Dennis Nicholls
Senior HTF Member
Well you all know what a cheapskate I am.....
It was time for some water heater maintenance. I do an annual drain to get the crud out the bottom, but this year I decided to replace the anode rod too. After all I'm in my 9th year of a 6 year warranty heater.
The anode rod is a sacrificial metal, magnesium or aluminum, that corrodes away silently inside your heater to protect the steel tank from rusting. Debates upon which metal is better is like DVD-A vs. SACD arguments.......
I picked up a 42" aluminum rod for $15 at the local store. I drained the tank then went to unscrew the old rod. It wouldn't budge with a 3 foot breaker bar so I got out my giant air impact driver. A few pulses and the rod came loose.
The old rod was only 28" long. That's a strange way to try to save a few pennies making a new water heater. The old rod was certainly at the end of its useful life. It was only a few minutes work to install the new rod, fill the tank, and start up the gas again.
Maybe I can squeeze another 5 years out of this water heater for a $15 maintenance part. From what I've read, the 6/9/12 year warranty units are all the same but you basically are paying up front for an "extended warranty". But sometimes the makers will cheapen the 6 year units with a "short" anode rod like mine.
It was time for some water heater maintenance. I do an annual drain to get the crud out the bottom, but this year I decided to replace the anode rod too. After all I'm in my 9th year of a 6 year warranty heater.
The anode rod is a sacrificial metal, magnesium or aluminum, that corrodes away silently inside your heater to protect the steel tank from rusting. Debates upon which metal is better is like DVD-A vs. SACD arguments.......
I picked up a 42" aluminum rod for $15 at the local store. I drained the tank then went to unscrew the old rod. It wouldn't budge with a 3 foot breaker bar so I got out my giant air impact driver. A few pulses and the rod came loose.
The old rod was only 28" long. That's a strange way to try to save a few pennies making a new water heater. The old rod was certainly at the end of its useful life. It was only a few minutes work to install the new rod, fill the tank, and start up the gas again.
Maybe I can squeeze another 5 years out of this water heater for a $15 maintenance part. From what I've read, the 6/9/12 year warranty units are all the same but you basically are paying up front for an "extended warranty". But sometimes the makers will cheapen the 6 year units with a "short" anode rod like mine.