Anode after 4 months full time!

[A.Texas.Yankee]

Started getting rust in hot water at the faucet. Metallic taste and smell. Check pre-filter at the city water (specifically for rust removal) and it was clear. Cold water was fine so I decided to investigate the water heater. Hit the pressure release and rusty water came out. Hmmm. Pulled the anode and was surprised to see this. We've been full timing since may. We've had a water softener since end of June. Bottom of water heater tank is a sand bed up to the opening. Crazy! Anyone else have a rod burn out that quickly?

Hoping the rust and metallic smell are from the anode rod and there's no damage to tank itself. Thoughts about that?

Newly full timing in our 2021 Momentum 395MS-R with our tow pig being a 2021 F-450 KR

[traveldawg]

short answer - it happens; replace it.

Long answer....
I got into some really bad water back in the spring in the SW. It was terrible water. I ended up getting a good filter for the incoming water and after that didn't work I re-purchased a water softener (had one a while back but sold it - big mistake).

Nothing much improved so I replaced my anode which was in a lot better shape than your.

Things got better but I'm not sure if it was because I moved on to places with better water or not. Now I get lots of murky water from faucets, especially from the bathroom. It's mostly from the hot water faucet in the sink there. I never had this problem before this past spring.

When I get home in a few months I plan to drain, flush, remove the heating element, treat the tank with a water/vinegar solution then replace the heating element (and anode rod again if I don't like the way it looks) and hope things improve.

[A.Texas.Yankee]

short answer - it happens; replace it.

Long answer....
I got into some really bad water back in the spring in the SW. It was terrible water. I ended up getting a good filter for the incoming water and after that didn't work I re-purchased a water softener (had one a while back but sold it - big mistake).

Nothing much improved so I replaced my anode which was in a lot better shape than your.

Things got better but I'm not sure if it was because I moved on to places with better water or not. Now I get lots of murky water from faucets, especially from the bathroom. It's mostly from the hot water faucet in the sink there. I never had this problem before this past spring.

When I get home in a few months I plan to drain, flush, remove the heating element, treat the tank with a water/vinegar solution then replace the heating element (and anode rod again if I don't like the way it looks) and hope things improve.

I just replaced the rod and flushed out the tank best I could with the hose adapter. Was able to flush most of the loose sediment, but there's some deposits on the bottom of the tank that are not coming free. We'll see how that fares. Might end up removing rod and buying a plug to flush some 30% vinegar and let that sit in there a few days. Hopefully the rust water stops with the flush and new rod. My concern is damage to the tank itself (i.e. wall lining or whatever else could be rusting in there).

Newly full timing in our 2021 Momentum 395MS-R with our tow pig being a 2021 F-450 KR

[Redapple63]

I just replaced the rod and flushed out the tank best I could with the hose adapter. Was able to flush most of the loose sediment, but there's some deposits on the bottom of the tank that are not coming free. We'll see how that fares. Might end up removing rod and buying a plug to flush some 30% vinegar and let that sit in there a few days. Hopefully the rust water stops with the flush and new rod. My concern is damage to the tank itself (i.e. wall lining or whatever else could be rusting in there).

Newly full timing in our 2021 Momentum 395MS-R with our tow pig being a 2021 F-450 KR

That is a great mitigation. When you have time as Larry suggested a good vinegar soak should soften and help relieve your wh tank of those deposits with a good subsequent flush.

Good Luck!

[traveldawg]

That is a great mitigation. When you have time as Larry suggested a good vinegar soak should soften and help relieve your wh tank of those deposits with a good subsequent flush.

Good Luck!

I'd really like to do it now but since I'm only on the road for about another 30 days I decided it was safer to wait then mess something up. We'll see how things work out.

[Bungy]

Actually that rod has a lot of life left.

[A.Texas.Yankee]

Actually that rod has a lot of life left.

Based off your photo, I would say it was closer to 75% used or more. It was brittle and pieces just falling off and the core was exposed through out. Definitely wouldn't last much longer at this rate. Especially not another 9 months to make it a year. Luckily after changing rod and flushing tank, rusty water and metallic smell/taste are gone. When I'm somewhere longer with enough time to sit without hot water, I'll pull rod and plug it for and vinegar bath so I can flush it again to try and get those last few deposits.

I watched a few videos online of RVers flushing their tanks after a year of use and I had considerably more sediment and a further corroded anode after 3 months than they did in a year. I'm thinking that one park on the Brazos in Texas had extremely hard water.

Oddly enough I've started doing the vinegar in my other tanks and a lot of crap came out of my gray tank that was sediment already, just like my water heater. I'm vinegar bathing the fresh tank right now since we have full hook ups for this week.


Newly full timing in our 2021 Momentum 395MS-R with our tow pig being a 2021 F-450 KR

[Rockdaddy]

Started getting rust in hot water at the faucet. Metallic taste and smell. Check pre-filter at the city water (specifically for rust removal) and it was clear. Cold water was fine so I decided to investigate the water heater. Hit the pressure release and rusty water came out. Hmmm. Pulled the anode and was surprised to see this. We've been full timing since may. We've had a water softener since end of June. Bottom of water heater tank is a sand bed up to the opening. Crazy! Anyone else have a rod burn out that quickly?

Hoping the rust and metallic smell are from the anode rod and there's no damage to tank itself. Thoughts about that?

Newly full timing in our 2021 Momentum 395MS-R with our tow pig being a 2021 F-450 KR

that rod is a sacrificial lamb so to speak. it goes bad to protect your tank replace it when needed. as you travel around its really hard to say how good or bad the water quality is so replace your water filters and anode rod regularly and you will be ok

[Jamaddog]

Wow I’ll be checking mine soon.

Started getting rust in hot water at the faucet. Metallic taste and smell. Check pre-filter at the city water (specifically for rust removal) and it was clear. Cold water was fine so I decided to investigate the water heater. Hit the pressure release and rusty water came out. Hmmm. Pulled the anode and was surprised to see this. We've been full timing since may. We've had a water softener since end of June. Bottom of water heater tank is a sand bed up to the opening. Crazy! Anyone else have a rod burn out that quickly?

Hoping the rust and metallic smell are from the anode rod and there's no damage to tank itself. Thoughts about that?

Newly full timing in our 2021 Momentum 395MS-R with our tow pig being a 2021 F-450 KR

[A.Texas.Yankee]

that rod is a sacrificial lamb so to speak. it goes bad to protect your tank replace it when needed. as you travel around its really hard to say how good or bad the water quality is so replace your water filters and anode rod regularly and you will be ok

Wow I’ll be checking mine soon.

Guys from the GD service team at the rally were shocked by my situation. Said they've never seen corrosion and rusting that fast. The new anode rod was already showing rapid signs of deterioration. Entire water heater will have to be replaced.

Newly full timing in our 2021 Momentum 395MS-R with our tow pig being a 2021 F-450 KR