anyone heard of a jointed sacraficial anode?

kevin coppinger_4

Bock oil fired water heaters makes one to install in tight spaces....kpc

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jerbear

A plumber says he once installed a jointed (segmented) anode in a hot water tank. Maybe he was pulling my leg because I found nothing on a quick web search for one. He sayed they are milled on a lathe? Has anyone heard of such a thing? And why does my indirect hot water heater appear to not have a anode but my electric hot water tank does?

GAverill

Check Rheem

Rheem/Ruud water heaters had a commercial water heater that had 4 individual tanks, that I believe was called a QuadRTank.
I remember them having a segmented anode.
Check with your local Rheem or Ruud water heater distributor who should be able to help you.

Mark Hunt

In fact


I saw sevearl at FW Webb the other day.

They do exist.

Mark H

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Dave_4

segmented

www.waterheaterrescue.com

These folks make one that installs on the cold water inlet side of the water heater.

Pete

Mechanic

Yes

They are readily available at any good plumbing supply

pete_22

Grainger can special order from Rheem. They around $40.

Randy Schuyler_2

flexible anode rods

Flexible or jointed anode rods do exist. Grainger and Rheem might indeed sell them. But so do I, and as the questioner suggested, they are regular anodes that have been milled down to the core wire on a lathe. Thus, they can be bent and straightened about three times to accommodate low overhead clearance situations down to about 12 inches. After that third time, though, they snap, since the core wire was never meant to be put to such use. It's kind of like hanger wire. Hope that helps a bit. Beyond that, visit waterheaterrescue.com. The focus is on making water heaters last longer, not just hawking anode rods, bendable or otherwise. And be certain to check out the Weingarten Collection. It's fun.

Constantin

... as for why one piece of equipment has them,

and another one doesn't; it depends on the equipment. Stainless indirect water heaters do not (to my knowledge) require such anodes, whereas porcellain-lined stell tanks do. The anodes are there to protect the tank from galvanic corrosion, sacrificing themselves so that the tank may live.

This is why exchanging such anodes on a regular basis is so important, yet few homeowners do. Usually, clearance issues get in the way (not enough room overhead) and the impact wrenches that the OEM used to get the original anode tightly seated in the first place (i.e. you need a gorilla to bust it loose). I presume the 300 psi leak test at the factory is the main reason that anodes have to be on so tight.

Larry Weingarten's entertaining and educational book on water heater repairs has many good insights, I'd recommend having a look at that also if water heaters interest you.

Randy Schuyler_2

Amen to that about Larry's book. Regarding clearance, anodes can often be bent and then straigtened after they are put in the tank by using the side of the port for leverage. One-inch commercial anodes and the .84-inch ones I mostly sell now don't lend themselves so well to that, but .75-inch and .625-inch do. That can be good down to about 32 inches of clearance, thus saving the cost of a flexible anode.

Regarding a previous post about installing an anode in the cold port, it actually goes in the hot port. The cold port has a dip tube in it.

And regarding getting anodes out, it can often be tough and sometimes impossible. Take a look at this link:

http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/WHRpages/English/Troubleshooting/Tanklets/removing-stubborn-anodes.html

for some strategies on removal. I should also mention, just for thoroughness, that Larry Weingarten created an elegant extractor using a torque multiplier that works in most cases, using the tank itself for leverage, but being occupied with many things, he's not making any new ones these days, so it may not be an option.

Al_19

Removing anode rods

An electric impact wrench will do the job easily.

[Deleted User]

Google

Anode rod

ME

Boonierat

Jointed Anode Roda

I have four in stock, F.W. Webb, Nashua, New Hampshire

Boonierat

Jointed Anode Roda

I have four in stock, F.W. Webb, Nashua, New Hampshire