Anode Broke Off Inside Water Heater

Steppy · 04-04-2011, 11:30 AM

In the process of inspecting the water heater on the 2004 2720Sl TM I bought last Dec, I pulled the anode and it was pretty far gone and the heater was full of sand up to the anode opening. Not having a wand to clean the inside, I read a posting on here about putting the anode back in and pressurizing the tank with some water, then pulling the anode to flush the heater. It worked great, water shot 15 feet out and I had to to it 2 more times to make sure all the gunk flushed out. The last time I pulled the anode, the steel core broke off and fell into the tank. I've tried fishing for it with a bent coat hanger and can't seem to find it. Is there any harm to just leaving it in the tank and putting in the new anode?

**ShrimpBurrito** · 04-04-2011, 12:53 PM

First, the anode rod -- the part as I understand it that fell in the tank -- is either aluminum or magnesium. The anode rod is mounted at the bottom of the tank, so if it fell inside the tank, it should be directly beneath the hole.

Second, I would not leave it in there. It will continue to act as an anode and break apart, and that's fine. But what is not fine is that it will bounce all over the place in the tank, and that's a problem, especially when the tank is empty. The inside of the tank is lined with a ceramic material glazed over steel. The ceramic material slowly breaks off through normal use, so a rod bouncing around will quickly accelerate that process, and then your tank will quickly start rusting after that. Rust leads to pinhole leaks and rusty water, both of which require a replacement to solve.

Sorry to say, you've got to go fishing.

One of these should do the trick:
http://www.harborfreight.com/24-inch...ool-94162.html

Dave

04-04-2011, 01:17 PM

I would not want to leave it in either. As it falls apart it may clog something downstream of the drain and cause you a lot of problems.

You cold purge the tank and it might wash out. Be careful about opening the anode hole while the tank is under pressure. Things will fly out of the tank like a missle...

scrubjaysnest · 04-04-2011, 02:06 PM

you might try removing the heater if you can't fish what is left out. With the heater out of the TM you might be able to get the pieces to the hole where you can than get a hold of them. Its more work and could cause more broken fittings.

ELM-JLM · 04-04-2011, 03:39 PM

I beleive if you remove the element also you will have a larger access hole and more light on the subject! Its behind a black oblong cover, held by three screws. Lowe's sells a 1 1/2" heating element wrench that will work well! The Propane fittings are easily loosened and swiveled or removed from your way! Might as well put a new element in while you are at it.

Keith Wire · 04-04-2011, 04:04 PM

I agree with Earl. Take out the heating element and see if you can't get at it through that hole. You might also be able to use a crevice tool on a shop vac and get at the last bit of sediment.

I can't say for sure about the anodes in the TM water heater, but all the ones in a normal heater are made with a steel wire in them and then and then the aluminum (or magnesium) is deposited around the wire. I have seen some that all is left is the wire in the middle with clumps of aluminum above and below.

So, you might be able to use a magnet to retract it.

Keith

ELM-JLM · 04-04-2011, 04:24 PM

Flushing was simple by putting the hose nozzle in the smaller hole and pressure flushing out the larger hole!!

Steppy · 04-04-2011, 05:11 PM

Thanks for all your help. Once I pulled the element, I thought of the same thing. I got a light and looked inside. The bottom of the water heater is kinda V shaped with the lowest point being where the anode goes. No sign of the broken off anode! I searched the ground where the water gushed out of the anode opening 15 feet out when I flushed it and still no sign of it. Baffles me. But if it was still in the water tank, it would have to have been on the bottom and I would have seen it.

When I pulled the anode, I noticed that it was only screwed into the opening about a quarter of an inch. I cleaned the threads of crud build up the best I could, and still neither the old anode threads or the new one would go in more than 1/4 inch. Tomorrow I'll try to find a tap big enough to tap out the threads for the anode. Have any of you experienced this?

For yucks, I hooked up the new element to my multimeter setting the ohm scale to X1 and the needle swung to the far right readin 0 ohms. Do I have a bad new element?

Barb&Tim · 04-04-2011, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steppy

For yucks, I hooked up the new element to my multimeter setting the ohm scale to X1 and the needle swung to the far right readin 0 ohms. Do I have a bad new element?

Highly unlikely. I suspect this is the normal reading for the heating element -- it just indicates that it is not an open element (high/open resistance reading) which is what happens when they quit heating.

Tim

Steppy · 04-04-2011, 06:19 PM

Thanks Tim. As you can see, I'm no EE.