Stripped Anode Rod

[Heelbilly]

Hey, y'all.

Alright... I'm in a pickle...

Long story made relatively short, my element went out in my Suburban sw6de water heater. No big deal. I figured I'd drain the tank via the anode rod and give it a look. (My trailer has another drain for the hot water heater...) The trailer is only one year old and I pulled the anode rod last winter when winterizing and put it back in this spring. I'll be totally honest and own my first mistake... This is my first trailer so I'm making a few as I go. When I reinstalled it, I believe I torqued it in there a little too tight. I did use teflon tape in hopes it would come out easier. It was a bear to get out the first time.

Fast forward to today... I've tried everything to get this anode rod out. I started with a 1-1/16" 6 point socket and a breaker bar. Nothing. Not even a little budge. I moved on to my impact wrench. I hit it for a solid minute at 300 ft/lb and nothing...

At this point, I've committed the cardinal sin and rounded off the hex head. I tried getting a pipe wrench on it as a last effort, but there just isn't enough room.

So, I think I'm down to a couple of options:
1. Leave it in there 'cause it ain't coming out. The tank will rust out a lot quicker, but I don't exactly have an option...

2. Drill it. I'm hesitant on this one, and thus the purpose of this post. I'm wondering if anyone has ever gone this extreme and been successful?

I suppose option 3 is get a new water heater, but I don't particularly care for option 3. I thought about a socket for rounded bolts. I have some that I got years ago at Sears. They only go up to 3/4" though. I haven't seen one big enough for a 1-1/16".

Thought I'd check with you smart folks to see if you had any sage advice?

I appreciate it.

[drsteve]

Well done! Enjoy your camping trip!

[westend]

'Attaboy!

[2_many_2]

Awesome!!! Thanks for the update and congratulations on a successful fix. Time for a BEER!!!! :B:B:B

[Huntindog]

This thread reminds me of a cartoon drawing.
A bird with his head in a cats mouth,,, And the bird with his hands around the the cats neck strangling it.
The caption below:
"Never ever give up"

Good job.

[Old-Biscuit]

Heelbilly,

Thanks for the UPDATE.

Championship ring and belt in the mail :B

Just remember....anode rod and drain hole threads are 'TAPERED'
Couple wraps with teflon tape, finger tight then 'snug' up with 6 point socket.

Fill, heat and check for leaks.

[greende]

Good job....I read every post of this thread....

[coolbreeze01]

Well done :C

[Heelbilly]

Alright boys... As promised, I fought the heater this weekend.

It was a long fight, going deep into the 15th round.. but...

I won.

It took a patient strategy. I started with trying the heating and cooling method, but could never get a good enough grip to do any real work. So, with a slight fear in my heart, I turned to the drill with left hand bits. I started small and made sure I had a good, straight center hole. I worked my way all the way up to 1/2". At that point I tried getting a 1/2" pipe extractor in there. I got torque, but it wasn't budging. I moved on up to 5/8" and still no luck. I tried chiseling at that point... no luck. So, I went for the Hail Mary pass. I put on the 3/4" bit and went to work. I was able to then work a 3/4" pipe extractor in. It made a very solid bite. I got my breaker bar and hung my 230lb self on the end of it. Like a gift from the heavens, it broke free.

I still don't know why it was stuck. It was not cross threaded and I did not damage the threads with the drill. A new anode rod went right in without issue. The old anode rod was about gone and did break off in the process, but it shouldn't be an issue.

So, lessons learned:

1. You don't have to torque an anode rod in like you are a gorilla.
2. Patience and power tools are your friends.
3. Buy really good drill bits. I bought cheap ones at first because I didn't have a left hand set. I ended up breaking down and buying some good titanium coated ones to finish the job.

I appreciate all of the help and advice. Seriously. Thank you. Really glad I'm not putting a new heater in this weekend. I think I'll go camping instead. :B

Here's a link to the removed rod, just for fun:
https://postimg.org/image/s4lix6l69/

[98coachman]

If you heat up the welded nut on the tank and not the anode rod the nut will expand and you should be able to turn the anode rod out. I have done this on countless frozen nuts and bolts. Should work, give it a try before you drill it out. Even it you drill it you will still have to use heat on the tank to get it out.
Good luck, Bill

[drsteve]

IF you are lucky during your drilling process as you move up in drill bit size, there might be enough heat generate during the process that you won't need to go thru too many sizes before the plug will likely "unfreeze" and you can twist it out.

Especially if you use a left handed drill bit.

Go to Harbor Freight, Amazon, or an industrial supply house and get a set of drill bits with a left handed twist--they work great for this purpose. There's a good chance it comes out while you're drilling it.

Remember to run your drill motor CCW.

[budwich]

on the "drill out" method. IF you are lucky during your drilling process as you move up in drill bit size, there might be enough heat generate during the process that you won't need to go thru too many sizes before the plug will likely "unfreeze" and you can twist it out.

[Old-Biscuit]

Huntindog wrote:
If these STEEL tanks are GLASS lined.... Then water doesn't touch any steel.... So why the anode rod?

Per Airxcel (Suburban)

Heated water attacks all metals, but not porcelain. That's why Suburban uses a porcelain-lined, steel water heater tank with an anode rod to "absorb" the electrolytical action - just like your water heater at home.

LINK

[westend]

If the anode rod threaded section is a dissimilar metal than steel, rapid heating and cooling, as mentioned earlier, is an excellent method of freeing up the parts.
I've had truck alloy rims that were like welded to the iron hubs. Hitting them with an 8 lb sledge wouldn't budge them but heating the rims with a small propane torch and a quench with cold water made them fall off the hub.

[Heelbilly]

You may be 100% right...but my OCD just isn't going to live with leaving that thing in there. It's coming out, one way or the other. Besides, what kind of anticlimactic end would it be to this thread if I just left it alone?