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Anyone ever replaced a water heater anode rod?

N

NetWareHead

THAT guy
I have a water heater installed in the late 80s that is still chugging along. I dont think any maintenance has been done to it but I know that an anode replacement is highly recommended. It looks pretty straight forward at least as far as some youtube videos I've seen. Use a wrench, unscrew the old one and screw in the new one. Make sure you apply plumbers tape that comes in the kit to seal the rod threads to the tank.

My questions is what material is preferred? Alumininum vs magnesium vs tin vs combo rods? Any help, suggestions etc... thanks.
 
I did! It was way easier than I thought it was going to be.

I wish I had flushed out the sediment while I was at it because I had to do that a few month later.
 
Unfortunately I think the choice of anode material depends on the minerals in your water. And yes, rudeguy's suggestion of flushing the tank is excellent. Great thing to do since you'll have the water off anyway.
 
you'll probably need a 1 1/16" socket too

NutBucket said:
Unfortunately I think the choice of anode material depends on the minerals in your water. And yes, rudeguy's suggestion of flushing the tank is excellent. Great thing to do since you'll have the water off anyway.
Click to expand...

if you have a lot of sediment you may as well shop vac that crap out too (on an electric you just take out the element, gas - dunno )
 
Firstly, I'd say a water heater that has a born-on date of the 80's is an accident waiting to happen. I hope you don't have it anywhere a tank failure will flood anything important.

That said, flush it definitely and ask a good hardware shop what element they recommend for your area...then hope it's still made for your unit.
 
Either you have an expensive plastic water heater or have been extremely luckly since a water heater will be leaking by now unless its anode rod had been replaced every 5-10 years.
 
bryanl said:
Either you have an expensive plastic water heater or have been extremely luckly since a water heater will be leaking by now unless its anode rod had been replaced every 5-10 years.
Click to expand...

QFT, that said I have done the maintenance and don't buy cheap water heaters. Going 10 years is luck though. I have known a lot of 'd-I-y'ers that insisted doing an annual flush and taking care of the anodes and elements will keep them 'running forever'; only to call and ask if I can come over to help a hot mess in their living area from a rotted tank.

Many of them had pans even. I suggest a water alarm today, but you have to be sure you are home if it goes off...even if those pans had no water; those blow outs can be serious.

I worked for a home builder. I had to replace my element in my unit. I was 5+ years old so I wanted a quote on a new one. The jackoff that was tapped to do this for me forgot about it (and was demoted for other things they "forgot"). Anywho...two weeks later I came home and for the first time saw water next to it. Fortunately, it didn't flood my office that is off to the side of it and it didn't ruin drywall/carpet/etc. Sadly I had to buy an inferior GE unit that was still highly rated but not as good as a jobber product. I think I was looking for an A.O. Smith 60 gallon at the time...since then they came out with Voltex. Which looks awesome on paper, but it's a 4 figure water heater.

I am equally screwed now since I only did a 60 gallon unit since I wasn't ever thinking of more than me + 1. Now I have me + 3 and one of the boys wants to be the next Mick Jagger or something. Comes out with how nice he smells and how his hair is so natural.

Also during that I found out the old fashioned lead stuff is unavailable. Nothing flows as good as it I think. I gave up with the new stuff and called my dad in. He has surpluses of it. That lead is not getting inside the pipe 🙂
 
alkemyst said:
Firstly, I'd say a water heater that has a born-on date of the 80's is an accident waiting to happen. I hope you don't have it anywhere a tank failure will flood anything important.
Click to expand...
Gotta agree with that. Flushing the tank occasionally and checking/changing the element (I recommend magnesium, as it throws less gunk) will certainly keep it healthy and extend its life, but ~30 years is too much. Time for a new heater.
 
60 gallons of hot water for 4 people and you're running out? Sounds like several somebodies need to do a reality check. Oh wait, Alky, nevermind.
 
Glad we rent ours.

I want to say get a new tank because newer ones are more efficient, but when you're just converting electricity directly into heat...
 
Just a thought, but this is what'd I'd do if I had questions like the OP has. I'd remove the old rod, take it, along with the heater's model number/name/mfgr./etc., down to the local hardware store, show the salesman what you have and ask what they'd recommend.

Buy it.

Return home, put it in. Oh, and flush the darned thing. 😉
 
Meghan54 said:
Just a thought, but this is what'd I'd do if I had questions like the OP has. I'd remove the old rod, take it, along with the heater's model number/name/mfgr./etc., down to the local hardware store, show the salesman what you have and ask what they'd recommend.

Buy it.

Return home, put it in. Oh, and flush the darned thing. 😉
Click to expand...

Chances are most local hardware stores won't have it for a water heater made in the 80's.
 
Go online with the full model number, order the part, wait til its in your hands, then see how you do. When my last water heater started to leak, almost 5 years on the dot from new, I swapped it out myself and out of curiosity removed the anode. I used a long pattern wrench (like 18 inches long) and a 5 lb deadblow hammer and it took some time.
 
I'd replace the water heater. As has been said, it's an accident waiting to happen.

But, a question? City water or well water? I have well water and the anode rod must be removed or the water stinks to high heaven. I'm on my third water heater here and every time it's been replaced the anode rod has been overlooked. Within a day the water smells horrible and the rod must be removed, hacksawed off and the screwed back in. Problem solved.
 
boomerang said:
But, a question? City water or well water? I have well water and the anode rod must be removed or the water stinks to high heaven. I'm on my third water heater here and every time it's been replaced the anode rod has been overlooked. Within a day the water smells horrible and the rod must be removed, hacksawed off and the screwed back in. Problem solved.
Click to expand...

Whoever told you to remove the anode rod is an idiot. That smell is caused by bacteria living in your water and eating the magnesium or aluminum that is in most anode rods and turn it into hydrogen sulfide.

To kill the bacteria, remove the pressure from your tank and dump in a quart or 2 of hydrogen peroxide for a bit. Then, turn back on the water and let it run from all the faucets. This should kill most of the bacteria, at least if you don't let the tank sit for a while unused.

Then, use a zinc anode rod because the bacteria have a much harder time living off it. If even that doesn't work (which it won't if you soften your water before putting it into the hot water tank) then you can use a powered anode rod. It performs the same function as a sacrificial anode rod (voltage) except is not sacrificial. If the tank goes unused for a lot of time (such as in a summer cabin) then you can make it easier to add peroxide, such as a T fitting like this.

There is a reason that taking out the anode rod voids the warranty, and why you are on your 3rd water heater. This isn't magic, and anode rods aren't there to make your water smelly. Stop removing the anode rod because then your tank gets eaten instead of the rod and you go through waterheaters like water.

This has been Evadman's tip of the day for November 12th, 2013.
 
Evadman said:
Whoever told you to remove the anode rod is an idiot. That smell is caused by bacteria living in your water and eating the magnesium or aluminum that is in most anode rods and turn it into hydrogen sulfide.

To kill the bacteria, remove the pressure from your tank and dump in a quart or 2 of hydrogen peroxide for a bit. Then, turn back on the water and let it run from all the faucets. This should kill most of the bacteria, at least if you don't let the tank sit for a while unused.

Then, use a zinc anode rod because the bacteria have a much harder time living off it. If even that doesn't work (which it won't if you soften your water before putting it into the hot water tank) then you can use a powered anode rod. It performs the same function as a sacrificial anode rod (voltage) except is not sacrificial. If the tank goes unused for a lot of time (such as in a summer cabin) then you can make it easier to add peroxide, such as a T fitting like this.

There is a reason that taking out the anode rod voids the warranty, and why you are on your 3rd water heater. This isn't magic, and anode rods aren't there to make your water smelly. Stop removing the anode rod because then your tank gets eaten instead of the rod and you go through waterheaters like water.

This has been Evadman's tip of the day for November 12th, 2013.
Click to expand...

DAVE!

How the hell are you man? I knew someone knew a bunch about this stuff but I couldn't put my finger on it. (hint: its YOU!)
 
rudeguy said:
How the hell are you man? I knew someone knew a bunch about this stuff but I couldn't put my finger on it. (hint: its YOU!)
Click to expand...

I've been pretty good, just busy as all hell outside of AT. There needs to be more than 24 hours in a day. Howabout you Mr. not-so-rudeguy?
 
I'm wondering about my heater which is 10 years old and has a non-replaceable anode. (It says on the heater label: "fitted with a non-replaceable anode")

The heater itself is made of glass coated copper, so I suppose it should be reasonably resistant to corrosion, but it only had a 5 year warranty, so the manufacturer clearly didn't expect it to stand up long term.

My water is extremely soft and extremely pure. Draining the heater every couple of years, I just get about a teaspoon of fine sediment; no scale or anything like that, and the heating elements were clean when I changed them.
 
alkemyst said:
kljm,i

I worked for a home builder. I had to replace my element in my unit. I was 5+ years old so I wanted a quote on a new one. The jackoff that was tapped to do this for me forgot about it (and was demoted for other things they "forgot"). Anywho...two weeks later I came home and for the first time saw water next to it. Fortunately, it didn't flood my office that is off to the side of it and it didn't ruin drywall/carpet/etc. Sadly I had to buy an inferior GE unit that was still highly rated but not as good as a jobber product. I think I was looking for an A.O. Smith 60 gallon at the time...since then they came out with Voltex. Which looks awesome on paper, but it's a 4 figure water heater.

I am equally screwed now since I only did a 60 gallon unit since I wasn't ever thinking of more than me + 1. Now I have me + 3 and one of the boys wants to be the next Mick Jagger or something. Comes out with how nice he smells and how his hair is so natural.

Also during that I found out the old fashioned lead stuff is unavailable. Nothing flows as good as it I think. I gave up with the new stuff and called my dad in. He has surpluses of it. That lead is not getting inside the pipe 🙂
Click to expand...
Wtf? "old fashioned lead stuff... flows..." You're apparently talking about solder. There's a reason it's not available. You're an idiot if you soldered your pipes together with lead solder.
 
DrPizza said:
Wtf? "old fashioned lead stuff... flows..." You're apparently talking about solder. There's a reason it's not available. You're an idiot if you soldered your pipes together with lead solder.
Click to expand...

Pray tell us why and I bet it's not because what you think.
 
My last tank water heater started leaking. I replaced the elements because they come with new gaskets, but that didn't fix the issue.


I cursed all tanks and switched to a gas tank less. I'll never go back.
 
Scarpozzi said:
My last tank water heater started leaking. I replaced the elements because they come with new gaskets, but that didn't fix the issue.


I cursed all tanks and switched to a gas tank less. I'll never go back.
Click to expand...

Tanks leak usually from corrosion at the bottom of them and other places like seams.

The only problem I have with gas tank less is you are limited to capacity and most have way undersized units due to the costs.

IMHO just replacing a tank unit every 5-10 years is much cheaper than a gas unit which more than likely still has a replacement cycle.

The biggest advantage I would give is gaining back the space a tank takes in a smaller dwelling.
 
alkemyst said:
Tanks leak usually from corrosion at the bottom of them and other places like seams.

The only problem I have with gas tank less is you are limited to capacity and most have way undersized units due to the costs.

IMHO just replacing a tank unit every 5-10 years is much cheaper than a gas unit which more than likely still has a replacement cycle.

The biggest advantage I would give is gaining back the space a tank takes in a smaller dwelling.
Click to expand...

My electric bill is $25-30 lower each month. My gas bill went up $4-5/month.

I paid like $800 for an 8gpm unit and have it set to 110 degrees. I don't run out of hot water....

I installed gas pipe, moved copper pipe, and put in a filtration system. A total of $1150-1200 with a $300 tax rebate coming.. 10 feet of floor space gained. (3x3)
 
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