Check your water heater anode!

Ah, the debate rages on: I took out the anode in my heater (not HOT water heater) in 2007 because of stinky water and put a ball valve in it's place. 7 years and still going. Maybe I'm living on borrowed time but the chemical reaction with the local water and ? made the water stink SO bad that on a neighbors advice I removed it and plugged it. Immediately the smell was gone. So I put a drain valve in it's place and can flush the tank quickly and often.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
I'm willing to bet that the RV will fall apart/have more issues long before the aluminum clad alloy tank of my water heater causes issues.

You got me there! ;)

Like so many things in the RV world, it can be subjective. Good idea? Yep. Required? Nope. Worth it? Up to you.

Some people don't inspect their roofs and are fine, too.

RVs are almost a disposable item now-a-days, so choose what you want to spend your time/money on and if it is worth it to you.

Well that is one way to get your recommended daily magnesium. :)

I'm willing to bet that the RV will fall apart/have more issues long before the aluminum clad alloy tank of my water heater causes issues. So I choose not to...one less expense

IMHO things that are totally unnecessary yet purchased routinely
Anode rods for Atwood WHs
Slide out supports
FOO-FOO chemicals for waste tanks
RV 'TP'

But that's what is so wonderful about choice.......if you feel it is beneficial then it works for you.
No need to preach or degrade those with different opinions

DiskDoctr wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

So the 19 year old Atwood water heater tank in my previous coach and the 13 year old Atwood tank in my current coach are doomed to failure at any moment if I don't use an anode? I don't think so...

Depends on the water you use. That's why some rods deteriorate faster than others.

I travel all over the country, with all sorts of water conditions. No signs of any tank failure so far. Actually, the only RV water heater I've ever had to replace for leakage in my own RV's, happened to be a Suburban, but that was freezing issue that I was aware of when I bought the rig.

Hello folks OP here,

I find these Suburban/Atwood, anode/no-anode discussions to be about as entertaining as the AGM vs. FLA debates… Especially when they derail the intent of the original post :R. As you know, I initially acknowledged that not all RV owners have anodes in their hot water tanks!

Regardless of the type/brand/material of water heater installed in an RV (or boat or home) there is no debating this well understood scientific fact; An electrochemical reaction called redox (oxidation-reduction) takes place when there is conductivity between dissimillar metals when they are placed in an electrolyte solution. One of the metals will be the cathode and the other will be the anode. Ions will travel from the anode to the cathode. Fact!
So, if a water heater's tank is made from aluminum and there are other more noble metals (e.g. brass, copper, steel) in contact with the tank & the water (electrolyte), and there are no metals in contact with the the tank & water that are less noble than the aluminum (e.g. beryllium, zinc, magnesium), then the aluminum tank is THE anode.
Does this mean that the aluminum tank will corrode? Yes! Will it eventually corrode to the point where it will develop a leak or rupture? Maybe, maybe-not… there are a lot of factors at play.

It is important to note that there are a gazillion (I know, not not a scientific number :)) Atwood water heaters that have been in service in RVs for many many years and are still going strong. This is proof-positive that Atwood's methodology is working. To be crystal clear; I'm not criticizing Atwood for their decision not to include a replaceable sacrificial anode!

Anyway, since my hot water tank is porcelain-coated steel, it really doesn't matter to me what manufacturers who use aluminum (cladded) tanks do or say about their products. Furthermore It is not my place to tell people with aluminum hot water tanks to use an anode or not. It's your tank, your warranty, your RV, your decision. Do as you see fit.

Again… If your water heater as an anode rod in it, inspect it!
-Mark

Dutch_12078 wrote:

So the 19 year old Atwood water heater tank in my previous coach and the 13 year old Atwood tank in my current coach are doomed to failure at any moment if I don't use an anode? I don't think so...

Depends on the water you use. That's why some rods deteriorate faster than others.

NRALIFR wrote:

nm1oqrz wrote:
While talking with Atwood some years back they informed my that if an Atwood WH was using an anode rod and required warrantee service, Atwood would not honor the warrantee.
Happy camping nm1oqrz

They can certainly TRY to deny it anytime they wish. But, if the anode rod did no harm to the tank then why would they even want to? What would prevent me from simply removing the anode before taking it in for service? These are just idle threats.

The ONLY harm I can see using an anode on an Atwood tank MIGHT cause is screwing the threads up if you were careless or negligent. Warranty doesn't cover that stuff anyway!

This is just foolish nonsense saying an anode isn't needed or will harm an Atwood tank. They're used all the time on aluminum boats and tanks to help prevent corrosion of whatever they're used on. That's why they're called "sacrificial". What Atwood doesn't want you to realize is that the aluminum tank itself is anodic, and in time will get pinholes in it and leak. That's why some of us will still use an anode rod despite their warnings of "We'll void your warranty!" :E .

Go ahead. Even if my water heater still had a warranty I wouldn't care.

:):)

Well said.

Let's see...anode rods are made out of magnesium or aluminum. Steel tanks do not *cause* the anode to decay, rather the rod is sacrificed by the same water and conditions that would otherwise ruin a tank.

So we must conclude that Atwood uses some kind of SUPER ALUMINUM that resists this decay that affects all other materials. :R

A mfr knowingly giving false info and preventing owners from employing a very well known protection for h/w tanks seems like a good way to get sued and be on the hook for tank failures caused by corrosion.

NRALIFR wrote:

This is just foolish nonsense saying an anode isn't needed or will harm an Atwood tank. They're used all the time on aluminum boats and tanks to help prevent corrosion of whatever they're used on. That's why they're called "sacrificial". What Atwood doesn't want you to realize is that the aluminum tank itself is anodic, and in time will get pinholes in it and leak. That's why some of us will still use an anode rod despite their warnings of "We'll void your warranty!" :E .

Go ahead. Even if my water heater still had a warranty I wouldn't care.

:):)

So the 19 year old Atwood water heater tank in my previous coach and the 13 year old Atwood tank in my current coach are doomed to failure at any moment if I don't use an anode? I don't think so...

NRALIFR wrote:

nm1oqrz wrote:
While talking with Atwood some years back they informed my that if an Atwood WH was using an anode rod and required warrantee service, Atwood would not honor the warrantee.
Happy camping nm1oqrz

They can certainly TRY to deny it anytime they wish. But, if the anode rod did no harm to the tank then why would they even want to? What would prevent me from simply removing the anode before taking it in for service? These are just idle threats.

The ONLY harm I can see using an anode on an Atwood tank MIGHT cause is screwing the threads up if you were careless or negligent. Warranty doesn't cover that stuff anyway!

This is just foolish nonsense saying an anode isn't needed or will harm an Atwood tank. They're used all the time on aluminum boats and tanks to help prevent corrosion of whatever they're used on. That's why they're called "sacrificial". What Atwood doesn't want you to realize is that the aluminum tank itself is anodic, and in time will get pinholes in it and leak. That's why some of us will still use an anode rod despite their warnings of "We'll void your warranty!" :E .

Go ahead. Even if my water heater still had a warranty I wouldn't care.

:):)

That's why the aftermarket has them for sale....so folks will buy them.