gas fired water heater pounding noise

john58

what is the cause? sediment in heater? owner has never flushed tank. should I replace the heater or can the problem be fixed? help appreciated-  John

hot_rod

what's in your water?

the sediment is what falls out of solution when you heat the water that is running through the tank. Pretty hard to keep it all out. Did you check the hardness of the water? A water softener will help on many installs, filters, maybe magnents.



The hotter you run a tank, the more prone they are to mineral build up. I don't know anyone that flushes the tank on a regular enough basis to keep all the sediment out. Most heavy sediment won't flow out the draincock anyways. It takes a tool like a muck vac to really clean a tank heater out.



How old is it? How much water do they run through it. Water hardness and TDS? These all add up to the build up.



10 years on a well used tank, these days seems to be a reasonable expectation.



hr

Big Ed_4

Death Rattle

I call it the death rattle , snap . crackle and pop when the burner is firing ... Let's start with a glass lined tank .. On first fill up of a tank , water absorbs in to the Virgin glass spun steal tank ...That water looses it's sting and act like a barrier against future incoming water though the tank ...



As the fresh water is heated ,minerals fall out of solution and lay on the bottom of the tank ... Over the years the crust of minerals builds up ... The noise you hear in a old tank is the energy breaking through the laver of crust .. There is no water to ex sorb the energy against the protective glass line ...The glass super heats and cracks , water seeps down pass the fractured protective glass and starts rusting out the steal tank ...



Figure 5 years once you hear the death rattle until the tanks rots through ....Ball park ..













































































































on first