clevere1
Premium
join:2002-01-06
Vancouver, WA
 ·Qwest.net
|  Gas hot water heater making a strange noise ...... help
Hey folks!
I have a gas hot water heater. It's been working fine. I went out into the garage today, and I heard what sounded like someone kicking a plastic bag, or water dripping onto something hot... So I look around to make sure no mouse is in the garage, and I hear the sound coming from the water heater.
I looked into where the flame is (under the tank). I can see no water leaking from the tank either inside, or outside....
The flame seems to be ok. Any ideas?
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leibold
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
clubs: 
| This is the sound of your sacrificial anode at work protecting your steel tank.
I have never heard it on mine (where the anode is probably used up since it is an older water heater and the anode has not been replaced), but I have heard it in other homes and it can be very loud.
Temperature and water quality as well as the material of the anode all have an impact on how violent the reaction is.
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dolphins
Miami Dolphins
Premium
join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ
 ·Comcast
| reply to clevere1
I'm assuming the plastic bag is deflated when kicked? Otherwise we're looking at a completely different animal. 
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clevere1
Premium
join:2002-01-06
Vancouver, WA
·Qwest.net
| said by dolphins  :I'm assuming the plastic bag is deflated when kicked? Otherwise we're looking at a completely different animal. LOL, yes |
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clevere1
Premium
join:2002-01-06
Vancouver, WA
·Qwest.net
| reply to leibold
said by leibold :This is the sound of your sacrificial anode at work protecting your steel tank. I have never heard it on mine (where the anode is probably used up since it is an older water heater and the anode has not been replaced), but I have heard it in other homes and it can be very loud. Temperature and water quality as well as the material of the anode all have an impact on how violent the reaction is. What's the anode? And is that good or bad? |
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dolphins
Miami Dolphins
Premium
join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ
·Comcast
| Fortunately I am a master of Google-Fu!
»www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/···des.html
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fgonzalez0
join:2005-03-09
Sterling, VA
1 edit | reply to clevere1
A few helpful tips:
»www.popularmechanics.com/home_jo···452.html
»www.popularmechanics.com/home_jo···690.html
A: Don't give up so easily — this problem is simple to fix. Sediment has built up at the bottom of your tank. When it is heated by the gas burner below, moisture in the gunk flashes into steam that bursts into the water. That's causing the rumbling. Flushing the heater should remove the deposits and quiet things down |
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gjgkujtgu
@cox.net | reply to clevere1
The anode rod keeps the tank from rusting by allowing the anode rod to rust first. |
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clevere1
Premium
join:2002-01-06
Vancouver, WA | reply to clevere1
But the rod would sound like a plastic bag being kicked?
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Where's th' DAFFY DUCK EXHIBIT?? |
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fgfhggg
@cox.net | reply to clevere1
I think he believes you heard a reaction involving the anode rod. It's more of a chemical reaction then metal tapping. |
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dolphins
Miami Dolphins
Premium
join:2001-08-22
Westville, NJ
·Comcast
| reply to clevere1
Ok, I've been kicking the shit out of some empty 55 gallon leaf bags and I can say truthfully that I have never heard that sound reproduced by any water heater!
The neighbors seem to agree? Although they will not get close enough to verify my conclusions. 
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jrs8084
Premium
join:2002-03-02
Statesville, NC
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to clevere1
said by clevere1 :But the rod would sound like a plastic bag being kicked? I have never heard of the sacrificial anode being the cause of noise. I am not saying it can't-but it is the first time I have ever heard that reasoning.
Does it sound like a pot spilling over onto the burner? If so, water is probably dripping down onto the burner. If you had a high turnover (filling the tank with lots of cold water), it is going to sweat as it recovers, and hence drip water down.
With the gas water heaters I have had, when they are recovering from a large fill of cold water, a few hisses and spits were normal. And, no, the tanks were not leaking.
From your other posts, I think you have your WH in your garage. If you filled a glass of water cold from the tap, and put it in the garage, would it sweat? Probably.
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clevere1
Premium
join:2002-01-06
Vancouver, WA
·Qwest.net
| reply to clevere1
Yeah, it did sound a little like the water dripping onto a hot surface....
I looked at the burner when it did it, and I'm not sure I am going to describe this right. So I looked at the flame when it was happening. It almost looked like the flame was flaring up just a tad. I'd hear the noise, and the flame would get a little darker, and then a little brighter.
I have not heard it since. Yes, my wife just filled a soak tube full of water, so I'm sure the water heater got a burst of hot water.
I'm not overly concerned, I have a home warranty on it, but I like to keep things running, and not let them break down. Is there anything I can check? I looked at the bottom of the water heater (hence, being able to see the flame) with the door on, that's what I saw when I saw it.
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Where's th' DAFFY DUCK EXHIBIT?? |
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jjoshua
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ
1 edit | reply to clevere1
It's most likely condensation that's being vaporized by the flame. Shouldn't be a problem - it's pretty normal. |
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Splitpair
Premium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
 ·T-Mobile US
| reply to clevere1
It's not uncommon for a small amount of water vapor to condense on the inside of the cool vent pipe when the unit fires up. This condensation will run down and make a sizzling sound when it hit the burner. Once the vent warms up the condensation stops and noise disappears with no damage done.
I’m betting the garbage bag was the burner coming on which allow a small amount of gas to pool just before the pilot light fires off the burner. This pool of gas makes what I call a slight woof which may be what you heard followed by the dripping water sound and then the normal clunks and bumps you get from a tank based gas fired heater.
Wayne
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If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician.
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leibold
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-09
Sunnyvale, CA
clubs:
| reply to clevere1
said by clevere1 :But the rod would sound like a plastic bag being kicked? Not sure to be honest. The noise I have heard was similar to the crackling/popping sounds that a gas water heater makes when there is too much sediment buildup, except that it happened even when the heater was not active.
I was looking for an article that I read in the past that discussed noise from the anode and even showed pictures of one where the reaction with the water had been so violent that the surface was covered with blisters (if I remember correctly these were the stronger magnesium anodes).
I found some articles that discussed situations where the anode dissolved rapidly (less than 90 days instead of years) but no descriptions of any noise made. Other articles suggested that even in situations where the anode is dissolving too quickly the noise is not from the anode itself, but from aluminium hydroxide buildup at the bottom of the water header (this applies only to aluminium anodes).
The Rheem FAQ has an article on different anode types and situations in which they might be "excessively active". It also describes the condensation process really well that this discussion seems to have determined is the real cause of your water heater noise.
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