A straight answer on what usually goes wrong with a Rinnai RE series tankless water heater in New Westminster and what a repair visit actually involves.
Tell us what you need—we’ll call you back fast.
Quick answer
Most Rinnai RE series repair calls in New Westminster come down to ignition or flame-sensing faults, a clogged inlet water filter, or a flow sensor that's stopped reading correctly -- all of which a licensed gas fitter can usually diagnose in one visit. The RE series is Rinnai's non-condensing tankless line, so it doesn't have the condensate-drain issues a condensing model can get, but it still needs a proper combustion, venting, and gas-pressure check before anyone touches the electronics.
Need a licensed gas fitter for your tankless water heater? Call CANRO at (604) 359-1081 — residential natural-gas heating and hot water across Metro Vancouver since 1999.
Rinnai built the RE series as a non-condensing, on-demand unit: nothing is stored, the burner fires when a tap opens, and the exhaust runs out a purpose-built flue, not a shared chimney. In New Westminster, we run into these units in both older homes that switched over from a tank at some point and newer builds where a tankless unit was part of the original design.
Running non-condensing also means hotter exhaust gas than a condensing unit produces, which puts real weight on getting the venting material and clearances right. New West runs on the same treated, soft Metro Vancouver reservoir water as most of the region, so scale buildup inside the heat exchanger is usually a slower process here than in areas with harder or well-fed supply.
The complaints we hear most from New Westminster homeowners are inconsistent hot water temperature, the unit shutting off mid-shower, a delay before hot water arrives that's gotten noticeably longer, or an error light the homeowner can't decode. A handful of causes explain most of that: a clogged inlet water filter, a flame-sensing fault, something obstructing the vent, or gas supply pressure that's fallen out of spec.
As one of the older incorporated cities in the province, New Westminster still has a lot of narrow character homes and older low-rise buildings stacked up its hillside streets, and the mechanical room in these places is frequently a converted coal-cellar corner with barely enough clearance to work in.
Every repair call opens the same way regardless of neighbourhood: check gas pressure at the unit, inspect venting condition and clearance, pull the inlet filter, and test the flame and ignition sensors. Where it goes next depends entirely on the specific fault the unit is throwing.
The City of New Westminster handles the gas permit, and because so many of the streets climb steeply off Columbia and Royal, a technician's van sometimes can't park directly outside the house, which adds a genuine logistics step to a repair or swap that a flatter neighbourhood wouldn't need.
When it comes down to a part -- an igniter, a flow sensor, a gas valve, a control board -- you'll hear what failed and why before anything gets ordered. A failed heat exchanger is generally the point where repair cost and replacement cost converge, and that's the moment to weigh the two options honestly.
For 2026, the public-market ballpark for a tankless repair -- never a quote until CANRO's certified technicians have taken a short look -- runs $250 to $900, plus the $90 to $150 diagnostic/service call, which is credited if the repair goes ahead. The exact number within that range depends on the failed part, how accessible the unit is, and whether venting work is needed alongside the repair.
The hill itself doesn't add much frost risk, but older homes here were built before anyone was routing PVC intake/exhaust through a masonry wall, so venting retrofits come up more than the cold does.
Gas line, burner assembly, or venting work on an RE series unit is Technical Safety BC licensed-gas-fitter territory -- disturbing a sealed-combustion appliance without that licence is a real safety risk.
What a homeowner in New Westminster can safely do before calling: note exactly what the unit is doing (error light pattern, when it fails, whether it's every use or intermittent), check that the gas isn't shut off at a valve somewhere, and make sure nothing is blocking the exterior vent terminal -- snow, leaves, a bird's nest, or storage boxes pushed too close. Anything more than that belongs to a licensed technician.
Safety note
If you ever smell gas, hear a strong hiss at the unit, or see scorching or soot around the vent terminal, leave the home first and call FortisBC's emergency line at 1-800-663-9911 from outside. Don't try to relight a gas appliance yourself once it has shut itself down on a safety lockout -- that's the unit doing its job, and a licensed gas fitter needs to find out why before it runs again.
The RE series is Rinnai's current non-condensing tankless line, so parts and service support are both actively available -- this isn't a discontinued model situation.
Most straightforward repairs -- a sensor, an igniter, a filter clean -- are done in one visit once the part is on the truck or sourced locally. If the venting needs work too, budget more time for that portion specifically.
You can power-cycle it once to see if the fault clears, but if the same error comes back the unit is telling you something real failed, and repeatedly resetting a gas appliance without diagnosing the cause isn't a safe habit.
Yes, mineral scale is one of the bigger long-term threats to any tankless heat exchanger. Given the well water some New Westminster properties are on, periodic descaling still extends the unit's working life.
If the heat exchanger itself has failed, if the unit is old enough that parts availability is getting difficult, or if you're facing a second major repair within a couple of years, replacement usually works out better than chasing repairs on an aging unit.
For most repairs that don't involve re-piping gas or re-routing venting, a permit isn't triggered, but any work that does change the gas line or vent path needs to go through the local permitting authority before it's signed off.
Family-run, TSBC-licensed (gas LGA0043870 · boiler LBP0046450), serving Metro Vancouver homes since 1999. Residential, natural gas only.
Call (604) 359-1081 Email info@canroheat.ca“Canro does an amazing job! Super professional and skilled with everything—boilers, furnaces, and AC. Always a pleasure working with them!”
“Five stars for Canro. We needed a replacement of a 30-year-old boiler. A new high-efficiency unit was installed—clean, professional work.”
“I can’t speak highly enough about George, who was recommended for a boiler service call for my parents’ home. George is excellent.”
25+ years keeping Metro Vancouver homes comfortable. Honest advice, upfront pricing, work that lasts.