Anode rod

Greetings...

x2 on longer wrench and be very careful.  When you're through use some teflon tape when you put it back on.  As to your question of winterization.  I drained the cold and hot system using the low point drains and was surprised that probably about one gallon remained in the water heater.  We have a larger travel trailer and have done the same with it.  I'm sure some water remained in the tank.  No problems over the last two winters; however I did run a space heater in the trailer to keep the the interior from reaching freezing and left the cabinet doors open to the water heater's location.  Another thing I did was to put fiberglass insulation inside the water heater's door.

Oh, and while I'm here displaying my ignorance let me ask another question:

Originally posted by 1tulip Good ideas.  I can take my 1 1/6th wrench to the store and see if I can't match the handle to some extender.   However, (tell me if this is the case with all pods) it is not altogether the fact that it is stuck.  Because of the layout of the space, there is a brass tube/pipe in an awkward place almost on top of the anode thinger.  It is very hard to keep the wrench seated firmly on the anode when putting force on it. Frustrating.  Do others have this issue?

When I use the torque wrench, I also use a socket extension so that the handle can be moved perpendicularly to the axis of the anode rod. If you use a regular socket wrench with a cheater bar, you could to the same thing; most socket wrench sets come with extenders.

Mine was a little hard to get out the first time. Make sure you are using a 6 point socket. Once I got it out I used a 3/4-14 pipe tap to clean the treads and remove the corrosion inside the fitting that is welded to the water heater. When I reinstalled the anode I use pipe dope and Teflon tape. The tape was to seal so it wouldn't leak and the pipe dope acts as an anti-size. When I remove it every 2 years it come right out