User Tag List
Results 1 to 10 of 11
Thread: Is this typical anode rod wear?
-
03-30-2019, 02:05 PM #1
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Posts
- 239
- Mentioned
- 2 Post(s)
- Tagged
- 0 Thread(s)
Is this typical anode rod wear?
Was prepping for the season today and remembered I need a new anode rod. I found interesting wear on the current rod. Pitted along the rod but nearly completely worn through near the threaded end. I have replaced a couple in our previous keystone but this is the first time in the solitude and dont remember the wear being this uneven.
Ryan and Alison
2017 Solitude 377MBS-R
Titan electric/hydraulic disc brakes
Morryde CRE 3000, xmembers x3, WBs,4k springs
2017 GMC 3500 Duramax Denali SRW Airlift bags with wireless control
Pullrite 2900 autoslide hitch
-
03-30-2019, 02:39 PM #2
It's just a little odd that the end is eroded away, but nothing to worry about. There could have been a crack or flaw in that area and it dissipated first. Here's a chart showing when a rod should be replaced.
Jim
-
03-30-2019, 02:44 PM #3
- Join Date
- Oct 2016
- Location
- A rolling stone....we're in Tucson, Az. now.
- Posts
- 1,537
- Mentioned
- 10 Post(s)
- Tagged
- 0 Thread(s)
Flush your water tank well before you put that rod back in. You may have mineral deposits sitting in the bottom of it, closer to the opening.
SOLD my 2017 Momentum 376TH being pulled by a 2014 Ford F-350 Lariat, FX-4, Crew Cab, Longbed, Dually. Not pulling the 5er, catch me on my 2013 CVO Harley Ultra Classic.
Map = states that we've stayed at least one night in our RV.
http://visitedstatesmap.com/image/AR...TNTXUTWYsm.jpg
-
03-30-2019, 02:51 PM #4
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Posts
- 239
- Mentioned
- 2 Post(s)
- Tagged
- 0 Thread(s)
Last edited by Hwktlg8; 03-30-2019 at 03:03 PM.
Ryan and Alison
2017 Solitude 377MBS-R
Titan electric/hydraulic disc brakes
Morryde CRE 3000, xmembers x3, WBs,4k springs
2017 GMC 3500 Duramax Denali SRW Airlift bags with wireless control
Pullrite 2900 autoslide hitch
-
03-30-2019, 02:52 PM #5
- Join Date
- Mar 2017
- Location
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Posts
- 239
- Mentioned
- 2 Post(s)
- Tagged
- 0 Thread(s)
Ryan and Alison
2017 Solitude 377MBS-R
Titan electric/hydraulic disc brakes
Morryde CRE 3000, xmembers x3, WBs,4k springs
2017 GMC 3500 Duramax Denali SRW Airlift bags with wireless control
Pullrite 2900 autoslide hitch
-
03-30-2019, 02:59 PM #6
- Join Date
- Oct 2016
- Location
- A rolling stone....we're in Tucson, Az. now.
- Posts
- 1,537
- Mentioned
- 10 Post(s)
- Tagged
- 0 Thread(s)
Might just be an oddity of that particular anode rod. I wouldn't worry about it at this point but check it again at the end of summer.
Yes, the minerals in the water can make a big difference in the deteroration rate of an anode rod. Going to RV Maint. Tech training in Athens, Tex. they were good for a year however, the instructor told us that there's an area in west Tex. that you check your anode rod very often and may be replacing it in as little as four months. That's some seriously hard water.
And in Ariz. this winter I noticed that the large majority have those large blue water softner bottles hooked up to their water supply. I asked a mobile tech and he told me that's due to Ariz. having such hard water.
My thought......does that mean we can use water that has gone through the softner to wash the RV, truck and motorcycle and it'll dry spot free?SOLD my 2017 Momentum 376TH being pulled by a 2014 Ford F-350 Lariat, FX-4, Crew Cab, Longbed, Dually. Not pulling the 5er, catch me on my 2013 CVO Harley Ultra Classic.
Map = states that we've stayed at least one night in our RV.
http://visitedstatesmap.com/image/AR...TNTXUTWYsm.jpg
-
03-30-2019, 04:20 PM #7
- Join Date
- May 2018
- Location
- Central FL
- Posts
- 690
- Mentioned
- 3 Post(s)
- Tagged
- 0 Thread(s)
-
03-30-2019, 04:26 PM #8
Softening your water is more likely to accelerate anode corrosion than reduce it. There are many references to this online.
Anode corrosion is galvanic corrosion which is an electrochemical reaction not just a chemical reaction. The rate of corrosion is definitely affected by the composition of the electrolyte (the water). Various dissolved minerals will make the water more conductive. A carbon filter will not remove most of these dissolved minerals.
The most significant affect on corrosion rate is how far apart two metals are on the galvanic potential chart. See the attachment to post 14 on this thread https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...677#post145677 Brass is one of the most noble metals encountered in normal plumbing systems. So, if you thread a brass fitting into your steel or aluminum water tank, your zinc anode will corrode more quickly.
Remember that the anode is designed to corrode, to keep your tank materials as the cathodes in the reaction. As long as there is an anode, the connected cathode materials will not corrode. Once the zinc anode is completely gone, the galvanic corrosion will move to the next material less noble than that brass fitting . . . that being the aluminum or steel tank wall.
If you want to reduce the corrosion rate of your anode, replace brass fittings with plastic ones or put a plastic bushing between the brass fitting and the tank, to electrically isolate the two.
BTW . . . the anode rod in the original picture is not even 25% used (per the diagram posted by Jim)
RobCate & Rob
2015 Reflection 303RLS
-
03-30-2019, 05:15 PM #9
- Join Date
- Jun 2018
- Posts
- 2,356
- Mentioned
- 16 Post(s)
- Tagged
- 0 Thread(s)
-
03-30-2019, 05:30 PM #10
Hi Brian,
I don't have an answer for this . . .and neither did the Atwood technicians who I asked this very question, at a Rally a few years ago. My best guess is that they get away with this because the pressure relief valve is (usually) in the vapor space above the water in the tank. For galvanic corrosion to take place, all connected metals have to be in the same electrolyte (the water).
Disclaimer: My knowledge of galvanic corrosion has very little to with water heaters and a whole lot to do with owning an aluminum boat in a harbour full of brass, bronze, steel and stainless steel appendages in the same water where my aluminum hull is. Aluminum is an anode for all these materials unless I carefully protect it with sufficient more anodic material. I use magnesium which is as anode reactive as you can get, to everything else.
Totally unrelated to this water heater story, but for those who might be interested . . . the galvanic electrical circuit is completed between boats by the ground wire in the shore power. I also have an isolation transformer so that my hull is not electrically connected to everybody else.
RobCate & Rob
2015 Reflection 303RLS
Morryde Safe-T-rail install issues
Today, 12:55 AM in Mods and DIY