Water Heater flushed followed by acrid odor
 

Hey All,

This past week, I drained and flushed my water heater to get rid of a
lot of sediment. When I was done, I refilled the tank, and turned
thepower back on. Later on that evening, I went into the laundry room
and notice the most acrid odor. At first I though a mouse had got in
the room and died. After reading some posts on the newsgroups, I have
come to the conclusion that this is the nasty sulphur smell that
everyone associated with chemical reactions in water heaters. I ran
the hot water out of it about 3 times to no avail. I was looking at
some options and was wondering your opinions on the most successful??

Why has it NEVER smelled like that before(even after a drain/flush 2
years ago) but this time it does??

Should I

1) Permanently remove the anode rod and replace with a plug?

2) Pull out the anode rod, dump a cup of chlorine bleach inside, and
reinsert the rod?

3) Drain and flush the tank with a hose after pulling the anode rod
out??

Thanks
Mark

Southpaw wrote:

Hey All,

This past week, I drained and flushed my water heater to get rid of a
lot of sediment. When I was done, I refilled the tank, and turned
thepower back on. Later on that evening, I went into the laundry room
and notice the most acrid odor. At first I though a mouse had got in
the room and died. After reading some posts on the newsgroups, I have
come to the conclusion that this is the nasty sulphur smell that
everyone associated with chemical reactions in water heaters. I ran
the hot water out of it about 3 times to no avail. I was looking at
some options and was wondering your opinions on the most successful??

Why has it NEVER smelled like that before(even after a drain/flush 2
years ago) but this time it does??

Should I

1) Permanently remove the anode rod and replace with a plug?

2) Pull out the anode rod, dump a cup of chlorine bleach inside, and
reinsert the rod?

3) Drain and flush the tank with a hose after pulling the anode rod
out??

Thanks
Mark


Depends. I had a lot of sulfur odor (well system) due to
iron bacteria growth. I kept the anode rod and chlorinated
the water- problem solved. There are so many different causes
of the odor though that it is a stab in the dark ...

YMMV

Jim

Jim,

Did you do the chlorinate the water through the anode hole??

On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 18:56:09 -0500, Speedy Jim wrote:

Southpaw wrote:

Hey All,

This past week, I drained and flushed my water heater to get rid of a
lot of sediment. When I was done, I refilled the tank, and turned
thepower back on. Later on that evening, I went into the laundry room
and notice the most acrid odor. At first I though a mouse had got in
the room and died. After reading some posts on the newsgroups, I have
come to the conclusion that this is the nasty sulphur smell that
everyone associated with chemical reactions in water heaters. I ran
the hot water out of it about 3 times to no avail. I was looking at
some options and was wondering your opinions on the most successful??

Why has it NEVER smelled like that before(even after a drain/flush 2
years ago) but this time it does??

Should I

1) Permanently remove the anode rod and replace with a plug?

2) Pull out the anode rod, dump a cup of chlorine bleach inside, and
reinsert the rod?

3) Drain and flush the tank with a hose after pulling the anode rod
out??

Thanks
Mark


Depends. I had a lot of sulfur odor (well system) due to
iron bacteria growth. I kept the anode rod and chlorinated
the water- problem solved. There are so many different causes
of the odor though that it is a stab in the dark ...

YMMV

Jim

Southpaw wrote:

Jim,

Did you do the chlorinate the water through the anode hole??

Initially I did something like that, maybe once a week.
It worked so well, that I cobbled a chemical injection
pump to feed a few drops into the well storage tank every
time the well pump runs.
Jim



On Fri, 07 Jan 2005 18:56:09 -0500, Speedy Jim wrote:


Southpaw wrote:


Hey All,

This past week, I drained and flushed my water heater to get rid of a
lot of sediment. When I was done, I refilled the tank, and turned
thepower back on. Later on that evening, I went into the laundry room
and notice the most acrid odor. At first I though a mouse had got in
the room and died. After reading some posts on the newsgroups, I have
come to the conclusion that this is the nasty sulphur smell that
everyone associated with chemical reactions in water heaters. I ran
the hot water out of it about 3 times to no avail. I was looking at
some options and was wondering your opinions on the most successful??

Why has it NEVER smelled like that before(even after a drain/flush 2
years ago) but this time it does??

Should I

1) Permanently remove the anode rod and replace with a plug?

2) Pull out the anode rod, dump a cup of chlorine bleach inside, and
reinsert the rod?

3) Drain and flush the tank with a hose after pulling the anode rod
out??

Thanks
Mark


Depends. I had a lot of sulfur odor (well system) due to
iron bacteria growth. I kept the anode rod and chlorinated
the water- problem solved. There are so many different causes
of the odor though that it is a stab in the dark ...

YMMV

Jim