Water heater anode rod looks good?

With the cost being relatively low, it's simple to change them out at the beginning of each rv'ing season. I've done this the past 6 seasons and never had one completely shot.

It is time for a new one.
If you wait much longer the galvanized support rod will come apart and leave the big chuck inside the tank.

Found this on-line...



That looks very much about what I do with mine...

Roy Ken

Ha! I'd be more concerned about all the corrosion and **** lying at the bottom of this water heater :E ... time to get out the shop vac and suck / blow all that debris out of there, especially rust that's surely accumulated in the combustion chamber, not to mention flushing out all the crud inside the tank from that depleted anode rod. From the looks of it this may be the first service this WH has ever seen! :R

I own a worn out 3/4 npt tap. So I leave mine out all winter. Come spring a quick clean of the threads, some teflon tape and Im ready to install.

You can use it a little while longer. I would put Teflon tape around the threads.

It's about shot! I'd put the rod back in the heater, but definitely get a new one for next camping season! Once it gets down to just the center core, they are completely dead. But you've got the winter to get a new one now. Won't hurt anything to put it back in, even use it a bit longer, but definitely get a new one to replace VERY soon.


Edit:
You don't clean them. The stuff you see is dissolving. It's suppose to do that.

This is what a new one looks like. As it deteriorates (actually protecting your heater), it eventually looks like your. Do not clean off that crusty stuff. That's still good.




one more Edit:
If you don't have a replacement yet, you need to put this one back in so the threads will not rust out on your water heater. You can see how bad the rust got on the threads on the rod and where they are still good where they were threaded into the tank. You want to keep it in to keep the tank from rusting or else you'll never get another rod back in.