Community Forums

ccrider, · 05-08-2013, 08:14 PM

Found a anode that I had bought for old camper that has a drain so I can drain the hot water heater. The question is the hwh I have now does not require a anode so will it hurt if I put it on?

rexabbot · 05-08-2013, 08:32 PM

No it won't hurt

Skip426 · 05-08-2013, 09:33 PM

Shouldn't hurt, I have seen them used and working , in the no anode required HWHers.

Yukon Jack · 05-08-2013, 09:47 PM

It would be helpful to know what brand of hot water heater you currently have in your RV, as there are basically two brands, Suburban and Atwood.
The Suburban unit uses a porcelain coated steel tank that does in fact require an anode rod to serve as a sacrificial component to absorb the destructive corrosive action of water in the reservoir. This anode rod also serves as the drain plug for the reservoir.
The Atwood uses an Aluminum clad tank that does not require an anode rod.
I have the Suburban hwh in my RV and remove the anode rod and clean it every time I drain the hwh, which is after every outing if the RV will be sitting in storage for more than a couple of weeks.

Hope this helps and happy RV'g

Jack

RV Wizard · 05-09-2013, 02:49 AM

Do not install and anode rod, metal plugs or drain pitcocks into an aluminum tank. The dis-similar metals will cause problems. Only use the nylon drain plug in an Atwood water heater.

ccrider, · 05-09-2013, 05:59 AM

Had not thought about the deference in metal. The one I used is brass and I used teflon tape.

AFChap · 05-09-2013, 08:46 AM

Doesn't matter what you use, an anode will do more damage than good in an Atwood wh.

MSHappyCampers · 05-10-2013, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV Wizard

Do not install and anode rod, metal plugs or drain pitcocks into an aluminum tank. The dis-similar metals will cause problems. Only use the nylon drain plug in an Atwood water heater.

Good advice Mike! Thanks!

Gary RVRoamer · 05-10-2013, 11:12 AM

And I can't think of any good reason to use an anode where it won't help anyway. If something can't help and might conceivably hurt, even if only in a weird condition, why use it at all? Keep everything as simple as possible and don't fix things that aren't broken.

ccrider, · 05-12-2013, 09:08 PM

Thanks for all the replies I think that I will stay with nylon plug. It was just a quick way to drain tank and thought that it help the whole system against corrosion.