Atwood water heater - lost anode

[Jake_52]

My 2011 Baystar sport had a plastic plug with attached anode in the Atwood water heater. However, when winterizing this year and removing the plug no anode was attached. I assume its sitting in the bottom of my water heater tank. Is it necessary and possible to retrieve it or should I assume that it will slowly dissolve? I note that some claim Atwood water heaters don't require an anode? Suggestions?

[bigb56]

Originally Posted by Jake_52

My 2011 Baystar sport had a plastic plug with attached anode in the Atwood water heater. However, when winterizing this year and removing the plug no anode was attached. I assume its sitting in the bottom of my water heater tank. Is it necessary and possible to retrieve it or should I assume that it will slowly dissolve? I note that some claim Atwood water heaters don't require an anode? Suggestions?

Are you sure? A sacrificial anode can't be attached to a plastic plug, it won't work. It has to be in contact with the metal it is protecting. Is your Attwood aluminum or steel? I believe most Attwoods are aluminum with no anode.

[Capacitor]

There is no anode.

[Steve-W]

Atwood water heaters have an aluminum tank and do not use an anode. The plastic/nylon plug is simply a drain plug.

[creativepart]

Your Atwood water heater has an aluminum tank. There is no anode rod, hence the plastic drain plug.

There have been a few people that add an anode with a brass plug, but I think that's not very common, nor necessary.

Suburban Water Heaters generally do have an anode rod.

By the way, Atwood has been bought by Lippert (LCi) and many older Atwood water heaters are totally discontinued and not replaceable with an exact substitute.

[Jake_52]

Thanks for the info on the Atwood water heater. There definitely was an anode attached to this plastic plug which seems to have fallen off in the tank somewhere. Do I need to worry about that? I'm guessing the previous owner somehow had attached the anode to the plastic plug.

[creativepart]

If that's the case, then I'd want to remove the plug and look inside the tank with a strong light and see if one can be seen and removed.

I doubt it would hurt for it to be in there, but personally I'd want it removed.

[twinboat]

It might dissolve, that's what they do. Otherwise it will just sit in the bottom.