Have any of you had problems with the Gas Control Valve on Rinnai Infinities using LPG sticking and needing to be replaced.  We've done a few of these lately and of course they aren't under warranty as it is oil and residue from the actual gas.  Never have a problem with NG one's.  I'm trying to gauge whether it is a localised problem on more country wide.  If country wide then the LPG people need to sit up and do something about the quality of the gas because at the end of the day the consumer is having to pay to have these replaced (in some cases two in one year). 

Love to hear from others at the coal face if they are seeing this in their region.

Linkback: https://www.plumbers.nz/instantaneous-water-heaters/67/gas-control-valve-rinnai-infinity-and-lpg/1804/

Not that i have ever seen much in them, if installed at all,
but perhaps a drain leg to catch condensate/oils and waxes may be the way to go...

Thanks everyone, yes we've been talking to Rinnai - and the LPG companies, who of course say they have never had anyone saying anything to them about this (yeah right).  None of this helps our customers, doesn't help Rinnai either - bit of a catch 22 situation.  Warranty to part doesn't apply as it is not the LPG retailers would come to the party - but not going to hold my breath there.

hi guys, you should have a condense trap to catch all that stuff and even if you have i would think that it would stuff the regulator before it effected any other parts, just my thoughts, cheers

hi guys,(approximately seven years ago there were quite a few problems with ‘waxing and oiling’ of gas regulators and systems). Perhaps this was good information that the `Board 'could have passed on when you were part of it,cheers

Hi

This problem exhibits itself in gas heaters as well. Usually in those it is a thin film on valve seats that glues up over the summer period of not being used. A firm but gentle tap to the side of the valve usually sorts it out. Problem with water heaters is that the gas use is much higher than space heaters generally. So the gas velocities are also higher and much more opportunity to drag heavy ends out of the system and into the water heaters. They are also often closer to the bottles when mounted externally.

Can exhibit early symptoms in water heaters of fluctuating temperatures and difficulty for a gasfitter in setting and holding  the minimum gas pressure in the commissioning process. Often by the time the problem gets picked up the oil has damaged the diaphragm of the proportional valve (the servo actuated adjusting pressure regulator in the gas valve).

I have extreme doubts that this is coming from phthalates in a particular customers individual installation. I have seen sufficient in some instances where the individual customer would not have had any hose left. This view is advanced by gas suppliers as it supports an "its not out fault" argument. It is not directly related to the ratio of Propane/Butane mix.

My understanding is that this issue is seen in large commercial installations where the customer has no such hoses and issues are greater because again velocities are much higher. Commercial customers can spend the money for specific oil removal systems where this isnt an option for domestic installations.

My belief is that the material builds up throughout the distribution system over time from all sorts of sources. The cure would be for 45 kg cylinders to be regularly completely emptied, inverted and drained/cleaned. My understanding is this happens rarely if ever.

Couple of suggestions:

1. The gas is not fit for purpose. There is no way the oil in the appliance has come from the customer's hoses that has the problem with the water heater. The fact that the gas supplier wants to claim it has got into the bottle from other customers with similar hoses is the problem of the gas supplier - not the customer. I expect any 45 kg cylinder other than a new one if inverted would have more oil come out of it than could possibly come from a single set of hoses.

Get the customer on the phone to the gas supplier and as far up the chain as they can get and have them on the phone work their way through "gas not fit for purpose" followed by the list of; disputes tribunal; fair go; MOBIE; Gas Industry Company; until the gas supplier blinks and pays up which in my experience they will.

Its a bit tough having a crack at the appliance supplier as it is a gas fired appliance not an oil fired one.

2. When you are installing LPG twinpack regulators make sure that you follow the code of practice and install a condensate drip leg. Try to get the customer to agree to regular service visits to drain. The challenge is that if they dont then at some point this really big reservoir of oil is likely to make the problem worse as it will potentially get picked up once the leg is full. Problem for a gasfitter is that if you dont install the traps in the first place then you could find yourself on the receiving end of the customer call when the gas company says no drip leg so not our fault.

We install Integrity water heaters all the time and have never had an issue like this. Is it isolated to Infinity water heaters

Thanks Grant. I'll just hope my luck holds.