Anode Rod Problem

I just tried to remove the anode rod from the water heater on my 1998 3023. As you can see from the photos (sorry for the poor quality), the rod broke off right at the end of the threads. I can see the stub of the wire which is surrounded by some kind of whitish powdery stuff. The problem is: How do I get the remainder of the anode rod out? (By the way, this is only propane fired, there is no electrical element)
Thanks for any help.

Fill the WH with water thru the anode hole with a garden hose and let it blast out everything.
Try the long flexable tools with claw or magnet on the end.
Also a vacuum with a smaller tube to fit the hole might grab it and pull it out (or closer to the hole).

More ideas:
Anode Broke Off Inside Water Heater http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=11485

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If you do that make sure everything is out of the line of fire and wear safety glasses. It will come out of there like a missile...

[Brutus]

Here's a shot in the dark. Assuming the remnants are in there like a stuck pig, a fair assumption since the metal sheared before it would turn, I'd drill out the center first. You should be able to reach in later and pull out the rod. Alternately, I suppose one could Dremel out pieces of old rod until you could extract the rest of it without it falling in. Then spray the outer threads with penetrating oil and use a screw-out or some other reverse-thread tool to remove the outer threaded part (by using the inside of the threaded part to get grip). Then flush out all the debris. Just a thought FWIW...

I contacted the manufacturer after having gotten the response: "Oh, Man! that's a real problem" from three RV dealer's service departments. Suburban's
tech services assured me that he had had this happen several times and his suggestion was:
1. carefully chip away enough of the stuff to get a grip on the central wire with a pair of lock grip needle nosed pliers.
2. remove the pressure relief valve and using a funnel having a long, flexible spout pour in enough vinegar to come up to the level of the anode rod. Let this sit in there for a day or two to dissolve the calcium after which the rod remnants should be easily pulled out.
3. flush the heater repeatedly to remove any residual vinegar and or calcium.

[Bill]

I'm not entirely sure that I understand what I am seeing in the photos, but let me take a stab at this also.

It is apparently not the rod itself that broke off. Rather, the hex head that you use to screw it and unscrew it broke off from the rest of the assembly, including the rod and the threaded sleeve part on the outside of the assembly.

The anode-rode hole appears to be entirely filled with something white, so there is no such thing as putting in a garden hose to flush anything out.

If these thoughts are correct, then I am going down the same line as Brutus. I would either drill out or punch out the central steel wire, which is the black dot at the center of each photo. Then punch out the white stuff. I'm not sure whether the white stuff is accumulated crud from the hard water, or a ceramic slug that is part of the original assembly. Either way, it should break up into small pieces and powder when you use a hammer and punch on it. Most of it, of course, will go inside the tank, and you will have to clean it out later. Punch out as much as you can - you would like to expose the inner surface of the metal sleeve. By the way, if you don't have a punch, a big nail might do the job.

The next step is to get the sleeve out. I'd be real careful about using penetrating oil or any oil lubricant. A bit of it will inevitably get into the tank. Even traces of it taste terrible, and it is real hard to get every trace out of the tank.

Instead, I would again use a punch, this time on the outside of metal sleeve, to fold the edge of the sleeve away from the threaded metal body of the tank, and toward the center of the now-open hole. The third pic suggests that the edge of the sleeve sticks out of the hole a bit, so you can do this.

You don't have to fold very much of the sleeve into the center before you can get pliers on it, twist it, and break the rest of it free.

Good luck. Now you have to clean out the central wire that fell into the tank when you started the process. It is steel so a magnet might be a good approach. You also need to clean out all the bits of white stuff, and the blast-with-a-garden-hose approach may help here. At one point, someone also suggested a wet-dry shop vac to suck it all out.

Bill

Now that the temperature has gotten below 90, I was able to take the time to attempt getting some better pictures (attached).

>>>>It is apparently not the rod itself that broke off. Rather, the hex head that you use to screw it and unscrew it broke off from the rest of the assembly, including the rod and the threaded sleeve part on the outside of the assembly.<<<

That is correct, but I don't quite understand the reference to the threaded sleeve -- I went to an RV dealer and looked at intact anode rods and it also is
my understanding that these things are made by attaching a steel wire to the hex head and (somehow) "depositing" magnesium onto the wire. From what I gather from your description, this is not correct but rather some type of sleeve is threaded on. I imagine you are saying that this "sleeve" is threaded INTO the hex head shown, is that correct?

How about using an easy out? If it does not back it out, then it will likely cause it to crumble. Crumbling from using an easy out might be a better choice than rumbling with a punch.

Originally Posted by PopBeavers

How about using an easy out? If it does not back it out, then it will likely cause it to crumble. Crumbling from using an easy out might be a better choice than rumbling with a punch.

That's what I thought about using: drilling a hole and inserting an easy out, but the Suburban factory Technician was not in favor of that approach. He was of the opinion that all that stuff shown was just calcium built up. I don't know, because I think I can see some greyish material underneath the white material and I assume that greyish material is magnesium. So the upshot is that I don't know how much, if any, of the anode rod is left. Considering some of the other things I have found, the previous owners may very well have never replaced the anode rod. I was thinking of the option of removing the pressure relief valve and trying to use a mechanic's inspection mirror to look inside to see.
Incidentally, that brings up another question. I have seen a number of references to there being a lot of pressure in the heater, what is the release pressure of the pressure relief valve? Would not these valves also get clogged with calcium/corrosion and thus be rendered inoperative? How does one remove the pressure relief valve? There doesn't seem to be any clearance to get a socket or other wrench on it.

[commodor47]

A closer look at the hex head part indicates you have removed that entire section . . . and just the center rod either broke off during your removal . . . or it disintegrated long ago. The thumbnail showing the white material is somewhat misleading - in that it appears part of the hex head section has remained in the threaded opening. Actually, what you are seeing is the start of the opening threads. The suggestions from the factory technician should dissolve the white material enough to clear the opening. The calcium deposit (my assumption) is pretty hard material and can be difficult to punch through. I might be inclined to try a drill bit, if the vinegar attempt doesn't help. The thumbnail showing the hex head part has the same number of threads as the anode from my unit - see if any of these photos help . . . http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...php?albumid=39

Dick