Water Heaters - Hot water heater (gas) popping, crackling

FYI - i decided to actually do some reading :-) and found some great info on sediment reduction (that doesnt have anything to do with vinegar - ha ha ha). I will try this - but any info is still greatly appreciated.

Thanks - matt5150

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My hot water heater is about 14 years old, and more and more makes a popping sound after i take a shower, run the dishwasher, etc. I have a suspicion that this is from lime/calcium build up and deposits, and have heard that flushing the hot water and using vinegar to reduce this sludge build up can be done fairly easy by a Do-It-Yourselfer. I had a licensed plumber/installer come out about a year ago and he said that the hot water heater was still in good shape and that it didnt need replacement, and that the popping/crackling sounds are very common in areas where there is a fair amount of calcium in the water.

My question for the forum is actually twofold:
1) Does anyone know if the popping sound that i hear is caused from a sludge buildup in the water heater?
2) Has anybody ever cleaned/serviced their gas hot water heater to reduce the buildup and thus the popping sound without the help of a licensed plumber?

I am willing to take on this sort of task myself, but i can't find any good information online about this particular situation.

thanks!
Matt5150

Most plumbers are hesitant to suggest replacing a non-leaking heater. They would not want to be later accused of doing unnecessary work. This however, does not suggest that your heater will last another 14 years, or another 14 days for that matter. When to replace is entirely your decision. If it's located in an area where leakage would not cause damage, then don't worry.

Should you decide to flush/drain the heater, follow the detailed instruction given by Sharp Advice in this forum. Will flushing reduce the sounds? It may or may not, but water heaters should receive this kind of service anyway. Again, it's your choice.

I don't think vinegar will hurt anything and considering the age, you would have nothing to lose.
Let us know the results.

Good luck with this.

Good info - thanks much.

Also in this forum I read about how to really get at the sludge issue by turing a hot water faucet on somewhere in the house, then setting the Hot water heater setting to "Pilot," shutting off the water intake, then draining the tank completely, and once it's drained, turning on the water intake again, which apparently forces the sludge out the drain hose and repeating this process until the water runs out clear.

Have you ever heard of this method for draining sludge out of a tank?

The only thing i dont know about this is what the "Pilot" setting is and what it's purpose is on hot water heaters.

thanks,
Matt5150

Matt,
I recommend draining the tank all the way after either turning the control to off or pilot and turning off the cold water inlet valve. Gas water heaters have to have the pilot lit before the main gas valve will operate. The thermocouple heats up and sends a signal to the main gas valve that "tells" the valve a flame to light the gas is present. Some people worry about relighting the heater so do not want to turn it all the way off. On your control box, you will see a knob (usually red) that has 3 positions. OFF, PILOT and ON. You turn the knob to pilot and push it in. Then you light the pilot light and hold the knob in for 30 to 60 seconds. When you release the pressure on the knob, you check to make sure the pilot is still lit. Then you turn the knob to ON and the main burner will come on.
The cold water inlet pipe is connected to the dip tube which goes to the bottom of the tank. This takes the cold water to the bottom and pushes the hot water out the outlet piping. Most dip tubes are no more than a straight plastic tube. New models have a curved tube that is supposed to clean the bottom of the tank each time cold water is introduced to the tank. My thinking on draining the tank is that the cold water "sprays with force" the bottom of the tank if the tank is empty. Just as a bucket with a garden hose held in it would. The more water in the bucket, the less it sprays around. The idea of draining and flushing is to remove sediment from the bottom of the tank.
Hope this makes sense to you and helps with your questions. Good luck.

This is such good info - I can't thank you enough. I plan to do this over the weekend - I will update this thread next Monday and let you know how it went.

Thanks again!

Matt

I drained the water heater per these instructions, and it did reduce the popping/crackling sounds, but they aren't gone altogether. I think that the water heater drain is actually above the level of where the sediment is at in the tank because the water flowed out clear the entire time even though i repeated the steps 3 times. So, this probably means a couple things: 1) the sediment build-up isn't too bad since its not above the level of the WH drain, and 2) i probably should start saving for a new water heater. :-)

thanks for the help - i appreciate it.

Matt

At 14 years old, I would say that looking at a new unit is a good thing to do. At least you have some time to compare prices, warranties and energy efficiency instead of needing a new one RIGHT now.