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George, Start by shutting off the water to the heater and draining a few gallons out of the tank. The anode is directly behind the chimney. (I assume you have a gas heater.) It is attached to a 3/4 inch pipe plug in the top of the heater. You'll need a 1-1/16 inch socket to take it out. It's pretty darn tight; I had to put a piece of pipe on my 1/2 inch drive breaker bar to bust mine loose. Once you have the pipe plug loose, you can pull it straight out the top. If you have enough headroom, that is. If you can't pull it all the way out, you'll have to cut it. Clamp the anode with a pair of Vise Grips so it can't fall inside, then cut the anode in two with a hacksaw. Try not to get chips in the water heater. (Once you have it partially cut through you should be able to break it. It has an iron wire in the middle that you'll have to work a bit to break.) You should then be able to pull the bottom half of the anode out. When you get the replacement anode, make sure that it's aluminum, not magnesium. If you had to cut the old anode to get it out, you may have to cut the new one as well. Before you install the new anode, dump a cup of Clorox in the tank to kill any bacteria. Let it sit for half an hour, then drain any sediment out of the water heater. Then run all your hot water taps until the Clorox smell goes away. Good luck, I hope it works for you.
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