Threading in the ANODE ROD?

[jb4xx]

Amazon

[Fluffywhitedogs]

Originally Posted by Larry Tiner

I’ve never seen a wand like this. Where would I find one?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Camco-RV-...inser/29764286

[Larry Tiner]

Thank you, Fluffywhitedogs. I was lost trying to find it on Amazon when I didn’t even know what it was called. You pointed me in the right direction.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by Iwritecode

This is similair to what I do. I just took a wadded up paper towel and shoved it into the bottom of the socket. Seems to help.

Right ON !!!
My 1' & 1/16 socket is about half full of paper towel !!!
I use an extension and start it my hand !!!
Been doing that for years !!!

[jtmitch416]

Originally Posted by Larry Tiner

Thank you, Fluffywhitedogs. I was lost trying to find it on Amazon when I didn’t even know what it was called. You pointed me in the right direction.

Camping World has them. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...k-rinser/49070 . On sale right now $6.24.

[landsail]

Just remove the anode rod and replace with a drain valve with an anode rod. Leaving the valve open in storage drains the tank and allows it to dry out. When adding water, use the city water connection and open one hot water faucet . Drain valve with a t-handle opening tool is available from Camping World or other online supplier or RV dealer. This has worked well for me on my 1993 and 2016 rv’s.

[Restcure]

Originally Posted by landsail

Just remove the anode rod and replace with a drain valve with an anode rod. Leaving the valve open in storage drains the tank and allows it to dry out. When adding water, use the city water connection and open one hot water faucet . Drain valve with a t-handle opening tool is available from Camping World or other online supplier or RV dealer. This has worked well for me on my 1993 and 2016 rv’s.

I'll continue to remove, inspect and reinstall mine as part of winterizing for two reasons:

1. To ensure there's enough sacrificial material for another camping season
2. To flush the tank (it's amazing how much debris is in there after one season)

[clr]

I use a set of plumbers shower valve sockets. These are longer than normal sockets and have one size socket on each end and you tighten them with a short rod thru the other end of the socket. Since the double socket makes the socket about 5 inches long or so you do not have to get your fingers all the way in there to hold the anode.
As others have suggested a little down ward pressure on the socket to counter the tipping of the anode turn backwards until it clicks and then turn forward.
This works great for me.

[polishapple]

I use a a large bottle bush it works well.

[Evereddie]

I use a deep socket and put a smaller socket into it first and then the anode. The small socket lets me have a square fit on the anode head, no droop. This way when I push on the whole thing it will let me control being square on the anode and control it totally. Better than paper towel. Makes it very easy to get thread going. I use Teflon tape, no issues. Try it next time.

[OldCoot]

Never had a problem just using one hand starting the anode rod into the tank. I do carry a spool of Teflon tape, 6" extension, 1-1/16" socket an new anode in the compartment all the time. Check the anode before we leave for FL and again after about a month down there. Usually they last about 2-2-1/2 yrs.

[Beluga]

Originally Posted by Pixelbum1

Have been dutifully removing my anode rod at end of each camping season on my '11 Solera 24S as part of the winterization process. Make sure the tank
is as empty as possible(actually empties out completely every time...). Inspect
the rod and then clean the threads on the rod and also on the tank threads using
my Dremel with wire brush disk attachment. I use plumbers tape(white teflon)
on the anode thread and then...always have a devil of a time threading in the
rod. I'm very paranoid of cross-threading it against the water heater threads and find that the rod tends to go in at a slight downward angle and not straight in.

Is this normal and what most of you are experiencing? I have the typical 6-gallon
heater (Suburban)) which is accessible from the outside and with a lot of careful
jiggling and finger cramping while holding it I seem to manage to get it in
after 15' of trepidation, swearing, and heart palpitations. Am I doing something
wrong here? ONCE it does engage correctly it takes about 2-3 turns fairly smoothly using my 1 1\16" socket and it snugs in fairly nice. I just snug tighten it though and never have had a leak. Any suggestions here would
be appreciated. I always try to get it "started, btw, using my fingers and not
the socket but maybe I'm being too conservative? Is the weight of the anode
"rod" itself pulling it down slightly against the thread or is the heater thread
cut at that slightly downward angle? Ok, I'm all ears!

Sounds about the same but you forgot holding your tongue in the proper position in your mouth.

I find that by holding it in my fingertips and using my knuckles to act as a support on the ledge of my heater I can get the threads going after some tries at it.

Cheers

[RobertDS]

Originally Posted by Larry Tiner

I’ve never seen a wand like this. Where would I find one?

X2

[jtmitch416]

Camping World has them. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...k-rinser/49070 . On sale right now $6.24.

[RobertDS]

Thanks, mine is on the way.

[ProfChuck]

Wall-Mart has them, too. They work a lot better than a hose to get the crud out.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by ProfChuck

Wall-Mart has them, too. They work a lot better than a hose to get the crud out.

A small washing machine supply hose cut into supplies a Large volume of water to carry the White Crud out the drain hole! The cost is Free,just ask a appliance dealer!They replace every unit with New hoses,and Give the other 3 hoses to your RV friends! Youroo!!

[Pixelbum1]

WOW. Thanks for all the great tips and hints! I was actually successful about
3 pages back and it went in like butter. For me, cleaning the threads(on both!) seem to be paramount and now I start the teflon back about 2 threads back which made a pretty BIG difference. Interesting hint about turning it backwards(lightly) until you hear the "click" or feel the spot where the start threads meet (even though my irrational fear of still cross-threading would start nagging at me doing it that way but then that is what separates the pro's from the amateurs or DIY'rs?). Practice makes perfect. And...as Beluga suggested the tongue thing always helps too(out the L-corner of the mouth), no matter what.

My best to you all for collection of the great tips and I just picked up the wand too...I will open her back up this Spring and give it a righteous flush (as it DID looks pretty cruddy in there...) before our first outing. Hope everyone survives the Northern winter in style and may you never run out of the pink stuff!

[aceinspp]

[QUOTE=jimmoore13;1670517]FWIW,

I do NOT use plumber's tape, because this interferes with my tactic. It makes it harder to feel the threads seating properly, and it makes it difficult to get a full turn to finger tight. Clean threads have, thus far, made a water tight seal. And if there is any oozing of water, it's inconsequential, because it's outside. If I had a big enough leak to worry about, I'd use plumber's thread "dope" instead of tape. So far so good for 4 seasons.

Being that I have long fingers I can pretty well balance rod and able to get it to thread fairly easily. One thing extra I do is take a syringe with a long hose attached a remove the approximately 1/2 gal of water out of the heater. I then leave the plug out till I'm ready to start the camping season. Youroo has a good tip tho. Later RJD

[herbike]

Originally Posted by aquenichet

We're new to RVing but I've been a mechanic all my working life so I pulled wrenches for a good 40 years. Here's the best way I've found to start hard to get to bolts etc. Put the bolt or whatever up against the opposing threads and rotate the bolt backwards until you feel it click. That's the beginning of both sets of threads. At that point turn the bolt forward into the threads always by hand. This works especially well with hydraulic lines which are very easy to cross-thread.