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Old 07-04-2012, 09:04 AM   #1
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Check your anode rod in your hot water heater

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.
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Old 07-04-2012, 09:20 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sherdep
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?
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Old 07-04-2012, 09:27 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by f1100turbo View Post
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
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Old 07-04-2012, 09:49 AM   #4
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looks like there was still some left, but they're cheap so I would have replaced it too.
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Old 07-04-2012, 09:54 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sherdep View Post
I had to get a 1 1/16 socket from the auto parts place cause I didn't have one - well I do now.
I found that the lug wrench from my Ford SuperDuty was the exact size for a Suburban water heater anode rod.

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Old 07-04-2012, 10:05 AM   #6
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I usually change mine after 2 or 3 years. I don't drian the hot water tank until I winterize it.
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Old 07-04-2012, 10:38 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpringerPop View Post
I found that the lug wrench from my Ford SuperDuty was the exact size for a Suburban water heater anode rod.

Pop
unfortinatly I do not own a Ford so I had to do the next best thing - buy the socket

Good to know so if any one has a Ford Super Duty they can use the Lug Wrench to remove your anode rod
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Old 07-04-2012, 10:40 AM   #8
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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:
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Old 07-04-2012, 10:57 AM   #9
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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.
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Old 07-04-2012, 01:03 PM   #10
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Great idea using the old washer hose for rinsing.

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.
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Old 07-04-2012, 01:38 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by kjoh75 View Post
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.....
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Old 07-04-2012, 01:41 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KyDan

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.
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Old 07-05-2012, 07:29 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by f1100turbo View Post
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.
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Old 07-12-2012, 07:41 AM   #14
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The (rotten egg smell) is bacteria.
Do a search on rotten egg smell from well water.
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Old 07-12-2012, 08:12 AM   #15
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This is from the Suburban user manual in the Files section.
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Old 07-12-2012, 08:35 AM   #16
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This is from the Suburban user manual in the Files section.
See I'm not so stupid
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Old 07-12-2012, 06:49 PM   #17
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See I'm not so stupid
amazing isnt it
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Old 07-12-2012, 08:00 PM   #18
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I pull mine out every all when we wnterize and close up clean it up and prince out the tank I buy a new one every other year and change it out
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Old 01-22-2013, 08:29 PM   #19
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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?
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Old 01-22-2013, 08:35 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by dshimmel View Post
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.
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