# off-gassing anode rod



## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

is there any way to tell by looking at an anode rod if it's off-gassing? i pulled this out of a 20 month old heater and it looks like a 20 month old anode rod to me. there were some other things going on too that may have corrected the problem, plus i never witnessed the air on the lines so i can't say if what she was complaining about was actually happening. it seems that "air in the lines" is a very common complaint and is almost never the case.












paul


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## 422 plumber (Jul 31, 2008)

You could have a winner there. My neighbor had "air" in the water. If you ran water into a glass, it had bubbles, but then settled out. I changed anodes, installing a magnesium rod and that stopped it:yes:
check out waterheaterrescue.com


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## muck (Oct 10, 2008)

waterheaterrescue.com
great site. in favorites


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## smellslike$tome (Jun 16, 2008)

That looks like a warranty upgrade anode from Rheem. I've installed a few of them and to my knowledge have not had any problem with them.

Somebody explain "off gassing" to me? Why would an anode rod be associated with air in the lines?

I'm willing to show my ignorance if I can learn something useful.


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

that rod came out of an AO Smith 40 gallon, standard anode rod in a standard 6yr. heater. as i understand it, certain anode materials react with certain water conditions and release CO2 (?) bubbles. i'm more familiar with situations like jjbex mentioned when there's cloudy water due to bubbles. this customer complained of air pockets bursting out of fixtures, i guess like you would have after you've filled a new heater and were bleading the lines out. i never witnessed what she was talking about while i was at the house.




paul


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## Leakinator (Dec 2, 2008)

Use a zinc alloy rod to replace it :yes:


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## retired rooter (Dec 31, 2008)

I bought a case of anode rods from rheem in the mid 70,s for my own heater.I have changed it 2 times the first was just wire .2nd.looked like the one in picture above. Have never heard that crackling sound when glass liner is going out ,I am beginning to think if anodes were changed every 6 to 8 yrs and heater drained and flushed and clean burners ,heaters just might last forever.I know it depends on the water, in my area our water is good .I have never used a filter and (to me)it tastes same as bottle water right out of tap.Maybe I should have included anodes in water heater service yrs ago as an add on but supply houses were dead against it.Cut into new water heater sales!I never bought a heater from homey, installed a few customer supplied, we had a store here for a short while called homequarters that had cheepo heater that was made by rheem and the gas companies started giving away heaters same as power company giving away elect heaters, plumber just got the labor and the bootleggers crawled out of the woodwork I slowly got away from water heaters all together.I also have never heard of gassing either , I always thought minerals in water or water quality affected life of heater and anode (and I have accepeted my ignorance many times in the past always willing to learn) jmho


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Is there a water softener piped in?


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

I have never pulled anything BUT magnesium rods out of heaters. I think you mean zinc. Mag rods cause the problem to begin with.



jjbex said:


> You could have a winner there. My neighbor had "air" in the water. If you ran water into a glass, it had bubbles, but then settled out. I changed anodes, installing a magnesium rod and that stopped it:yes:
> check out waterheaterrescue.com


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