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Plumbers of Chattanooga
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Water Heater Repair

Shut off the gas valve or the breaker and close the cold inlet if the tank is leaking or the relief valve is discharging, then call rather than continuing to run it.

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When this becomes an emergency

What a pro does

A water heater sitting in a basement corner gets ignored until it stops, and by then a plumber's real task is working out whether there's anything left worth fixing. The serial number gives the manufacturing date, which frames everything else. Electric units get their elements and thermostats tested individually, since a bad element is a straightforward replacement while a scaled one is a symptom of the water the tank is being fed. Gas units get the burner, the thermocouple, and above all the venting, and older homes on both sides of the line often run that vent into a masonry chimney that was never intended for a modern appliance. Draft gets confirmed before anything else is called finished. Sediment comes out through a flush where the tank can still take one, though minerals from limestone groundwater cement into a crust in a neglected tank and won't always leave through a drain valve. Anything weeping from the shell ends the discussion, and replacement then brings the pan, the drain, and the expansion side into the job.

Frequently asked questions

It corrodes so the tank doesn't. The rod is a sacrificial piece of metal that draws the corrosion that would otherwise attack the steel lining, and once it's consumed the tank starts spending its own life instead. Checking it is one of the better indicators of how much service a heater has left.
Almost always sediment. Minerals settle out and form a layer on the bottom, and water trapped underneath flashes to steam when the burner fires, which is the knocking and popping people hear. The noise itself isn't dangerous, though it does mean the tank is working harder than it should to deliver less.
Yes, on any gas appliance. A flue that's partly blocked or drawing poorly is a combustion safety issue, and older masonry chimneys in this housing stock deteriorate internally where nobody can see. It's checked as a matter of course rather than because something suggests a problem.
When one fails it typically opens gradually rather than bursting, so the concern is a slow release across a finished floor rather than a sudden flood. A pan under the tank with a line to a floor drain, where the layout allows it, is what turns that from damage into a puddle.

Water Heater Repair?

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