Today I replaced a water heater that I installed less than 2 1/2 years ago. When I got it back to the shop, I took the anode rod out to look at it and it was completely gone. It was very difficult to drain, which I also ended up doing at the shop because it was a very thick gooey type substance, and there was a lot of it. It probably had at a good 1-2 gallons of this rusty gelatin empty out.

I have encountered this once or twice before. The previous times the gooey stuff was clear.

Any thoughts on what would kill the anode rod in 2 years and what causes this stuff to build up at the bottom. It was city water with a softener. I feel like the last time I encountered it, it was also on a softener but with well water.

The gelatinous goo was the anode rod. It's always best to flush the water heater for 15 minutes or so before draining it out to remove all the junk on the bottom. It would be interesting to know the TDS of the water- that is probably key in the short life of the tank.

Correct, I'd wager that the anode rod didn't last much over a year.

When I have a heater that fails that quickly, I install a jumper wire between the hot and cold lines where they come out of the wall, because it could be a situation where there are stray currents in the water lines, and if so they can seldom be detected, you just have to go on faith. But so far, I have never had one repeat the failure in that time span after doing it.



Edited 1 times.

The free ions in the water make a perfect electrolyte for water heater destruction. If the homeowners leave their softener off for the first 2 months it should build up a protective calcium film inside the heater that will protect it indefinitely against electrolysis. After the film is produced, they should be able run the softener without any issues for much longer. If not, then you need a maintenance plan that includes changing the anode and flushing the tank 6 months to a year apart indefinitely.

Electric anode? A little expensive, but not compared to replacing heaters every couple years.

the term is: sacrificial anode

self explanatory


did y'all read the manual which is REQUIRED to be left for the end user ?

the section where it states: inspect anode annually..................

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

You don't "inspect" an anode. If you go to the trouble of removing it, you replace it. And that recommendation would have added that you can do it at the same time you put cookies and milk out for Santa Claus.

So now with the new water heater standards, Bradford will only credit me for the cost of the original 50 gallon which is no longer available. They will NOT credit me the full price of the newer model which is about $70 more.

Does this seem fair to you guys? I am not sure how I feel about it. They did give me a new 6 year warranty though, as opposed to simply extending the original warranty which would have only given me 4 more years.

Honestly I am surprised that they gave you anything since the anode had to be gone for a while before everything failed. Failure to replace the anode would give them reasonable grounds to say that maintenance had not been performed as required and thus voided the warranty.

ALL companies did the same thing when gas heaters changed to the FVIR standard. Getting a "new" warranty is worth more than $70.00.

Have YOU ever seen ANY COMPANY check a failed heater to find out the cause? I have not!!!