Manifold Rinnai Heavy Duty Water Heaters

Rinnai have been involved with the water heating industry now for 99 years. They have a head office which is based in the city of Nagoya, Japan. Over the 99 years of being in operation they have built a strong reputation in the plumbing and HVAC industry for providing reliable products both for domestic and commercial applications. Although Rinnai has its headquarters in Japan, they also have 20 subsidiary offices around the globe and one of them is in Australia. Today many homeowners or property owners would be familiar with the Rinnai name and its reliability throughout Adelaide.

Commercial applications are often each unique in their requirements and locations, it is for this reason that Rinnai have developed technology which allows for multiple units from there heavy-duty range to be manifolded together allowing for large volumes of delivery continually.

Engineering The Right Package

When its first discussed with our design team about having multiple Rinnai HD units installed it is not a matter of just mounted multiple units to the wall and away you go, there is a specific method and calculations which need to be analysed. We offer an in-house design and construct service where we work with you to ensure all the below points are met enabling a package capable of meeting all your requirements.

What Will Be The Use: Each commercial application is different and therefore the desired outlet temperature will be different. For example, in a meat processing facility they use large volumes of very hot water to clean down and sanitise floors and other preparation facilities. Temperatures for this type of process can be up to 85 degrees Celsius. The other side of requirements such as hair dressing salons and sporting club change rooms is where they will opt for a set outlet temperature of between 42 and 50 degrees Celsius. Cafes, Pubs and

Restaurants often request from us a manifolded package which can deliver hot water in a range of between 60 and 75 degrees Celsius.

Volume Requirements: This is a key point which must be very accurate to ensure enough heated water will be available. In order to calculate the volumes of hot water needed we must understand what the peak requirements will be (worst case scenario) when everything is at its maximum operating capacity. With these figures calculated it is then determined the size of Rinnai HD units to supply either the 200 or 250 model and how many of these. Using the Rinnai Heavy Duty model water heaters, you can have a minimum of 2 connected and up to 25 connected depending on requirements.

Location: The larger the requirements the more space required. In majority of projects we work on across Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills multiple skids are manufactured. These are then installed typically on top of the building. The advantage of roof mounted systems is that they are not taking up valuable floor space inside the building. Another big advantage of using these types of systems is that when a water heater needs replacing it can be done through the access hatch onto the roof eliminating the need for cranes and road closures. If for some reason roof top installations are not suitable these manifolded units can be wall mounted.

The Rinnai HD200 model also comes in an internal option allowing for these systems to be installed inside plantrooms and flue the burner emissions to the atmosphere via brand specific fluing kit. Using the correct flue products, it allows multiple units to emit there emissions into a common flue eliminating the need to multiple external penetrations.

Spreading The Load Evenly

When multiple systems are installed its important that they are all used evenly and run according to the demand at different times. In the plumbing industry there is term used which is “first in last out” this refers to the delivery of cold water or returned water via circulating system and the delivery of heated water.

What it means is that any cold or returned warm water will enter for example unit number 1 which will in turn deliver hot water to the manifold last. This is the first part of the puzzle which is specific to the physical pipe installations. Secondly, the manifolds computers need to understand which system has worked for what period and sense when demand is high and low enabling the furnaces to fire on and off depending on the demand. What this helps ensure is that equal hours and usage is spread throughout all the heat exchangers and other various working components installed.

When multiple Rinnai HD units are installed together a unique piece of technology is installed. The MECS (Manifolded Electronic Control System) is small electronic box approx. 100m square which sits inside the metal housing of the water heater and controls all the above-mentioned tasks. For every three heaters installed there will be one of these MECA04 control boxes. You can think of these control boxes as the brain of the manifold.

A small cable will link each of these units together which will allow communication. Given the sensitive nature of these electrical parts installed we advise that a surge protection device be installed on the power circuit which delivers the 240 volts to these systems. Unfortunately, we have seen many occasions where an electrical storm has come through Adelaide and caused the MECA04 boxes to be destroyed. With a supply cost of over $1,000 each its something we try and assist our clients in avoiding.

Life Span

Commercial applications place high demand on all their various parts installed inside a continuous flow hot water service due to high level of hours they are operating at and the temperatures. Initially all parts are covered by a 1-year warranty. After this the heater exchanger is covered by a 5-year warranty. There is one exception to this and that is of manifolded services which are set 85 degrees these systems will only be covered by a 1-year warranty across all components including the heater exchanger.

Knowledge and Experience

As outlined in the article above commercial water heaters and their installations are very complex and differ significantly from residential installations. Its for this reason you need to engage the services of a commercial hot water expert in Adelaide when experiencing any faults or are considering a new commercial hot water installation. Many of the parts required to enable prompt repairs we stock in our service vehicles and if it’s a part which is a little more unique, we have access to fast reliable suppliers ensuring your not without hot water any longer then needed.

Our commercial department offer an all hour’s emergency service for when things break down out of normal business hours for your added convenience. Speak with us today about any Rinnai hot water requirements.