Electric Anode rods

hunter29

What's the scoop on brand? I see them on Amazon for over $150 and as little as $35 .

What's the difference? They look the same and there is not much too them.

hot_rod

Canadian made premium product, 20 year warranty. What's not to like?

hunter29

I'm asking what makes this one different that justifies five times the price?

Also no indication it's working, when the wall wart fails how do you know? When the heater starts to leak.
I'm thinking of getting one but I have my reservations.

mattmia2

wall wart has a pilot light on it

hunter29

ok, did not know that, thanks

kcopp

I have used the corro protec A number of times. The predominate reason was if there was an issue w/ rotten egg smell from the anode reacting w/ the water. This Always has solved it.

Whey do you want to get one?

hot_rod

Good points. Have you found any with indicator lights of fail notification?

I installed a VitoCell100V tank recently. It came with an "impressed current anode rod". Those are probably more expensive :) I think the tank and rod were made in France.

hot_rod

Actually a Z German brand. Green light indicates just power as far as I know

Maybe @larry knows how to test the electronic rods

hunter29

For whatever reason I am getting the egg smell, this is very unusual and I have lived here 35 years.

I just read an electric rod may not be worth it for an old heater, mine is going on 13 years.

Aluminum worked fine but there is the health issue???

I also read turning up the temperature 140 or more may work too??

Any suggestions??

mattmia2

if there is voltage and the power supply is still hooked to the tank and the rod then it is working. i'd probably use a linear supply for reliability if i were designing one

Larry Weingarten

Hi, "impressed current" is the same thing as "powered" anode. It's just the fancy language corrosion engineers use. Somehow powered anodes do not produce hydrogen gas in their action, as sacrificial rods do. This does not support anaerobic bacteria that are part of the odor problem. Like @kcopp , I've also found they work nearly all of the time for getting rid of odor.

I'm not familiar with a bunch of different brands, but I'd look at warranty, age of business, reputation of business and its principals, who else uses the product, warranty insurance, and whatever other metrics you can come up with to see if other anodes can do the job and are well supported. Powered anodes were first used in the 1920s, so have had some time to evolve. It's not rocket science, like anything to do with steam is. 🚀

Yours, Larry

mattmia2

a conventional anode makes a current by reacting with water, i think 2(Al + H2O) - > 2(AlOH) + H2 or 2(Mg + H2O) - > 2(MgOH)+ H2. A powered anode generates a current from an external source.

ethicalpaul

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1853996#Comment_1853996

I will say the pilot light does not come on unless there is a good electrical connection to the tank (ie: the device is installed).

I have this one in my water heater as of a few months ago. No idea if it's better or worse than the magnesium it came with (which was only partially eaten away after 4 years)

I do have a test rig set up in my basement right now to compare electric vs magnesium vs nothing and it's very hard to tell but it seems like the magnesium is better. I'll have a video about it as soon as I stop procrastinating making it.

mattmia2

the supply made by corro-protec maybe lights the light based on current. maybe if you put like a 10k resistor across it it would also light.

hunter29

I'm going to see if it's SRB's first by increasing water temperature.

Then go from there.. keep the comments coming please, you guys are always helpful. Thanks

hot_rod

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854009#Comment_1854009

I think water conditions have something to do with the different rod material smelling or breaking down. High magnesium water in contact with the rods can cause the egg smell. It never hurts to know what is in your water.

Mag seems to offer better protection but corrode more quickly, from what I have read.

hunter29

Right, say I have a heat exchanger plumbed into this heater for a radiant floor, I don't see a problem with a powered anode do you guys??

mattmia2

no

109A_5

I was going to add one to my old tank, but at about 17 years old it started leaking. So now with the new tank I feel there is even less urgency. If I someday get around to doing it I probably would add an Ammeter to the circuit and not 100% trust the LED. Here is an example. I may measure the actual current before I chose the actual meter.

ethicalpaul

I think going from 17 years without changing the anode to wanting to hook up an ammeter because you don’t trust an LED is quite a big step!

109A_5

Well originally I wanted to change the anode rod maybe at 10 - 12 years old, but forgot about it. Then at about 14 years old I decided on an electric anode, never got around to it. Anyway an Ammeter is easy to hook up and inexpensive (once you have the electric anode installed). And it actually shows current flow, Who knows what the LED is actually telling you.

Getting an old anode rod out of an old tank is probably a lot harder than connecting up an Ammeter.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, About SRB, (sulfate reducing bacteria). Try adding typical 3% drugstore hydrogen peroxide to your tank. I use at least one pint per 40 gallons, and see if the odor goes away. If it does, adding oxygen to the water killed off the bacteria. There's proof of the cause of the odor.

Yours, Larry

hunter29

All good post guys, I like the amp meter idea , right up my alley.

I read the current increase as the tank deteriorates .

I turned up the heat and the smell seems to be gone. Why I got the SRB's all of a sudden I don't know?

pecmsg

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854032#Comment_1854032

Are you on Well or Public water supply?

hunter29

Well …..

jesmed1

When I moved here and started doing maintenance on our 4-unit condo building, the existing water heater was already 7 years old and had not had the anode rod replaced. I started replacing the anode rod annually (I found they were gone after 1 year), then realized we needed a more permanent solution, so I installed a Corro-Protec powered anode. That bought us a few more years, but the damage had already been done by the 5 years or so during which the factory anode had been consumed and had not been replaced. The heater started leaking this past Easter weekend, so it was time for a new heater.

This time I removed the factory-installed consumable rod from the new heater before the plumber piped it in, then swapped the Corro-Protec from the old heater to the new one. The new heater is the same make/model as the old one, so it will be interesting to see what the difference in lifetime is when the heater has a powered anode installed from day 1, vs having a 5-year period of no anode protection.

The Corro-Protec is the only powered anode I've used, so I'm not an expert on the genre. I picked the Corro-Protec because of their 20-year warranty and good customer support.

On my Corro-Protec, the green light goes out if continuity is lost, say from a bad ground connection on the heater shell. The wall wart rating plate says its max output is 50 mA, with "15 mA Anode," which I assume is the design point. I measured mine and got a hair over 15 mA. (This is when connected to a new water heater with a good ground.)

Intplm.

@hunter29 It simply comes down to your water quality.

Magnesium-type rods are said to work best with soft water.

Aluminum-type rods are best with hard water.

You say you are experiencing the rotten egg sulfur type smell? A powered rod or a zinc-type rod could be the best choice.

You mentioned above that you have well water. The water in a well can sometimes change over time.

For this reason and others, I have become a big fan of the powered anode rod. They seem to check most, if not all, the boxes.

The way you can tell if it works, you ask? The smell goes away. No rods, powered or not, tell you it's sacrificing itself for the tank. The powered ones can show an indicator light letting you know it's powered up. Otherwise, you would need to remove the rod and see if it's deteriorating.

If you decide to change one. Be sure to have a good 1-1/16 socket, breaker bar, and ratchet. Or you can use an impact driver. You might need some help, too. Sometimes the tank can start to turn before the anode rod spins.

jesmed1

I highly recommend a 7 or 8 amp corded electric 1/2-inch drive impact wrench. You can get a cheap one on Amazon for $50. One of those will blast out an old rusted anode rod in about 10 seconds, versus fighting with a 4-foot cheater bar that ends up twisting your water heater despite your best efforts to restrain it.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, A torque multiplier is another way of getting the anode out. This tool gives up to 600 foot pounds. 🤠

Yours, Larry

pecmsg

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854035#Comment_1854035

your local health department can do tests on the water

hunter29

Right, also I removed it often enough so no problem there.

I will have to cut some plastic away from the air intake to fit a powered anode in..

kcopp

I have done the H2O2 thing and that can work. I have also done the 1/2 cup of bleach to the tank and that can work although some experts dont like this method.

I would try the simple things before going all crazy. Especially if this just showed up. Seasonal changes in water supply are a thing…

hunter29

Exactly, I just put 30oz of HP in and will let it sit over night.

It's been intermittent and it's a new problem more or less.

I'll see what happens..

Larry Weingarten

I can add that odor is a common problem with tanks that sit unused for a time. Vacation homes and churches have this problem a lot.
Yours, Larry

hunter29

Mine has been busy heating my basement and keeping me clean.. lol

Larry Weingarten

Hi, It's a generous heater you have, that heats the basement along with doing its job 😏

Yours, Larry

hunter29

Yes, it does pretty good too for being a 40/40. It was a bit of an adventure building my system but it all worked out well.

hunter29

well the smell is gone for now, we'll see if it last.

I decided to pull the anode for inspection. I have never seen this, had stuff on it , I was able to scrape it off.

Anyone ever seen this?

ethicalpaul

I have read about that. I can't remember exactly what they said except that "sometimes the rod gets coated with something".

Maybe it's just magnesium oxide that combines with something in the water or ??

mattmia2

Looks liek the rod is coated with probably a calcium salt and the pitts are full or AlOh or MgOH.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, That's a partly passivated rod. It was putting out very little current. The hard calcium coating suggests inactive areas. This is pretty common with anodes that have a resistor built into the head of the rod. Nor so much with conventional anodes. Can you let us know if the head of the rod has a weld bump in the center of it? If it does, there is no resistor.

Also, this suggests water with low mineral content. Do you have any info on your water?

One more question. Is there a heat exchanger between the domestic water and the heating water? If not, stagnant water from the heating side could be contributing to the odor problem.

Yours, Larry