different than their old tank heaters, and that these “little inconveniences” are the new normal. This should not be the case! The differences between tanks and tankless are virtually indistinguishable unless:
- You were not sold the right model, size, or type of unit OR
- The unit was improperly installed
Some installation issues may not even present themselves until a certain season when incoming water temps or air temps cause different physical dynamics with the water heater’s performance.
For some reason, it is incredibly inconsistent—probably because a proper tankless water heater install is considerably harder than just installing, especially when it comes to venting.
Also, just because a product (or part) is sold at one of the big home improvement retail stores does not make it acceptable to be used in all applications. In fact, many of the products sold at the local big box retail stores do not meet Texas plumbing codes. Or, they are just bad plumbing products that produce temporary results but are destined to fail and/or cause problems down the road.
We see this not just with tankless water installations but with other plumbing repairs as well. We have a “Plumbing Wall of Shame” at our office that gets bigger every week for a reason. And although it is mostly filled with bad DIYs and Handyman jobs, there are plenty of jobs from licensed plumbers as well.
The Rheem tank and tankless water heaters that the big orange home improvement store sells are NOT the same products that the manufacturers supply to the plumbing wholesalers. The quality isn’t even close!
Don’t waste your time, effort, or money. These stores sell billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise. Because they are so big, they can erode certain quality standards (such as using plastic parts instead of metal, inferior metals, and/or DIY connections). They do this to compete for the lowest prices with the other big box stores while maintaining their margin commitments.
- Fluctuating Water Temperature: If you experience sudden changes in water temperature, it could be a sign of a malfunctioning heating element or a flow sensor issue.
- Low Water Pressure: Reduced water pressure might indicate a clogged filter, a leak in the system, or a problem with the burner.
- Strange Noises: Unusual noises such as banging, hissing, or popping can signal mineral buildup or other internal issues in the heater.
- Water Leaks: Any visible leaks around the unit, or water pooling nearby, are clear indicators of a problem that needs immediate attention.
- Delay in Hot Water: If there’s a delay in getting hot water, it could be due to a faulty burner, heating element, or a problem with the ignition system.
- Rusty Water: Rusty or discolored water coming from your taps might suggest corrosion inside the heater, indicating the need for repairs.
- Frequent Error Codes: Tankless water heaters often display error codes when something is wrong. If you notice recurring error messages, it’s time to call a professional plumber for inspection.
- Unpleasant Odors: Foul odors emanating from your hot water could be a sign of bacterial growth inside the unit, which requires immediate attention.
- Age of the Water Heater: Tankless water heaters have a lifespan of around 20 years. If your unit is nearing this age and exhibiting issues, it might be more cost-effective to replace it with a new, energy-efficient model.
- Higher Energy Bills: A sudden increase in your energy bills without an apparent reason could be due to an inefficient tankless water heater. Regular maintenance or repairs might help improve its efficiency and lower your utility costs.
Remember, it’s essential to consult a professional plumber to diagnose and fix these issues promptly. Regular maintenance can also prevent many of these problems from occurring in the first place.
For a family of four, that is typically every 12 months. In commercial applications such as restaurants, tankless units should be serviced every 6 months, if not more often, due to the increased demand and higher temperature requirements.
Why is maintenance needed? Extreme high heat causes changes in the natural calcium and lime minerals in the water supply. This change causes those minerals to become—for a lack of a better term—sticky. Then they adhere to the sides of the pipe, forming a scale build-up over time. To avoid this issue, it’s best to periodically flush the system.
Maintaining a tankless water heater is pretty straightforward. It typically takes about 30 to 40 minutes per heater to complete and requires us to adjust various valves to turn off the water to the unit (isolation valves must be present). Then, we use a sump pump and a series of hoses connected to these valves to send a specialized non-toxic descaling solution inside the heater. If done properly, the cleaning is performed both forwards and backwards through this looped line system.
The final steps in the maintenance process greatly depend on the heater’s brand and model. Different versions have both water and air filters (sometimes multiple) that must be removed and cleaned. We recommend calling a licensed plumber to clean the air filter and water filter rather than attempting to DIY!
Sometimes, the cleaning process could do more harm than good:
- If you go several years without servicing your water heater
- If you purchase a home that has a tankless heater and you are unsure when and how often the heater was last cleaned (questions you should ask and validate with receipts)
We have experience with 6- to 8-year-old heaters that had never been cleaned. After the cleaning process, the heater developed a series of leaks because the scale buildup that was invisible to the tech had become so significant that it made the pipe joints weak. Once removed, the scale had become the binding agent that was no longer present. When this happened, the homeowner had two choices: replace the heater exchanger (the most expensive heating element) or install a new heater.
At Earl’s Plumbing, our customer system allows us to enter in your tankless installation or tankless maintenance as a reoccurring service in order to send you a reminder. Also, the newest Navien NPE models will alert you when service is due.
There’s one last part to consider when it comes to maintenance intervals. You can extend the interval if your home is equipped with:
- A water softener
- A water conditioning system such as Aqua Sana (with a TAC, aka “Templated Assisted Crystallization”)
- The Navien Peak Flow tankless water heater
Homes with a water softener can typically go every 1.5 to 2 years between maintenance calls depending on the size of the family.
Different manufacturers have different warranties that vary by brand, model, and whether the heater is being used for residential or commercial applications.
Whereas not all traditional tank-type heaters can be used for commercial applications, most brands and models of tankless water heaters can be. Residential warranties are typically longer than commercial warranties because of the amount of additional use that they experience over an expected lifetime.
Navien tankless water heaters have the longest residential warranty in the industry. For residential purposes, the heat exchangers are covered for 15 years, and the other parts are covered for 5 years. Just like other brands, the commercial warranty is reduced, but in Navien’s case it’s just 8 years (heat exchanger) and 3 years (parts). Earl’s Plumbing’s limited labor warranty is currently 2 years from installation for any Navien tankless water heater model.
All warranties have stipulations, and part of that usually requires that the unit be properly installed (see above). Some manufacturers also require that you show proof of regular maintenance. None are going to cover weather-related damage such as freeze ruptures, so make sure that you take freeze-protection steps to safeguard your investment during severe cold weather events.
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