Update: That Rheem water heater I installed last month is already making noises

I put in a new Rheem gas water heater about 4 weeks ago, followed the manual step by step, purged the air and everything. Last Tuesday morning it started making this low rumbling sound like a truck idling in my garage. My neighbor Dale who does HVAC swears by Rheem and says I probably didn't flush the lines good enough. But idk, I've installed three other water heaters over the years and never had this happen. Has anyone else run into a new unit making noise after just a few weeks?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_bennett1mo ago

Has anyone tried tightening the sacrificial anode? I had a similar noise on my Rheem about a month in and it turned out the anode rod was just loose enough to vibrate. Made the whole tank sound like a bad exhaust system. I felt pretty dumb when my buddy came over and fixed it with a socket wrench in like 30 seconds. Definitely worth a shot before you start blaming your flushing technique or whatever Dale is on about.

sean_green441mo agoTop Commenter

@keith_bennett I felt that dumb moment in my soul. Tightened mine last week and felt like a real genius with a wrench.

the_paul1mo ago

Hold up man, is a little rattle really that deep though lol. I mean yeah it's annoying but calling it a "bad exhaust system" feels like a bit much unless you're parking your water heater in your living room. My unit's been making some weird clicking noises for like two years now and I just assume it's the pipes expanding or whatever. Maybe I'm just lazy but I'd rather wait until something actually breaks before I go digging around with a socket wrench. You do you though, if tightening a bolt makes you sleep better at night then go for it.