Another Atwood Anode rod question

[ncognet0]

My Toyhauler has an Atwood gc10a-4e hot water heater without an Anode rod. The first couple of years I used it it never smelled of rotton eggs. This year every time I go camping I get the old rotten egg smell which I flush to get rid of. My question is why all of a sudden does this happen after my RV sets for a week or two? Will adding a rod help? Can I add a rod? Any suggestions?

[mobeewan]

enblethen wrote:
You can use a solution of white vineger to clean tank. Hard to get it without removing the pressure relief valve and using funnel.
No anode in Atwood tanks.
I would guess you got some bad water on last trip!

The Atwood manual gives the procedure for using white vinegar to get rid of the sulfur smell. However if you have a winterizing set up to put antifreeze in the water lines you can avoid removing the relief valve. All you have to do is use the drain plug to drain the water heater and reinsert the plug. Then drain the cold water line for the trailer through the cold water low point drain. Then use the winterizing connection to draw the proper amount of vinegar from your jugs and pump it into the water heater leaving a hot water faucet open. Finish filling the water heater with water then close the hot water faucet. Follow the rest of the Atwood procedure which includes firing up and operating the water heater. Afterwards drain and flush the water heater and entire system with fresh water. Then sanitize the entire system using bleach.

[Old-Biscuit]

wa8yxm wrote:
Most Atwoods do not use an Anode rod..
I do not wish to type out the reason Suburban needs them in detail but suffice to say for this post that different metals used in the tank means atwood does not use an anode rod.

The rotten egg smell is caused by one of two things (or both)
One is high sulfur water.. Some places (My parent's 2nd house for example) have high sulfur water.

The other is a bacteria that concentrates sulfur So flusing it out and sanitizing as per normal instructions.. Helps.

No Atwood uses an anode OEM'
Aluminum tank with a cladding inside

Suburban ...steel tank with sprayed in glass-lining that cracks and doesn't cover complete surface inside hence Anode Rod to be sacrifical material


Stinky Atwood
Vinegar solution ---4 gallons white vinegar/2 gallons water (5 gal WH TANK)
Drain WH TANK..reinstall drain plug'
Remove T&P Relief Valve and pour vinegar solution in via funnel
Reinstall T&P
Turn water heater ON and let it heat up....do not open any faucet
Allow heater controls to go thru 4-5 heating cycles (heat/cool/heat repeat) **let it run overnight

Next day.turn it off Drain and flush
Power Flush by removing drain plug then turn water back on and let it BLAST out
Vinegar hot soak will clean the inside of that aluminum tank

[wa8yxm]

Most Atwoods do not use an Anode rod..
I do not wish to type out the reason Suburban needs them in detail but suffice to say for this post that different metals used in the tank means atwood does not use an anode rod.

The rotten egg smell is caused by one of two things (or both)
One is high sulfur water.. Some places (My parent's 2nd house for example) have high sulfur water.

The other is a bacteria that concentrates sulfur So flusing it out and sanitizing as per normal instructions.. Helps.

[Chris_Bryant]

That’s how I do it, white vinegar through the relieve valve opening.

[enblethen]

You can use a solution of white vineger to clean tank. Hard to get it without removing the pressure relief valve and using funnel.
No anode in Atwood tanks.
I would guess you got some bad water on last trip!

[Boon_Docker]

ncognet0 wrote:
Thank you Boon.

You're welcome buddy.

Another good thing to do is sanitize the complete water system once a year if you are not already doing that.

[DutchmenSport]

Agree with the bleach as stated above. Tip: After draining your water heater, you can add bleach water using your winterizing connection. Add a stronger solution of bleach in a bucket of water, and pump it in the water heater with the winterizing set-up. Of course, keep the bypass open so the water will fill. Once you pump a couple gallons of very strong bleach water, then fill the tank the rest of the way with regular water. The added water with then dilute the stronger bleach. Let it sit a couple hours, drain, fill the water heater again, drain to flush it out. You may need to repeat a couple times until the bleach smell is gone.

But, the easier way is to use the winterizing process to fill the tank. FYI, this works very well.

[ncognet0]

Thank you Boon.

[Boon_Docker]

That is bacteria causing that smell.
Drain your hot water tank via the drain plug. Squirt in a couple ounces of bleach in the tank with a turkey baster. Refill tank and let sit for a couple hours then drain it. Refill with water then drain again.
May need to refill and drain twice to get rid of bleach smell.

[ncognet0]

Thanks Whiteeye42 whats got me stumped is I did drain the how water tank and just filled it this morning and got the bad small. I did the bleach since to get rid of it. But I still got the odor.

[whiteeye42]

Why You Need An Anode Rod In Your RV Water Heater. If you have a Suburban water heater, the tank is porcelain-lined steel and requires an anode rod to prevent corrosion of the steel tank. If you have an Atwood water heater, your water heater tank is aluminum and does not require one. So with that said i would not add an anode rod to my atwood water heater and the rotten egg smell is the product of the water being heated and cooled and then just sitting in the tank for weeks it concentrates in the tank my suggestion is to drain the tank while the unit is sitting inbetween trips