Quote:
Originally Posted by Deb Mac
I have a small wire brush but it might not be enough to remove that caked on “whatever” from those threads. Certain that I can find a knife to convert to “mung” removal. I also have a couple of dental scalers that are no use for dentistry anymore, but make nice little fine picking tools!
My preference would be teflon tape too. Rectorseal or loctite could make it harder to remove and leave bits behind.
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Thanks for the new reply. The last 1/2" or so of an everyday steak knife is typically not serrated. Most cheap ones can be bent into a curve shape near the end, so that the ending point can be angled into the threads. (A lot of good ones will crack, rather than bend -- use a low quality "dollar store" steak knife for this job.) The angle doesn't need to be sharp, there's room (along the diameter of the socket, where you later insert the new anode rod assembly) to make a smooth curve into the pointed end.
The resulting angle won't be perfect. You'll first want to work at the 'flat' of the furthest thread with gunk, and then switch to a slightly different angle for the 'flat leading into the next peak.
Dental pick tools can also do a good job. A wire brush, in contrast, will tend to damage the peaks of the threads, with less accuracy in scraping the angled sides. The bottom probably won't be as clean, either.
Definltely avoid loctite here, because loctite is not made for sealing against water leakage with later removal. Teflon tape is safe for water (even drinking water) and avoids issues with future removal.