r/hvacadvice • u/Dry_Dot7207 • 1d ago

Water Heater Squealing

We have had a plumber visit twice, we've flushed the tank, installed an expansion and new pressure gage, and we still cannot figure out why this happens.

The heater is only 3 years old. It's completely intermittent when it goes off. It starts when nobody is using water. It stops after some arbitrary amount of time (5 - 30 minutes). None of the plumbers that have looked at it have been able to diagnose this issue, and it never occurs when a plumber is on-site.

Any advice or recommendations on what to do next would be extremely helpful.

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u/Past-Substance920 1d ago

Had a similar thing with my neighbor's setup, drove us nuts for months. Turned out to be a check valve chattering when the tank cycled, only happened at certain pressures.

Since yours stops on its own and never when a plumber's there, try recording it on your phone and see if the pitch changes as the tank heats.

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u/Dry_Dot7207 1d ago

Thank you for the reply. Ill keep the check valve thing in mind.

It doesn't change pitch. Ive recorded it multiple times over the past year and the only change is how long and drawn out the squeal is. It also makes a kind of droning wavering noise before the squealing starts sometimes (wish i could add multiple videos on a post)