Exterior Did the anode today

twscoot

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Jun 9, 2013
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18 months old! Almost lost the steel rod too. Long nose pliers and a steady hand.... It had separated from the head!

All good now.

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BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Bargo NSW
Did mine today. So much white crap in the tank. Was looking for some ideas on how to flush it out best, then noticed threads talking about water leaking back into the van.
It did leak but luckily into the carboard where I store crappy towels, so they have soaked it up.
Will have to silicon around the unit to prevent in the future.
 

Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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Other than water quality I think it depends on how often it gets used, ours is 18mths old and has lost about 30% it has been used heaps over that time maybe as much as 12 mths of it on the road.
If not using it for a few months or storage I would drain the tank anyway.
I've sealed up my HWS as well as the dunny cavity, both used to leak. (no pun intended)
 
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Bushman

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Nov 9, 2010
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Did mine today. So much white crap in the tank. Was looking for some ideas on how to flush it out best, then noticed threads talking about water leaking back into the van.
It did leak but luckily into the carboard where I store crappy towels, so they have soaked it up.
Will have to silicon around the unit to prevent in the future.


I use a short bit of hose that I use to fill the tanks, just place it in the hole turn on the hose gently have to take it out to let in drain, may take a few goes, can also connect to mains while anode is out, also helps if you can tilt the van a bit.
 

Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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I would have thought just pull out the anode, hose it down to clean the crap off, fit it back in and then plug into the mains turn it on and open a hot water tap, it will flush..............of course the HWS is turned off.................................leaving the tank full of water for weeks/months on end doesn't help.
 

BigSkiddy

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May 7, 2013
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Bargo NSW
I spent ages with the hose in there, still feel grit on the bottom when I poke my finger in.

I filled it back with water. I'm no scientist but if there is air in there I figure it could make the remaining water in the bottom of tank (which you can't get out) go muckey.
 

Smergen

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Jun 8, 2014
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Bacchus Marsh
This is ours when I replaced it a few weeks back. We bought the van second hand when it was 18months old. I doubt it would have been changed in this time. I will definitely be changing it every 12 months.

http://www.expandasdownunder.com/attachments/img_1038-jpg.24145/

OK.... so it wasn't 12 months, a little over... but a job that needs to be done semi-regularly nevertheless. Change the anode over whilst holidaying up the river. Not as bad as I thought. And yes, got covered in white crap again... Sheesh...

IMG_3137.JPG
 

Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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I've checked mine a few times since replacing it in Jan 14, it is down to about 75% left so wearing nicely, I think this is because it has been used pretty regularly and hasn't sat still with water in it for more than a month in the last 2 years and it has had rainwater from our home tanks to Winton water thru it so amount of use seems to determine how long the anode lasts.. They do recommend draining tank for long storage.
Been carrying the spare around for ages now.....
 

Axl

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Dec 23, 2014
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Always good to bring an old thread like this one up every now and then as a reminder, did mine the other day. Probably could have got another 6 months or more but for 30 bucks I changed it and gave the system a good clean out at the same time.

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