What are the popping, banging, rumbling or sizzling noises sometimes heard in water heaters?
The most common complaint of noisy operation is the result of sediment accumulation in the water heater tank. Other causes are expansion and contractions of metal parts, condensation and water hammer. An accumulation of sediment in the tank (even in small amounts) will create noises which begin shortly after the main burner ignites and the tank bottom heats up. The sound is usually described as popping, rumbling or boiling in the tank. Minerals in the water supply, which settle to the tank bottom after being heated form a hard layer of scale in which small air pockets form between the tank and the layer of sediment. As the minerals are continually heated the air pockets are released thus creating the noise. Sediment is in all water supplies and there is no way to stop it from forming in the conventional water heater. Periodic draining does help, but will not always eliminate the problem all together. Cleaning compounds (food grade delimers) designed to remove sediment from glass lined
