Home Improvement → Re: Water Heater - When to replace?

This is pic of the 10-year old anode rod taken out of my 12-year warranty GE/Rheem gas water heater last summer. The water on the ground was from draining the tank (not leaking).

I found the magnesium rod at my local plumbing house for around $40. As you can see after 10 year of usage, the old rod still had a lot of meat on it and it should last the full 12 year in which the water heater is under warranty.

When I peeked thru the bunkhole from the top, the steel tank lining looked good and no rust whatsoever. I replaced the rod anyway. I expect my water heater to last another 10 years.

So how much clearance do you need above the water heater in order to remove the rod?

The magnesium rod is about 40" long and you would need something like 35" to clear it.

Before you replace it, you should try to see if you can remove it first. The OEM rod is literally weld-tight. I did it with breaker bar + 90% filled tank + wife holding the tank. Once you break loose the OEM rod, you can inspect the condition to see if it needs replacement (in my case, the old rod should last many more year. Because I bought the new rod, I changed it anyway). Also if you try dry run removing it completely and re-inserting...

Home Depot has the aluminum rod that is flexible in 3 sections. I don't know if anyone sells a flexible magnesium one or if you can bend the magnesium to go in.

I'm not going to go and measure it right now, but I doubt I have that much room. So that's one of the reasons hardly anyone ever inspects/changes the anode.

I think you can get replacement rods that are hinged/bendable for exactly that reason. Either that or you have to disconnect/drain and tip the tank over to change the rod.

Which is another reason almost no one ever changes out the anode rod.

/tom

Until you unscrew the rod and attempt to take it out, you don't know how much clearance you will need. Because there are 3 thickness for the rod (5/8", 3/4", or .844") that you can buy. The skinny one doesn't need as much as clearance. (I don't know how much a difference).

Like I stated, if you can remove the rod, you can inspect the condition and gauge if you need to replace the tank soon. If you do have clearance, then replace the rod by all mean.

If you don't do it, you are living with uncertainty of not knowing when the tank will leak.

Life is full of uncertainties.