Rinnai Reset

How to Reset a Rinnai Tankless Water Heater

Soft reset, hard reset, and factory reset on Rinnai tankless — when to use each and how to do it.

Updated May 2026 · Rinnai Water Heaters

"Reset the unit" is the first instruction Rinnai support gives for most calls. There are three levels of reset, used in sequence.

Level 1: error-code reset

For any displayed error code, press the On/Off button on the controller. The unit will attempt to restart and clear the fault. If the fault was transient (momentary low gas pressure, brief Wi-Fi blip), the unit returns to normal.

Level 2: power cycle

  1. Turn off the unit at the controller (On/Off button held for 3 seconds)
  2. Turn off power at the wall (unplug or breaker)
  3. Wait 30 seconds
  4. Restore power
  5. Turn the unit back on at the controller

A power cycle clears the control board's running state and force-resets all sensors. Used when an error code re-throws immediately after Level 1 reset.

Level 3: factory reset

This restores all settings to factory defaults — temperature, recirculation schedule, Wi-Fi pairing, language. Use only when you're transferring the unit to a new owner, or when the controller is behaving erratically and you suspect corrupted settings.

  1. Hold the On/Off button + Up arrow + Down arrow simultaneously for 10 seconds
  2. The display will cycle and reboot
  3. Re-enter language and temperature
  4. Re-pair to ControlR if used

Resets that don't fix things

If you reset three times in a row and the same error code returns immediately, the underlying fault is real — not transient. Skip further resets and work through the diagnostic walkthrough on the specific error code page.

When to call Rinnai support instead

  • Reset succeeds but unit immediately fails again under any draw
  • Reset doesn't change the displayed code
  • Controller display is blank or garbled (potential PCB failure)
  • Reset clears the code but recirculation pump won't restart

Phone: 1-800-621-9419. Have your serial number ready. See our customer service page.

Bottom line

Start with the Level 1 reset. If the code re-throws inside 60 seconds, you have a real fault — go to the error code page for that specific code. Don't escalate to factory reset unless you're transferring ownership or settings are obviously corrupted.