Rheem RTG-54PVN - no hot water pressure to the tub
Hello,
I installed a Rheem RTG-53 tankless... I have all of the required pipe sizes (3/4" copper & gas)... I have a Kohler bath faucet (hot/cold is a single-handle control)... I have a 1100 sq ft ranch home, with one bathroom...
I am lucky if I get up to 50 degrees in my tub/shower... The odd thing is, I had good temperature when the 40 gallon tank water heater was in use just yesterday.
My problem seems to be a hot water pressure issue to the tub only... The sink in the bathroom has separate hot and cold handles... and when I turn on the hot, I get the same pressure that I did with the tank water heater...
But when I turn on the bath faucet, the cold water is overwhelming the Hot...
I took apart the bath faucet and inspected the impeller looking things (dont know what they are called) and they look OK and they turn freely... So, out of curiosity, I installed shut off valves on the lines to the tub & turned off the cold... the hot water started flowing when the tankless heater kicked on & the water coming out was 120 degrees, but the pressure was fairly weak...
Now, taking showers with the cold water to the tub turned almost all the way off, we are able to take showers, but this AM, the water went cold while in the shower... I could turn off the faucet, wait a minute and turn it back on & the water would get hot again. So, it would seem to me that the flow to the tub is restricted somewhere, somehow, and the flow through the water heater isn't enough so it turned off (safety feature)...
So, would you guys say that I most likely have debris in the line? Or is it possible that the water heater is restricting flow? The water heater is capable of heating up to 5.3 gallons per minute, so I would think that the water heater isn't restricting flow...
If I do have blockage, what it the best way to try to clear it?
Help!
Barry
Milwaukee, WI