Water Heater Anode?

[rexmitchell]

Pulled the water heater drain plug on our new to us this fall camper. We have an Attwood water heater and to my surprise out came an anode on the drain plug. It has some rust on it and looks like it is in bad shape (calcified) so I was considering replacing it. Looking online everything I see says Attwood's don't need an anode? Should I replace with a regular plastic plug?

[MFL]

Lol, great shirt Jerry! Hope you have one for display, right behind the counter.

BTW: One of my favorite sayings "If I was ever wrong, I'd be the first one to admit it".

Jerry

[jplante4]

We sell them at the store. Engineers buy them because they're smarter than some random guy in an RV parts store. We take their money and smile. I stopped arguing with them. It's a waste of breath. Samo-samo when someone asks for nitrogen in their tires.

[rexmitchell]

Thanks Biscuit/Mob, that is what I gathered online. Going to replace with a standard plug.

[mobeewan]

Per the Atwood manual:

ATWOOD CLAD TANK
The Atwood water heater tank is constructed of a core of high strength aluminum. The interior of the tank consists of a 15% thickness of type 7072 aluminum (pure aluminum and zinc) that is fused to the core during the rolling process.
This material protects the tank from the affects of heavy metals and salts found in waters throughout the country. It is anodic to these heavy metals and acts much like an anode in a steel glass lined tank except it will last much longer.
There is also no need to replace an anode on a yearly basis.
Flushing the tank on a regular basis has been found to be helpful in insuring the best performance of your water hater and adding to the useful life of the tank. For flushing instructions see your owners manual or contact Atwood for a copy of our recommended procedures.

[Old-Biscuit]

Atwood uses an ALUMINUM tank that has a zinc cladding.
NO Anode Rod

Atwood does NOT recommend one, Atwood does NOT have a part number for one, Atwood does NOT use one....period.


Aftermarket can provide one even though it is NOT an Atwood part......you can sell folks just about anything whether it useful, an improvement OR even could be damaging
Just slap 'FOR RV' on it and SOLD.


Atwood uses a NYLON plug for several resaons
NYLON will NOT damage the Aluminum Threads in drain hole
NYLON is Pressure/Temperature Rated for use in their Water Heater
NYLON can act as a 'freeze plug' should water be left in WH Tank in winter temps.

Buy the OEM NYLON drain plug...come TWO to a pack
One to use and one as a spare for when you bugger up the threads on first one.

[wrgrs50s]

The guy in this video does not know what he is talking about. Atwood does not recommend an anode rod if you double check with the manufacturer. They recommend a plastic plug instead of a steel or brass plug as the aluminum is not compatible with them. You only use an anode rod in a Suburban water heater with a steel tank that is glass lined.

[rexmitchell]

Edd505 wrote:
Might want to watch this Atwood anode rod:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YohecTpKKCw

Mine looks way worse than that. So they do need one? Is there an OEM replacement?

[Edd505]

Might want to watch this Atwood anode rod:
clicky

[Ava]

My older Attwood heater does not have an anode rod because of the material it is made of, but not sure about newer ones