Reliance 9001829005 32-Inch Magnesium Water Heater Anode Rod

Worked great, no fuss, no muss. You should measure the height of your tank and the height of clearance above to get the right size. I kind of didn't do that and so the rod that came out was about 8 inches longer than the rod I replaced it with. Whatever, a new rod went in and the old rod was shot so we're all good. The ad says replace every year. I had read elsewhere every three years. I replaced (in northern VA on city water) at three years, and I was surprised to see that the rod was pretty much gone. Maybe two years might be right. There is a big debate about using a long breaker bar vs. a torque wrench. I tried the long breaker bar and it just wasn't happening. Those things are put on TIGHT! With my electric impact gun from Kobalt the old rod popped right out. Some folks seem to think that using the impact gun makes it more likely for the old rod to snap off, others seem to think that using the breaker bar makes it more likely. For me it came down to the fact that I simply could not budge it with the breaker bar, and with the impact gun it was a breeze. This is really a very simple project and a $30 anode rod can get you years and years more out of your water heater. That's a great deal. The steps I used: 1. Turn off electricity. Flip the breaker to the water heater at the electrical panel. It's marked. Use a non-contact voltage tester on the water heater to make sure it's off. 2. Dig out foam insulation around old anode rod and suck out the loose bits with a vacuum cleaner. No sense in having them fall down into the tank. 3. Drain off a few gallons with the water supply open to flush the bottom of the tank, then turn off the water supply and let a few more gallons drain out. I also opened a couple taps around the house to make sure all pressure was relieved. 4. Using a 1 1/16 impact socket and a corded impact gun get out the old socket (so easy with the impact gun!). 5. Put old rod in the recycling and be disgusted as how gross and corroded it was. My Lord, was that in my drinking water?!? 6. Wrap teflon tape around top threads of new rod, going around four times. 7. Put new rod in and snug it down pretty right using a regular old socket wrench. I put it in about about 50 foot pounds of torque. Couldn't find any suggestion for how tight to put it in online. It hasn't blown out yet and no leaks. 8. Open water supply and go around open all hot water taps around house for about 30 seconds each. I was disgusted by the gray burst of water that comes out at the start. I'm told that's perfectly normal. Letting the hot water taps run for a bit purges air from the system and protects you from blowing out an element if there's air in the water heater. 9. Tell wife I'm a home repair stud, go the basement to play video games. 10. Four hours later wife says there is no how water for her shower, she's irate, I tell her she's crazy, she says I'm an idiot, I remember that I never turned the electricity to the water heater back on. Go do that.

Fit my water heater perfectly and was half the cost from the big box stores. Don’t overpay for something like this.

Perfect fit for our 17 year old Lowe's Whirlpool 30 gal. electric water heater. The diameter of this anode rod is thicker/larger than some others I've researched, which is great because it will last a little longer. The old rod in my water heater was totaled...calcified, and eaten away. Taking the old anode rod off was easy with an impact gun and 1 1/16" socket, which is standard for all anode rods. It is NOT necessary to use the impact gun to tighten the new rod. I used a socket wrench and tightened it by hand, be sure it's tight! If you think you can flush out the accumulated cr_p at the bottom of the tank by removing the top or bottom covers, you can't. Just wanted to save you some time if you were thinking of doing this. The only way to flush it out completely, is via the drain plug at the bottom of the tank. Our heater had a lot of what looked like chunks of calcium...big chunks...at the bottom, because I had never changed the anode rod. Luckily, blasts of water from the hose were able to break the chunks up and our heater is now beautifully clean. The best way is to completely drain the tank, and unhook it so you can take it outside. The reason for this is so that you can move the tank around (to swirl the accumulated debris towards the drain). When you're done with this, it's a good idea to also replace the nipples, the T&P valve, and the heating elements (purchase heating elements with the same voltage and wattage). You can find all the supplies you need for this particular water heater on Amazon. I don't believe in buying a new water heater or anything for that matter, if the current one is working fine. They don't make things to last anymore, but this particular water heater is glass lined, and I guess that's why it continues to work, and work well. Regular maintenance is the key. Good luck.

Just sharing some research that I did when selecting this product. First off, if you have water that has a PH of 7.6 or above then you will want his type of anode rod in your water heater. Evidently in circa 2007 when our water heaters were put in, aluminum anodes were the norm. The first symptom we noticed was blue-green crusty formations around our faucets. The second symptom was after installing a hot-water recirculation system on our kitchen island sink, our water starting showing a white swirly substance when we'd use the tap (hot/cold water supply gets combined when using these systems). The third symptom was that our water filter cartridge in our refrigerator would only last about a week. All of these symptoms pointed to sediment coming from the hot water heater. After using the drain valve on our water heater to see if it had sediment, a significant amount of green-grey jelly marbles came out of the water heater. It turns out that this substance is Aluminum Hydroxide that is formed from acidic water breaking down aluminum. Not good for longevity of water heater and somewhat controversial from a scientific perspective as to its impact on your health. Regardless, all the websites that I researched indicated that you should use magnesium anodes and not aluminum anodes for the situation that I had. Aluminum is typically only used when magnesium rods cause a sulfur, rotten-egg smell when you use hot water. I bought these rods and they worked perfectly. I then spent several hours doing full tank purges and at long last now have very clean water. Here was my install process: 1. Turn off breaker to electric water heater or switch gas water heater to pilot mode. Close cold water line to water heater. Open all hot water faucets to purge pressure. 2. Drain a couple of gallons of water out of the tank using the valve at the bottom. You'll need the weight for the next step. 3. If you don't have one, buy a 3/4" drive 1 1/16" impact socket. This will provide flexibility if you have to do #5. 4. Using a 3/4" drive socket wrench and a length of steel pipe (or pipe wrench) extend the handle so you have maximum leverage to loosen the old anode at the top of your hot water heater. Be careful to support your hot water heater. Sometimes they are rusted and won't break so you have to do #5 5. Buy or rent a 3/4" drive air or electric impact wrench. It should loosen the old anode pretty easily. Only loosen it as you don't want to twist off the bolt and leave the old rod in the tank. 6. Pull out the old rod. If you don't have a lot of head-room you can bend it pretty easily as it comes out. 7. Install the new rod. I had to bend the tip due to head-clearance. If you do this you have to bend it back using the top of the rod opening as you place it otherwise the rod gets in the way as the bolt is tightened and catches on the burner/element. They make segmented rods that make situations like this trivial but they are much more expensive. TIP: I had gas water heaters and on one of mine had to remove the vent stack shroud and could then extend the rod up through the vent and then down the water heater.

The 3/4" NPT threading is to spec. Cleaned internal threads in water heater with wire brush, followed by toothbrush. 4 wraps of Hercules 1/2" tape and no leaks. 1-1/16" hex head. Measures 32-1/16" long below the threads, which is good. You can always cut the end off if it is too long to clear the ceiling. This is my second Reliance 9001829005. The first one I installed in 2013, checked it periodically and it only lost 10% material in 6 years. That is mostly since I have very, very hard well water which results in the anode lasting much longer than with a typical city water supply. I always replace the anode at 6 years regardless. So far no tank corrosion on year 2004 Rheem 50 gal with dual simultaneously active 5500w elements. Unlike others, I did not try burning it or vinegar testing it to see if it is magnesium even though it looks like aluminum. Others here in the reviews have tested it with vinegar and found it to be magnesium so I took their word for it. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

I was surprised to learn recently, that anodes are designed as inexpensive sacrificial substitutes for expensive water heaters. We have very hard water and in 13 years have replaced 4 water heaters (we have one at each end of the house). When researching new water heater replacements and technologies, I came across a DIY article about anodes. I asked a local plumber about it and he confirmed that an anode's sole purpose is to significantly extend the life of a water heater but of course, he didn't carry any in stock. Removed the anode from my 4 year old heater and it looked like cancer or something had almost completely eaten it away. Took it to Home Depot and Lowes but nobody there seemed to know what I was talking about. Decided to search the internet and the first listing was this on Amazon. Did some more checking but eventually just came back and got this thru Amazon. It was an easy 2 minute replacement. I am happy. Only gave it a 4 star because only time will tell if it really saves me from replacing my expensive water heaters every 6 years. I plan to check it once a year when I flush my water heater (something else I was not doing) so I expect in 3 or 4 years I can upgrade the rating to five stars! What really kills me is that all the experts seem to know about this and confirm its benefits but they make no real effort to educate the public, keeping this money saver hidden like some industry secret. Why don't the big box stores offer it along side their water heaters??? (Oh, that's right, there is a lot more profit in a $400-500 water heater than a $30 or $40 anode!)

* I turned off the water to the house and drained some water out of the water heater. * When I did this year’s ago I used a breaker bar, a cheater pipe, and a helper to keep the water heater from spinning. This time I used an impact wrench and it worked easily and instantly and I didn’t need a helper. An impact wrench is the only way to go. * After I removed the old anode I cleaned up the threads on the water heater by doing a little bit of scraping and also by screwing the top of the old anode in and out to clean up the threads. * I used pipe joint compound rather than Teflon tape. I think that made it a lot easier as well. * I tightened up the new anode and waited 10 or 15 minutes for the pipe joint compound to rest as the pipe joint compound instructions explained. * I turned the water back on. * I have a 3 foot hose connected to the drain and I flushed out the bottom of the water heater into a 5 gallon white bucket. Mine was very clean but it is important to do. * I carefully flushed the air from the pipes around my house. * Be careful that the length of the rod isn't too long. Don't let it bang against the bottom of the tank. You can hacksaw off any extra length. I've never had to cut off any. * Done for another four years.

Hard to say how well this 32" Magnesium anode rod performed. But what I can say is, the photos show what the anode rod looked like after exactly 13 months of being in our water heater. Unfortunately 13 months after installing the rod, we were in a prime position to have a new water heater installed for a descent price, so I removed this rod and photographed it before they brought the old tank to the scrap pile. We are on city water. And the interior of the tank was in fairly good shape when the rod was installed. A bore camera inspection revealed only a couple of places where there was visible rust when the rod was installed. But there was a lot of white scum at the bottom of the tank. Not sure if these factors play a role in the life (or degradation) of the rod. But to me this is evidence that the rod should be replaced as needed to prolong the life of the inner wall of the tank.