I had had my camper since March of 2011 and decided to check the anode rod this weekend in my hot water heater - good thing I bought a replacement cause it needed to be replaced.
I have to get a nozzle of some sort to clean the tank before I fill the tank with water.
I had to get a 1 1/16 socket from the auto parts place cause I didn't have one - well I do now.
Also make sure you relieve the pressure off the tank prior to pulling the anode rod - if not you will have this white stuff and water all over you - rookie mistake and luckily I was wearing glasses too or the white stuff would have been in my eyes.
__________________ 2011 Rockwood Mini Lite 2306 - Matt
2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Qaud Cab 4x4 with 35" tires and 3.92 gears, Dynatech Longtube Headers & Fabtech 6" lift + Superchips with shift Tuning Nights Camped 2011 (37) - 2012 (16)-2013 (2) -2014 (5) -2015(0) USMC 91 - 95 - F/A-18 Aviation Ordnance
I had had my camper since March of 2011 and decided to check the anode rod this weekend in my hot water heater - good thing I bought a replacement cause it needed to be replaced.
I have to get a nozzle of some sort to clean the tank before I fill the tank with water.
I had to get a 1 1/16 socket from the auto parts place cause I didn't have one - well I do now.
Also make sure you relieve the pressure off the tank prior to pulling the anode rod - if not you will have this white stuff and water all over you - rookie mistake and luckily I was wearing glasses too or the white stuff would have been in my eyes.
Hard to believe you cant get a year out of yours and mine still looked great after 6 years.
Course I drain my tank after each use and I wonder if that helps?
Hard to believe you cant get a year out of yours and mine still looked great after 6 years.
Course I drain my tank after each use and I wonder if that helps?
It could because I can tell you that I do not drain mine after each trip - the only time I have ever drained it is when I knew we were getting a cold snap and didnt want it to freeze
__________________ 2011 Rockwood Mini Lite 2306 - Matt
2004 Dodge Ram 1500 Qaud Cab 4x4 with 35" tires and 3.92 gears, Dynatech Longtube Headers & Fabtech 6" lift + Superchips with shift Tuning Nights Camped 2011 (37) - 2012 (16)-2013 (2) -2014 (5) -2015(0) USMC 91 - 95 - F/A-18 Aviation Ordnance
With about 50% of the anode rod used, normally I would say re-install that anode rod and get some more use out of it. But if that is what it looks like in just 1 year, then definitely replace that puppy. You must really have some hard water in your area.
I am another camper that only drains his water heater during winterization, and here is what mine looks like after 4 camping seasons:
__________________
Chap , DW Joy, and Fur Baby Sango
2017 F350 Lariat CCSB, SRW, 4x4, 6.7 PS
2017 Grand Design Reflection 337RLS
If you ever replace the rubber washing machine hoses in your house,
save the hoses!!
You can cut a washing machine hose in half and get two hoses.
We use them all the time around the house and garden for filling buckets.
I use one to fill my fresh water tank on my trailer AND you can stick it
in the anode/drain hole in your water heater to flush the junk out of it.
No special nozzle required.
__________________ Peace! Dan & Rita D
2017 Nissan Titan 5.6L King cab 4wd
2016 Evergreen Everlite 242RBS
29' empty nest model. Blue Ox WD hitch
(1 queen bed, large main cabin and huge bathroom)
Camping days 2010-53, 2011-47, 2012-41, 2013-41, 2014-31, 2015-40, 2016-44, 2017-63, 2018-75, 2019-32, 2020-41, 2021-49, 2022-43, 2023-66
I usually drain my hot water heater between trips. I found if the water sits idle (longer then 2-3 weeks) in the tank, it has a terrible smell coming out the sink. It smells so bad I would't want to wash my hands in it. I suppose if you had a water source and didn't have to worry about filling your gray tank you could run fresh water through the heater tank for several minutes. Or until the smell is gone.
G
I usually drain my hot water heater between trips. I found if the water sits idle (longer then 2-3 weeks) in the tank, it has a terrible smell coming out the sink.
The water in our water heater tank went sour once on us also.
Smelled like rotten eggs. VERY bad smell.
It's only happened once. We typically leave the water in the tank all season.
I winterize around Nov and summerize around April. Of course we use it a half
dozen times during the season. If we take a winter trip I'll re-winterize.
Strange why it went sour only one time in 4 years.....
The water in our water heater tank went sour once on us also.
Smelled like rotten eggs. VERY bad smell.
It's only happened once. We typically leave the water in the tank all season.
I winterize around Nov and summerize around April. Of course we use it a half
dozen times during the season. If we take a winter trip I'll re-winterize.
Strange why it went sour only one time in 4 years.....
Sounds like you got into to some high sulfer content water.
Which is why mine gets drained after each use.
Sounds like you got into to some high sulfer content water.
Which is why mine gets drained after each use.
Maybe but the water didn't smell bad when we were camping so I'm
not entirely sure it's sulfur water that causes it.
It only smelled bad after it sat in the tank for a few weeks.
Never happened before or since.
My anode lasted 4 seasons and I replaced it this spring. My worry is
that the threads in the anode hole rust while the anode/drain plug is
out. I've switched from teflon tape to teflon pipe dope in hope that it
will coat the threads better to help cut back on the rust.
It's (the rust) not as bad when the plug is in there so that's why I don't drain mine
between uses.
__________________ Peace! Dan & Rita D
2017 Nissan Titan 5.6L King cab 4wd
2016 Evergreen Everlite 242RBS
29' empty nest model. Blue Ox WD hitch
(1 queen bed, large main cabin and huge bathroom)
Camping days 2010-53, 2011-47, 2012-41, 2013-41, 2014-31, 2015-40, 2016-44, 2017-63, 2018-75, 2019-32, 2020-41, 2021-49, 2022-43, 2023-66
If the white stuff entirely covers the surface of the anode rod, should it be cleaned off in some way or will it still function properly if it still has a good core underneath?
If the white stuff entirely covers the surface of the anode rod, should it be cleaned off in some way or will it still function properly if it still has a good core underneath?
This is an old thread, but I will post the photos to tell you when it needs to be changed.
The photo of the "wire" is "bad and must be changed; The photo on the red tool box is "good" and you should put some Teflon tape on the threads and put it right back in.
__________________
Lou & Freya the wonder dog
2008 GMC Sierra 3000HD Allison Duramax
2019 Flagstaff 8529FL