We bought and installed a 50 gallon hot water heater made by Whirlpool less than a week ago. When the shower is in use and the gas comes on, we get a vibration and loud noise that continues for several minutes. It sounds like a helicopter hovering. Any ideas for pin pointing the cause?

Hello SueGirl, it may be one of the following :

1. Water heater has nipples that have back-flow preventer built in it. This nipple has to be installed "right side up". Otherwise it will get very noisy. These aluminum nipples have arrows markings on them. The arrow should point in direction of flow. ( Don't get confused here: Arrow on Cold water nipple should point DOWN when installed. Arrow on Hot water nipple should point UP when installed ). See the photos for better visual...

2. Valve on your water heater has loose, or broken, interior part. Try to close it and open it. See if it helped. Otherwise, replace the valve.

3. The vibration can also be coming from your shower valve. It can be loose washer or malfunctioning pressure balancing device

Gas should have nothing to do with the noise.

Question: Does it get noisy only with shower ON ? Or does it do it when other shower / tub is used ?