Leaking Rinnai--Fix or Replace?

[JonathanEngr]

Hi, everyone. We installed a Rinnai hot water heater (Model R85--propane) when we built our home in 2007. The unit has worked flawlessly. However, I recently discovered a small puddle of water under the heater a few days ago, and the leak has slowly grown since then. After removing the cover, it's obvious the leak is coming from the top part of the unit and leaking down around all parts of the heater (I have included a picture with red circles around visible drops of water). I assume this top portion is the heater/heat exchanger? Due to how closely packed everything is I can't see the location of the actual leak.

With that said, are these units easy to service? I'm pretty handy and don't mind tackling a repair, but is it worth it? I do need to diagnose the actual problem, which may require disassembly of the unit. I'm not sure how expensive and/or available parts are, but would it be worth spending a few hundred dollars to repair a 14 year-old unit, or would I be better off to buy a new one (how long do these typically last? If I repair the leaky part, is it likely something else will fail fairly soon?). Any input would be appreciated!

 

[Twowaxhack]

Unless you can do the work yourself, I’d replace it.

Parts are at least a few hundred and once you add the labor in, you could almost or could buy a new heater.

 

[JonathanEngr]

Thanks for your reply! I was leaning that way due to the age of the unit, and since I've never worked on a Rinnai I'm not sure just how involved a repair would be. So... my next question would be which unit to buy. I know my old unit is 180,000 BTU's, but the current 150,000 BTU unit from Rinnai (v65) seems to have a similar heating capacity possibly due to greater efficiency in the newer units? Or should I go for the v75? Are condensing units worth the extra cost?