Adding a Flow Regulator to an ecosmart Electric Tankless Water Heater
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ม.ค. 2025
- How I added a flow regulator to an ecosmart ECO 27 electric tankless water heater.
After installing the heater, I was receiving an E5 error code when running the bathtub. I purchased a flow regulator to limit the water output and avoid lukewarm bath water.
Flow regulator: www.supplyhous... (check your manual to make sure you buy the right size)
Water heater: www.amazon.com...
Some people just don't get it. You did the right thing to improve your water problem. The restrictor goes on the outlet side just like a hydraulic pump system, but you should put a relief valve between your tank output and the restrictor. Just in case the electric on off sensor sticks or a power surge fries things.
Your comment answered my question as to where I should put one on mine. I have a flush valve/diverter with a pressure relief valve on the side of it. I think I’ll put the restrictor on after the diverter but before the flexible hose for obvious reasons. I wonder though if I can just turn the ball valve on the hot water side to slow things down. I have a sharkbite flexible hose set for water heaters and one of the hoses has a valve built into it. Since I already had a valve on the cold water side I just put that one on the hot water side. Maybe try that before opening up the plumbing again.
I've been looking for a video like this for a month now. I spoke with ecosmart last week and they told me that I would have to upgrade my 27 to a 36 just to use the bathtub. Thank you so much
Glad I could help!
You can use your bathtub just wait 1 hour to fill it with hot water because of the water restictor valves that you must install!
@Dr Kevin Ellsworth it works great now!
I have the same setup and had the same issue. I installed a valve so I could fine tune the adjustment of pressure. I turned the shower on and kept slowly adjusting the valve until the code went away. It's a bummer cause it's less pressure but man does it put out some serious heat now. Best of luck!
That's a great idea! I see another video in my future. :)
@@jpfath I live out in the country and sometimes have surprises from the county of a pipe busting and it messes with the water pressure so having the valve has been nice.
This is a flaw in this tankles water heater, they are supposed to furnish hot water on demand not limit you to low pressured hot water on demand!
Park how are you doing? Thanks for your making it a little quite a bit easier I think why you’re still getting the extra waters cause it’s supposed to function for two showers so I really wouldn’t concern myself with it.
What brand of pliers is he using at ~6:01?
Great question! That's from a cheap tool set I bought at Ace Hardware. This project would be much easier with a better wrench.
Its a very good idea to have 2 big blue water filters on the house main in one sediment one carbon. And My house is getting hit with 65 lbs of pressure from the city which is very high and hard on all the fixtures and pipes. I installed a regulator on the main in that's at 45 lbs alot easier on the house piping and my Eco is happy. if you have an old house and some legacy piping it will like that reduced pressure and you wont miss it. And for gods sake insulate all exposed hot water piping from the eco.
Every home has a built-in flow regulator. As a matter of fact, several. They are called faucets. You can achieve the same by closing your faucets a little instead of fully on.
So I didn't want to restrict flow in my whole house just to fill my bathtub. So I unscrewed the spout and dropped a washer inside with a slightly larger drilled hole, than screwed the spout back on.
That’s a good idea. You should make a video of it! :)
Where can I get the same regulator you install
I added a link to the video description. The only place I could find it was supplyhouse. Good luck!
I liked the part when you added a flow regulator to an ecosmart electric tankless water heater
Does it need a pressure relief valve?
That’s a good question. Ecosmart doesn’t say you need one. The heater (if it’s working correctly) only runs when water is running (I.e. at least one valve in the house is open), so that’s one less risk. And it holds much less water and air, so that helps. I have an upcoming video where I add flush valves and a pressure relief valve, though, so subscribe and you won’t miss it!
No flush valves? How long have you had this unit?
I've had it for about 3-4 months. As I said, I'm not a plumber. The plumber who installed it admittedly didn't seem to be an expert on tankless. It might be something for me to consider adding down the road.
You might check your water pressure to see if it is too high because it will push more water through than what the water heater can handle I believe they like it between 50 to 70 PSI
You might be right, though I don't have a pressure gauge for that. It seems to do just fine with lower-flow fixtures, such as showers and sinks.
You need the proper valves and temp valve installed on it. You could regulate the flow with those.
Yes, I think you're right. I'm planning to do that when I get some time and make another video. This was the recommendation in the product manual, though.
I think you should have installed it on the inlet side not the outlet side
Wrong- you want the water heater to stay full of water. Restrictions on inlet side can cause chatter.
Should of put tge restrictor on the inlet side
You might be right; in my mind, I was thinking, it's probably better to make sure the heater stays "full" to avoid overheating, but I suppose the flow coming in and the flow going out are going to be the same. Do you have more reasoning for putting it on the inlet side?
Why wouldn't a flow regulator starve your system ?
The regulator goes on the hot water output of the heater, so the heater stays full, but it limits the volume of hot water in your tub, shower, etc.
@@jpfath , this defeats the purpose of a tankless water heater if you have to take a shower with no water pressure!
@@kevinellsworth9318 I can see where that would seem troubling, but it’s not an issue in reality (for my case, at least). In the video, I mention it restricts to about 3.2 gallons per minute, and a shower only takes about 1.3 gallons per minute, so you could take two showers without noticing. The main place you’d notice is that if you tried to fill the bathtub (which, for me, can run up to 5 or 6 GPM), it’s a little slower. But the trade-off is that without this, you could quickly fill your tub, but it might be lukewarm.
@@jpfath it does not seem troubling, it is troubling when the unit wants to be starved of water so it can function. This unit is low capacity but it is engineered to go E5 at levels that won't let you have a descent shower and wash the dishes at the same time, what a crook!
I have one in my 1500sq ft cottage and can't take a shower without restricting the flow to the unit , which gives me a weak stream, and heaven forbid someone wants to wash there hands at the same time!
Need to pick up some proper wrenches! Make your life easier :)
Indeed!
Electric tankless water heaters suck. There’s not many in NJ but I don’t like them. Just go gas and you’ll have no problems
Restricting the flow of water to the unit defeats the purpose of an on demand tankless , you will just get a tepid flow of very hot water, absolutely useless.
Engineering flaw by the company, waste of money!!!
Eco ax is stealing your Money!
See my response to your other comment. I agree it seems like something they could’ve solved in the product design, though I don’t think I’d quite say it defeats the purpose.
@@jpfath , a weak flow of hot water from a hot water source defeats the purpose of that hot water source.
There is no talking out of a crappy machine!
Gas or oil baby that’s how you heat hot water😂
The electricity your using is most likely generated by natural gas or coal.
Hi M K! Thanks for commenting. Please check out my other video, "Tankless, Heat Pump, Storage | Attack of the Water Heaters!" where I mention that we installed rooftop solar before this switch. Also note that our electric provider, SCE, is about half renewable at this point. Coal electricity generation in the US has been declining for decades.
So!