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Maintenance of Navien Water Heaters

Tankless water heaters by Navien need a typical maintenance which should be done every 12 to 18 months. It is highly crucial that this maintenance is done or else the lifespan of the water heater reduces exponentially. Instant hot water heaters have a tendency to have some scale build up in their boilers due to the constant usage, especially if you live in hard water area. You might be able to push it back to 18 months if you are a 2 people family. Failure to flush the tankless water heater system will lead to build up of sediments through the boiler and this will lead to a bigger problem that may end up being one of the biggest headache you would have. It is a fairly simple process to flush your water heater and it can save you hundreds of dollars and a sum of pain.
One of the most important thing to keep in mind when considering flushing of your tankless hot water heater is that if it has tankless service valves, it would be really easy compared to not having the valves. Though you can still do it without the valves, it may turn out to be a mistake if you do not do it correctly. Hence, contact your plumber if you do not have the service valves.
If you do have service valves, here is what you need to know to flush your tankless hot water heater.

Things you need to be able to flush your Navien on demand water heater:
- A hose set which could be bought at any big box stores
- A tankless hot water heater
- A submersible water pump
- Standard 5 gallon bucket
- About 2.5 to 3 gallons of undiluted white vinegar to clean the inside of the tankless hot water heater.

Step 1. The first step to flushing a Navien on demand hot water heater is to turn off the gas. They may seem as an obvious step but if you forget to do so, it may lead to a fatal accident and hence we prefer to be safe on this topic. The line that is responsible for the gas would be located on the side of the water heater system. You need to make sure that the knob is PERPENDICULAR to the pipe. This means that the line is TURNED OFF. You do not need to turn off the electricity supply to the system, though there is no harm in doing so.

Step 2. Now you will need to turn of the water valve that is supplying to your navien water heater. This will prevent the cold water from entering the water heater and hence will prevent a puddle of water if you end up opening the line before closing it. The cold water valve usually has a blue label on it, or they would say cold next to it. The hot water valve is covered with red. To make sure that the valves are closed, check if the valve switch is perpendicular to the line.
Step 3. Once the valve is closed, remove the valve covering or purge port valve caps. These caps have a small handle that assemble the letter T in most cases. The covers are located on the valves. This is done so as to remove the pressure from the system. Hence once you remove the cover, a little bit of water will come out from each valve. Now sometimes due to pressure it may come out with a higher force than anticipated. There may be pressure when removing the purge port valve caps, so it is extremely important to make sure the hot water valve is completely and accurately shut off for safety purposes. Make sure the rubber washer sealing discs stay in place, which are needed for your valves to function properly.
Step 4. Now get the bucket listed earlier and fill it up with vinegar. The bucket is used for cycling the vinegar. Also, its time to attache a hose to the hosing line of each valve. This will be used for putting the vinegar in and getting it out. Connect the hose coming out of the bucket to the cold water valve of the pump so as to carry the vinegar solution inside the water heater system. Connect another hose to the hot water valve and put its other end inside the bucket which is full of vinegar. This will create a loop in the system and hence run vinegar back and forth from the Navien water heater.
Step 5. Once everything is in place and you have made sure that the hoses are connected properly, open the valve lines for both cold and hot. Let the water pump do its job for about one to one and a half hour. This will pump the vinegar through the system and make sure to clean everything out nice and easy.
Step 6. Now when the cleaning is done, or you think you are satisfied with it, remove the hose. Put the valve cover and purge port valve caps back on exactly in the opposite way you took it out. Make sure that everything is tight or once again, you risk a puddle. Also, gas line connection is highly important and therefore do make sure it is correctly attached. Turn on the water and the gas line and you should be good to do. Refer to the anufacturer's manual if anything additional is needed.