Electric Anode rods

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

@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.

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

Yours, Larry

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 ??

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