Check your water heater anode!
It's the time of year when many people are preparing to winterize their RV's and I just wanted to offer up a friendly reminder that this is also a good time to drain & flush your hot water tank and in...
Forum Discussion
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
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
