hot water tank anode

[dpam]

How often do you replace the hot water tank anode. When I was winterizing the monty (first time) I unscrewed the hot water heater plug and pulled out the anode. It has white chalking material on it and it does have small chips in it, as I understand this is normal because it is meant to prevent the inside of the hot water tank from becoming damaged from the water/chemicals. I was told by a friend that once you see the core wire its time to replace the anode.

Anyone have any experience with hot water tanks and anodes? Othwer than buying a replacement at an RV shop can they be bought elsewhere? I believe mine is about 9.5 inches.

[Art-n-Marge]

Like me, you must have a Suburban Water Heater.

It really depends on the condition of the water you plumb from the water source, and the amount of usage to determine replacement. Any recommendation of periodic replacement is not dependable IMO because of the varying conditions and usage. I had mine replaced during a maintenance trip to the RV center (about 2 years later), and they made the recommendation to have it changed. Unfortunately, they didn't save the old one even when I asked them to (I'm betting it was still good). So I don't trust service personnel any more and do this and most maintenance myself. If I were full timing, I'd probably empty and check my hot water heater about every two months. With that periodic checking you can probably determine the rate of wear for the rig and if you can wait longer or need to check more often.

You are using the best way to tell when it needs replacement. I check mine after every trip and have drained the tank since the drain and the anode are connected. After two years since it was last replaced it is still in good shape. It has white particles attached to it (calcium deposits) which means it's doing its job. It has a few pits like you described, but not to the extent the overall look is compromised. If yours is still in good shape then measure its length and write it down with a magic marker on the WH where you can see it for reference.

The biggest problem I see with the WH tank is that after it's emptied there are many calcium deposits on the bottom of the tank that need to be removed somehow. I plan to attach a small clear tube and wet vac out as much of this debris as I can what I get a chance. There are water hose attachments one can use but I don't think they will do as good a job since these deposits seem heavier than water and tend to settle on the bottom of the tank and not exit the WH especially if this attachment is blocking the drain hole.

If anyone has any better ideas on draining and cleaning a tank, then please post. I can't seem to use enough filters to keep deposits down, so I attribute them as normal.

I understand hardware stores carry replacement anodes which might be less expensive than buying at an RV shop. That's where I'm going when I need one.

[8.1al]

dpam,
Your friend is right. That rod can look really bad and still be good, it's when a fair amount of the core rod is visible that you need to change it. As Art mentioned how long a rod lasts depends on the water source, is 6 years of fulltiming we have only had to replace our rod one time. If you are constantly using a bad water source the rod won't last that long. If fulltiming I should think checking every 6 months is fine, otherwise yearly should do as the rods don't dissolve quickly.

[exav8tr]

I have fulltimed since buying my rig in '06 (started using it in May'07). I have replaced my anode rod once in this time. I use the long thin water heater flusher attachment to the hose and flush out the heater twice a year (don't forget to turn elec off when doing this as you can burn up a heater coil without water in the unit.) I have been in about 44 states so far and only had to replace the gas valve once in three years. I'm satisfied with it.

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by dpam

How often do you replace the hot water tank anode. When I was winterizing the monty (first time) I unscrewed the hot water heater plug and pulled out the anode. It has white chalking material on it and it does have small chips in it, as I understand this is normal because it is meant to prevent the inside of the hot water tank from becoming damaged from the water/chemicals. I was told by a friend that once you see the core wire its time to replace the anode.

Anyone have any experience with hot water tanks and anodes? Othwer than buying a replacement at an RV shop can they be bought elsewhere? I believe mine is about 9.5 inches.

That's the standard rod. You can buy them on line for less money than in RV accessory stores. When the rod is completely gone, all you have left is a solid rod about as big around as a #2 pencil. There's no way of mistaking when it is gone. As long as you have some of the rod left, you can look at the end of it and see the size of the rod inside the coating. You don't have to replace it as long as you still have some coating left.

Orv

[Just148]

Art & Margie, You can use reducers on your shop vac hose to reduce to a small pvc and elbo to clean the bottom of the water heater. I would glue the elbo at the end of the pvc so that it would not drop off into the hot water tank.. Hope this helps.

[Art-n-Marge]

Just148, I tried something like that and was not happy with the amount of debris still left in the tank. We have some pretty hard water around here where we are known to camp. But I am thinking the reducers I used were not reduced enough. What is the outside diameter for your reducer? Mine fit in the drain hole but I was not comfortable that the nozzle was only a little smaller than the hole and may not have allowed enough debris to escape. I also don't know how clean the tank should be or how much calcium is okay to leave behind. I have seen some come out but not all of it.

I think if I attach this reducer to a vacuum then use it to suck out material, this might do better, or maybe I should remove the electrical element and use that hole too. I'll let you all know what I eventually try and how it works.

[Ishler]

CW has an inexpensive hose attachment that does a great job flushing out the sediment. Just do it right after you drain the tank, don't let it dry out.

[JimF]

I have been full timing for 4 years and am on my 3rd anode rod. The first lasted a year and a half, the second about 2 months and the 3rd is still good. That short life one was at a place that had real bad water. No problem since we left there.

[Bill-N-Donna]

Why do they make the tanks like they do?
There needs to be a drain on the very bottom and then it would be much easier to flush out all of the debris.

[clutch]

The anode rod in our trailer still looks like new after the three years we have had the trailer. We always heat the water with propane, could that be why it is not goeing away? We also use an RO water system that we bought last year that might remove a lot of the hard stuff in the water.

[ols1932]

The water source does have a lot to do with how long the rod lasts. Ours usually last longer than a year but I have a habit of replacing the anode annually when I also change out my water filters. We have never run into bad water, at least not that I'm aware of. RO water will definitely make the rod last longer.

Orv

[Art-n-Marge]

Two things - I've always wondered why the drain plugs are not at the low point of a tank. This is also true with my stickhouse water heater. It's almost like they want for all the calcium deposits to collect at the bottom and not risk plugging the drain.

Second thing. Are you saying you use an RO system to feed the hot water tank? I have an RO system for the stickhouse but only for drinking water and have read that it goes through a lot of water (but I don't know how much) in the process of collecting the resultant filtered water which is stored in a tank to draw from. Wouldn't an RV RO system do the same thing meaning lots of water usage to drain into the gray tanks? This has always puzzled me and I'll stick to conventional filters for the RV, then use the Brita for filtering water. This method has worked out okay for us. One of these days I'll install permanent drinking water filters, but for now it's the Brita.

Btw - the CW nozzle is what I refer to as not clearing out enough deposits. Maybe I need to use it for a longer period of time and it does cover too much of the drain outlet. I think sucking it out using my wet vac with a larger diameter hose might work better and one of these days I'll try that.

[ols1932]

The attachment I use on the end of my hose to clean out the water heater does a great job. I'm not sure what kind is being talked about in this topic but mine is a copper tube with a very small curved outlet. This allows a greater water pressure to be sprayed inside the water heater and the gunk comes rushing out. I do this three or four times until I finally see no more debris washing out.

Art, I don't believe you could really get all the debris with a vacuum, at least not wit a standard vacuum. Maybe a strong sucking shop vacuum might do the trick, I don't know. I've just never had any problem using my setup.

Orv

[Art-n-Marge]

If you can point me to where the copper tube size one can be purchased then that might be better. I've heard of them but can never find them. I've seen posts that some members even build them but I am not that crafty. The CW one is plastic and covers the hole too much. If the shopvac doesn't work for me, then I'll try the skinnier high pressure version if I can find one.

I believe that if I can keep that tank clean of as much debris as possible this should help the anode and water heater last much longer. I only used my rig periodically and can only imagine that you full timers must go through more effort.

Thanks for the info.

[Navigator]

If we're lucky if an anode will last 6-8 months!!

We have very hard water and it takes a toll on the anode. We put in a new one in July before we left for Mammoth Lakes and emptied the water heater when we returned. Monty will be in storage until Thanksgiving so we'll see if an empty tank helped keep the anode from corroding.

[camper4]

I flush most of my sediment out with a home made tool.
I got a garden hose attachment at Lowes. It has a small diameter barbed end on it to slide a piece of soft plastic hose over. Also available at Lowes. I cut the hose to about 18 inches long. Once the tank is drained, I hook it to the hose and it forces water into the tank and is small enough diameter to allow the water to flow freely out the hole around the hose.

[CORattler]

I only use propane to heat my water. I'd like to do away with the anode rod altogether and just put a custom drain in to drain the tank after each outing. I'm under the impression that you only need a anode rod if you use electric to heat the water. Comments?

[MuddyPaws]

I replace the anode at least once a year. It could probably go longer but I replace it whenever I spray the sediment out of the tank?

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by CORattler

I only use propane to heat my water. I'd like to do away with the anode rod altogether and just put a custom drain in to drain the tank after each outing. I'm under the impression that you only need a anode rod if you use electric to heat the water. Comments?

You need that anode rod no matter which source the heat comes from. It's the water that you want to keep from "eating" the inside of the water heater.

Orv