On Feb 14, 8:57 am, George wrote:
On 14 Feb 2007 04:56:39 -0800, "
wrote:

On Feb 14, 6:59?am, George wrote:
On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 18:54:04 GMT, George wrote:
(7-yr old 40-gal gas heater)

Our hot water got suddenly very 'rusty' two days ago.
old water is
clear. flushed the tank several times, and it still comes out dirty.
The company says to replace the anode rod. he question is, how?

...

The anode rod finally came free, just with repeatedly using the
(extended) breaker bar.

nd, it's _not_ rusty, contrary to the mfr's





certainty of that. hey were saying it was the rod that was prodcing
the rust, after its plating had been exhausted. nstead, it's coated
with white slug (lime?)

So, the rust must be coming from the tank. or the cost of a rod, I
think I'll go ahead and replace it, do the vinegar flush thing, and see
where it takes us.

G

The tank is bad! Replace it now or live with rusty water and know tank
WILL leak and perhaps flood! You will have NO hot water! No doubt at
the most iconvenient time

Tanks are cheap enough I replace mine every 10 years wether its bad or
not.

After a BAD experience where it failed during a blizzard and took 3
days to replace, occured on a sunday just after stores closed next day
storm, had trouble hetting parts, leaky fittings.

OBVIOUSLY your a new homeowner, once you have a little unpleasant
exp[eriences you will KNOW you should just replace the tank, espically
when your wife and kids are mad theres no hot water for bathing....

Homeowners 101 you havent gotten your certificate of achivement YET

The white slugey stuff is normal...

Actually, we've been in this house for 17 yrs (I think), and replaced
the WH once before. It leaked, water ran to the cellar floor drain.
We've been w/o hot water for 3 days now (I think), and we're managing -
just keep some heat on the stove. In the spectrum of things that can
(and have) gone wrong, it's no big deal.

All the same, we aren't necessarily expecting this to last. But, for
$20, it's a worthwhile experiment.

G- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Interesting that the manufacturer says the rod itself can produce the
rust. It thought they were just a solid rod of a sacrificial
metal. But sounds like they are saying the center is made of steel?
In any case, sounds like your anode rod looks normal. I recently
inspected mine, and I'd say it may be about half gone after about 6
years. It also had the white sludge like stuff on it, which is the
desired reaction of the rod slowly erroding, hopefully instead of the
tank.


If the rust is only coming from the water heater, then I agree, it may
be time to just get a new one.