My water heater anode rod was completely gone after 5 years

I was having some rumbling noises from my hot water heater and figured it was just sediment. Did a little digging online and found a forum post talking about sacrificial anode rods. I had no idea these things existed. So I went and bought a socket and a breaker bar and pulled mine out after 5 years of living in this house. The rod was basically just a wire, the magnesium was completely eaten away. That's why the tank was starting to rust inside. Apparently in Albuquerque's hard water these things wear down faster than in other places. I replaced it for about 30 bucks and the noise stopped. Has anyone else checked theirs recently or am I the only one who never knew about this part?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulb9822d ago

My buddy Mike in Phoenix had the same thing happen to his water heater. He only found out about the anode rod after his tank sprung a leak at 7 years old and flooded his garage. When he cut the old one out it was just a wire stub, completely gone like yours. He was pissed because a $30 part could have saved him a whole new water heater. Now he checks his once a year.

ray_king22d ago

Is checking it once a year really a good use of your time though? I mean, the anode rod in my house lasted almost 10 years in our soft municipal water, and it still had some metal left when I finally swapped it. Unless you know for sure you have hard water like in Albuquerque, you are probably going to be fine just checking it every 3-5 years and saving yourself the hassle.