Questions about water heater anode rods

darsunt said:

I have some heaters with little clearance overhead. It would be hard to remove the anode rod. My questions are:

1) How long is a typical anode rod?
depends on water heater. about 2-3 foot avg. I've seem them longer.

2) How would you get the old one out if there is little clearance (2' or less)
over the water heater?
you could cut it and use flexible or telescopic one to replace it.

3) What type of metal in an anode is preferable? most are magnesium or aluminum. Preferred is magnesium, imo. Really depends on type of water you have.

4) Are those linked flexible anode rods good? (I fear they will fall apart at the links) I don't have any personal experience with them. If space is limited you may not have a choice unless you want to drain, and disconnect/tilt water heater to change it out. You can google customer satisfaction and read up on it.

4) Is there a standard sized socket for removing anode rods?

Thanks

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1 1-16, 1/2 inch drive with long breaker bar using extra leverage. Best to use impact wrench if possible. Easy peasey. The above are just my personal opinons as a diy homeowner.

There is no "typical" length or socket size.
Depends on the size of the heater.
What makes you think it need to be changed?

The heaters are old, 10 years +. How often should they be changed? I've heard if you keep up with fresh rods your heater lasts forever.

not really, but how many times have you flushed all the junk out of the bottoms? if not on a regular basis like 6 month intervals, the stuff bakes on into a solid mass..then the bottom plate of the heater super heats and warps causing leaks...if gas or oil fired..electric not so much..

Any water heater older then a max of 15 years (many are less) is living on borrowed time.

If you decide to go forward with the anode replacement let me suggest a 6 point socket rather than a 12 point. Also an impact wrench isn't all that common in the usual house hold tool bag and if you don't have one a 2x4 about 3 ft. long makes a hellofah impactor if there is room to swing it. In certain situations I usually tether the wrench to keep it from possibly impacting body parts and or other valuables.

I usually charge for these kinds of ideas but this first one is free.:biggrin2:

anode are often almost the same lenght that the tanks is, mine is over 4 feet long for a 60 gal unit. i personally replaced it with an electrical titanium anode that is very small.

darsunt said:

2) How would you get the old one out if there is little clearance (2' or less) over the water heater?

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It's an old resurrected thread, but that question was never answered.

Cut the rod into sections as you lift it out.