gas water heater, noise and leaks

[Rein]

I have a gas water heater, about 5 years old. When heating up it makes some pretty bad banging noises, almost as if a rock is bouncing around in it. I've been pretty good with flushing it and I hardly see any sediment come out when I do. ( I open the valve and water runs out, good enough, right ?) What can it be ?

also, every time I flush it, the darn valve keeps dripping water out. Replaced it once with a new one form hd (it's plastic) but now it does it again... why ? Guess I need to replace it again ?

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[Phisherman]

A bumping sound is a clue that there is sediment at the bottom. If your water is hard and there is no softener, that;s anther clue. The metal brass valves are much better than the flimsy plastic ones.

[Phil Munro]

Here is what I wrote about my gas water heater: The sediment I find in my water heater is relatively heavy and sinks around the edges of the bottom of the (gas) heater. I think draining the heater would just waste water. What I have done is to replace the cheap plastic drain valve with a

3/4" ball valve. This required a short stem from heater to valve, and a hose fitting was mounted on the outlet side. If I open this valve somewhat quickly when the heater is on, it causes a bit of an "explosion" in the water, which stirs up the sediment, and I can see the sediment in the bottom of the bucket. I *know* I am getting sediment out of the heater. This is the way I "drain the sediment from my gas water heater." When installing the ball valve, I also tried to reach in and clean and scrape sediment out from the bottom of the heater. After several years now, my gas water heater does not rumble any more (due to sediment on its bottom surface). My plan is to remove the brass ball valve when the heater does need to be replaced, and use it on the new one from the start. --Phil

[Rein]

thanks for the info. I bought a brass valve and was going to install it but I can't get the old one out easily. I am afraid I might break something it seems to have been twisted in pretty tight. Also, do I use teflon tape or something to seal the brass pipe going into the tank ?

thanks

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[Phil Munro]

Hopefully you bought a valve with good "flow through" like a ball valve. The ball valves have nice easy-on easy-off (quick-on quick-off) action, too Getting the old one off is just a twist until it either comes loose, not likely if it is the normal plastic kind, or until it breaks into small enough pieces to be removed. The tank should not be harmed unless is is in bad shape already. Yes, use pipe dope or teflon tape to seal the threads. That is necessary for any threaded pipes, and the water heater has a standard

3/4 > thanks for the info. I bought a brass valve and was going to install