Water heater anode......not OT.

All,

I live rural and have well water (center to south Minnesota). I think I may look into replacing the anode on the 14 year old propane water heater.

Is there a way to determine the anode material? I am guessing magnesium.

And by the way, I wash dirt and grease from my hands using hot water after maintenance on my vehicles and tractors and such.

Thanks in advance.

D.

Shut off the Fuel line, and water supply (and if you can) the outlet to the heater. Then open the drain valve a tiny bit to drop internal pressure to zero. Remove the Anode (have towels around) if it is near gone, replace it. There is likely a stamped in ID on the "plug" holding it in. If you look at that first, having the new one ahead is a good idea. Jim

OEM anodes are almost always magnesium, as it is less noble than aluminum and therefore gives the greatest corrosion protection. But if you have problems with "rotten egg" smell in your water, you'll probably want to replace it with aluminum, which isn't as reactive as magnesium so it reduces the stink.

At 14 years your anode probably disappeared a long time ago. Hopefully you can get the plug out without breaking something.

Mark,

I do not hve smelly water, yet.

I am trying to get everything in tip-top shape for my wife. She may have some duties that she is un-prepared for. The water heater may provide years more service if I change out the sacrificial anode. If I can relieve of some of her worries for a bit, well that is what is going to happen.

Just one step of many. Thanks for the reply.

D.

(quoted from post at 11:21:15 01/23/21) Mark,

I do not hve smelly water, yet.

I am trying to get everything in tip-top shape for my wife. She may have some duties that she is un-prepared for. The water heater may provide years more service if I change out the sacrificial anode. If I can relieve of some of her worries for a bit, well that is what is going to happen.

Just one step of many. Thanks for the reply.

D.

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A 14 year old water heater is well beyond it's expected life span.

If you are looking to make things in better shape for your wife going forward it would be best to replace the water heater, IMHO.

A friend had smelly water after replacing his tank. Dealer told him to replace the aluminum rod with magnesium. Opposite of an earlier reply. Just sayin' so don't hold me to it.

Then replace the tank , no worries

I doubt you'll be able to get the old anode plug out without ruining the tank- I tried one after two years on city water, and it was unremovable, even with an air impact wrench and socket.

I'd just install a new water heater. My Boss had to leave work early today for the same issue.

For maximum peace of mind, replacing the entire water heater is the best way to go. But you may very well end up taking that path after you try to remove the old anode. Good luck.

> A friend had smelly water after replacing his tank. Dealer told him to replace the aluminum rod with magnesium. Opposite of an earlier reply. Just sayin' so don't hold me to it.

And did that work?

The ones in my RV are Magnesium best I recall (no warranty check with Suburban or Atwood whoever made them) Ive only had to replace a few (in 49 years of RV ownership) after they are completely dissolved.

John T

I replaced the anode rod in my 1 year old water heater yesterday.

I've had bad luck with water heater life so decided that I would inspect my rod every 6 months and replace every year as per the instructions that came with my Reliance WH. Manufacturers recommend inspection/replacement more frequently for those who have a water softener and I do.

When I replaced the 7 year old leaking WH last year, I attempted to remove the never changed anode rod in order to inspect. Not a chance with two people. I had not replaced the rod because it was not possible to install a new rod due to limited clearance to the floor above. I do not believe that segmented rods were available until recently.

After installing the new WH, I removed the plug, loosened the (new) rod, inspected, re-wrapped with tef tape and retightened. I repeated this operation at 6 months as per the WH instructions but did not replace the rod at 6 months.

Though the OEM rod had much life left after 12 months, I had already removed it, bending it in the process to gain floor clearance, so I replaced it with a new aluminum/zinc segmented rod. No problems.

I will continue to inspect every 6 months and replace every year as per the instructions.

I will probably go back to a magnesium rod next time unless the permanent electronic rods have come down in price significantly.

Dean

It worked.

I don't know which one but I replaced the one in my RV tank last summer that had the rotten egg smell. Bot one on Amazing with built in drain valve and it was zinc and advertised as getting rid of the smell. Still have to rinse and soak the tank and system with chlorox to get rid of the smell.

I've tried replacing anodes on water heaters and usually they are so corroded in they won't come out and there is no good way to hold the tank without bending it up. And if your water lines are still tied on the tank could move and twist or tear out your piping. Tried wd40 and lime away that didn't help. Didn't think about using an impact wrench which would be your best bet.

You may end up spending a bunch of bux on an anode and then it starts leaking next summer and you have to replace it anyway.

Another problem you may have is the drain valves once opened to get rid of the water and crud in the bottom may not close tight again. Then you have to have a hose end plug to keep it from leaking. Or the valve handle may break or corrode off and you can't open it. Those drain valves also corrode in place.

Next time my heater goes, which could be any day, I'm going tankless with a recirculator setup on it.

Just last week my Kenmore 22 year old 32,000 grain water softner blew out the fiberglass tank and left a big split in it. Overflowed the salt bin as the drain hose on it couldn't keep up. Luckily I caught it before there was too much water on the floor. It hasn't been softening right anyway the last few years and was already planning to replace it. Bot a new Fleck 5600 style from Aquasource 64,000 grain system on Amazing for under 700 bux. 1" fittings so no restriction. Haven't felt water that soft at home in ages. Like night and day. It is so soft that I can hardly rinse the soap off my feet and avoid slipping in the shower. Should help washing off diesel.

Let us know how it works out. I'd sure try to break the old anode loose before buying one just in case it doesn't come out.

Agreed.

The magnesium rods can produce the smell.

The aluminum/zinc do not but are not as effective for intended purpose.

Dean

I have a tall water heater, (40 to 50 ) gal range, I also have a short fat water heater, same range. I have replaced the tall heater twice, and the short, one time. the dealers say, the sediment, stays in the tall heaters, on the bottom, where as the short heaters, seem to stay flushed out. mine are electric. mark55

It is not sediment that depletes the anode rod. Rather it is galvanic corrosion.

That said, sediment does cause other problems.

Dean

does your smell rotten eggs, have large units that go along with geo thermal system. i pulled the rods out day after install cut them off and put plug back in no smell and can tell no difference in life of unit. i did the same to the old system before we updated to geo and had no issues or SMELL, aluminum is what you want to reduce the small but it did not work for me ,remove it works for us. iowa water. yea they say it voids warranty well we never had much luck with those anyway cause time we had trouble it was already up anyway

I would not try to get 14 year old anode out.

!4 year old water heater is beyond the useful service life. It is just a matter of time until failure so I would just replace the whole heater.

I take the rod out to begin with. If I don't they smell within a year. and I've never had a tank leak. More import-in in to have a water softener ahead of the water heater.
Around 1980 I put in a new oil fired water heater, then a few years latter converted to LP. We mover in 2012, and it was still fine then.

(quoted from post at 13:45:01 01/26/21)
!4 year old water heater is beyond the useful service life. It is just a matter of time until failure so I would just replace the whole heater.

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All depends on your water!
We had an electric water heater go 30 years.
Never replaced heating elements or anode.