aluminum or magnesium anode rod
Suburban SW6DE water heater. I am just about to replace the anode rod with a Camco aluminum anode rod. Now I look in my manual and it says not to use a non Suburban part. Also I wonder whether I sh...
Forum Discussion
First, if you see no degradation of the anode after 2-3yrs, there is a good chance, it's not doing it's job. They are "sacrificial" anodes because we sacrifice an easily replaced anode rather than the whole tank.
Different metals immersed a conductive liquid create a battery. The material it's made of and the conductivity of the liquid determines what the voltage difference is.
Magnesium creates a bigger voltage difference compared to Aluminium, so it will sacrifice itself more readily to protect the metal in the heater but that in the wrong heater, it can be so great a difference that they don't last long. There is a sweet spot.
I assume they have different anode materials because they use different materials to produce the heater.
Be careful of people saying they never had a problem. Depending on the conductivity of the water, it will change the effect. Hard water tends to be more conductive than soft water.
For the small difference, just get the correct one.
Different metals immersed a conductive liquid create a battery. The material it's made of and the conductivity of the liquid determines what the voltage difference is.
Magnesium creates a bigger voltage difference compared to Aluminium, so it will sacrifice itself more readily to protect the metal in the heater but that in the wrong heater, it can be so great a difference that they don't last long. There is a sweet spot.
I assume they have different anode materials because they use different materials to produce the heater.
Be careful of people saying they never had a problem. Depending on the conductivity of the water, it will change the effect. Hard water tends to be more conductive than soft water.
For the small difference, just get the correct one.
