Water heater now making strange noises

[MiamiCanes]

For the past few weeks, I've been generally shutting off the house's water valve anytime I'm not actively using something that requires water (ok, that's excess paranoia), and absolutely shutting it off whenever I'm not physically in the house (for at least a few more weeks, something I still think is fairly prudent, if only for the sake of my mental well-being). I've also been careful to shut off the circuit breaker for the water heater whenever the water is off.

Sometime last week, I noticed that the water heater was making kind of a sizzling/whistling noise whenever it's powered up. I have a hunch that air has somehow gotten into the water heater, and is keeping it from completely filling, and the sound I'm hearing is caused by too little water getting hot enough to boil.

Am I on the right track, or does it sound like something else might be the problem? What do I need to do to fix it (purge air somehow?)

 

[Ian Gills]

Sounds like sediment to me. Harmless. They often do that when they get old.

Why are you shutting the water off so much?

That's crazy, especially if you are in the house or just popping off for a day at work.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[MiamiCanes]

> Why are you shutting the water off so much?

Right now, I have the hot and cold water lines in the bathroom capped with Sharkbite caps. At this point it's more out of habit, but it was originally due to visions of a cap loosening while I was gone, and coming home to a collapsed living room ceiling. The floor itself is a suspended concrete slab, but there's a hole formed in it to accommodate the bathtub's trap, and the hole's bottom is the hidden side of the drywall that comprises the living room's ceiling. If a leak springs in a way that sends water under the bathtub, it's going to act like a big drain and funnel all of the water into the 3/4" gap between the living room's ceiling and the underside of the slab until it collapses onto my entertainment center

 

[Jadnashua]

If you installed the Sharkbites properly (basically, just seated the thing on the pipe all the way), there is no way it is going to pop off the pipe. The things are designed for a permanent connection that is easy to remove if required. The only hassle you may have is if you damaged the seal on the way in because of a burr on the pipe, but you'd notice it leaking as soon as you turned the water back on.

 

[MiamiCanes]

So... getting back to the original problem... the sounds are likely to be normal? The thing is, the only time it ever happened BEFORE was a year and a half ago, when I first bought my house & moved in, and the City promptly shut off the water the day after the closing because I hadn't opened a new account with them yet. I didn't notice & washed my hands a few times, then heard the water heater making noises. After I turned off the power to it, and the water was restored, the noises didn't come back after I turned it on.

Likewise, for the first week or two of my current sidetrip, it didn't happen. It was only about 10 days ago that the water heater started making noise whenever it's powered up, even though I've been careful to never, ever have it turned on unless the water is also turned on. Then again, if it matters, the longest it's been powered up at any single point for the past month has been about 6 hours.

Mainly, I just want to conclusively eliminate the possibility that there's an air bubble or something inside of it that's keeping it from filling up that needs to somehow be bled or purged. At this point, I'm guessing that's definitely NOT a possible problem, and can safely be eliminated from the list of possibilities to worry about?

 

[hj]

heater

UNLESS you physically drained the water from the heater, NO AIR got into it, and even if it did, it would be expelled the first time you used a hot water faucet. The noise is often caused by mineral buildup on the elements. Water inside the buildup is exposed to the heat, and since it is in a semiclosed environment, it heats to steam temperature and you here it "blowing" out of its nodule. With gas heaters it is more of a popcorn popping sound. Don't worry about it. When it gets bad enough the element will burn out and then you will replace it.

 

[MiamiCanes]

Followup: At this point, both the water and heater have been left 'on' continuously for ~36 hours. The noise hasn't stopped completely, but it's subsided a LOT.