Suburban Water Heater Anode

Here is a tip to insure proper insertion and tightening the anode with the minimal amount of trouble. My old Suburban water heater which developed a leak after seven years and the new replacement have a very slight down angle on the tanks anode/drain boss. This caused a little trouble getting the threads lined up when inserting the anode for the first time on the original tank. After figuring what the problem was I started inserting and tightening the anode rod using a partial wrap around the hex with a piece of cereal box or cracker box cardboard to make the anode hex fit tightly in a socket. Then I put the socket on an extension. That helps to hold everything solid while inserting and turning the anode. When inserting the anode I push the threads of the anode slightly against the threads of the tank and rotate counter clockwise until I feel the two threads slip off each other. Then I turn clockwise gently until I can tell they are threading correctly and proceed to tighten them.