Water Heater Popping and Sizzling

I have an AO Smith 100-gallon water heater that's popping and sizzling. I'm pretty sure there's a sizeable mineral deposit on the bottom that's creating these noises and has successfully escaped my attempts at regularly flushing the tank for the last seven years.

Is there a way, short of throwing said heater out, of getting rid of that deposit?

The Ranger

Reply to
The Ranger
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There may still be life in your heater. Completely drain , open the intake, and dump in a bottle of CLR. Wait a half hour and flush. Inspect/replace your sacrificial rod. Of course, you'll have to plan a time to be without hot water for a few hours.

Reply to
Phisherman

QUESTION: Do all hot water heaters have a sacricial rod and a "intake"? My hot water heater also pops. (I am the person with the mysterious fading spots on the laudry.)

Tammy from Wisconsin

Reply to
Tammy

I'm not sure they all have them. They're designed to keep the tank from rusting. Some are screwed into the top of the tank and have hex heads. Others are in the hot-water outlet pipe. Some have both.

Flushing is supposed to get rid of sediment, but simply draining the tank may not work because tanks drain slowly. If you hook up a hose and open the drain valve without turning off the cold-water supply, you'll get a better blast to sweep sediment out.

The drawback is that if the plastic valve breaks when you twist it, you'll get sprayed with hot water. I shut off the cold water, hook up the hose, open a hot-water tap in the kitchen to relieve pressure, close the tap, open the drain valve, and turn on the cold-water supply. I run the hose to a white bucket so I can dump it every couple of gallons until there's no more sediment. It may take only five gallons.

If I got a lot of rust I'd check the sacrificial rods.

Reply to
E Z Peaces

"The Ranger" wrote in news:13f8073e1sprnf2 @corp.supernews.com:

You have deposits in your tank and need to flush it once or twice a year to prolong the life of the heater. There are many sites on the web that deal with this problem. Google for "hot water heater noise" and find out the best way to flush your tank. Recently manufactured tanks do not last as long as older models. I just replaced a 25 yo Rheem and my plumber said that the life expectancy for newer heaters is 10-15 years, max. The installation costs - $350 are about the same as the purchase cost for a

40 gallon gas heater.
Reply to
Walter

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