Question on hot water tank anode rod replacement

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thor447

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My hot water tank is 10 years old and I've neglected the anode rod up to this point. It's well overdue for replacement. One quick question for you seasoned pros out there.

My hot water tank sits on a stand, and has maybe only 24 inches clearance between it and the ceiling. Not nearly enough room to remove the factory 1 piece rod. Is there a plumbers trick to doing this, without removing the tank entirely? Can I cut it in pieces as I remove it? Any suggestions?

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Plumber guy

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If the anode is indeed bad it should either bend and break as you pull it or be gone entirely, but as far as the new one goes no way to bend that or it will flake off and not be of use
 

thor447

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Thanks. I was planning on installing one of the rods that are sectioned and will bend while being installed. I appreciate the info.
 

thor447

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Good luck removing the old one! Mine wouldn’t budge even using an 1/2 impact gun. Ended up just replacing the water heater; some days its just not in the cards.
I just learned the same lesson. First cheap ratchet broke. Then I got a good 1/2 ratchet with a lead pipe for leverage and couldn’t budge it. Then I went to my 1/2” impact and that wouldn’t move it either.

I went head and just drained the tank fully and I’m going to call it done for now. The tank is going to have to come out if I have any prayer of removing that anode. I guess I could just let it run until it quits on me. It’s at 10 years right now. Maybe if I can get it to run for two more I’ll end up just swapping it out. Right now it seems unnecessary to spend several hundred dollars replacing it if it’s still working. I was just wanting to get some maintenance done on it.
 

PanhandleGlocker

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Funny that this thread came up today… I had a scare last night that my water heater quit working. Pushed reset button last night and Thankfully i have hot water today so not sure what that is all about… but anyways… I got to researching and found out that most water heaters only last 10-12 years. I probably wouldn’t go through the trouble of replacing the anode since you’ll probably be replacing the whole water heater anyways. Mine was made in 2007 so I expect I will be replacing it soon. Especially since i lost hot water last night and I shouldn’t have.
 

beardking

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Here's my take on it. Do you have the money to replace it right now while it's not an emergency? Will you have the money squirreled away when you wake up with water all over your laundry room and garage floors. I recently had to plunk down $1000 to replace my water heater unexpectedly and that was with my friend from school giving me the friends and family discount. If you have the money now and your tank is 10+ years old, I'd suggest biting the bullet and do it while you can plan for it.
 

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