The Sacrificial Anode Rod
Part of a truck camper’s preventive maintenance program should include regularly checking and replacing, as needed, the sacrificial rod in the Suburban hot water tank.
Above -A 1-year-old sacrificial anode rod next to a new $20 rod.
Below – A replacement 10-gallon Suburban Advantage RV Tank Water Heater SW10D-10 is $549 to $641.
Water Heaters come in two flavors.
There are two primary manufacturers of water heaters for truck campers—Atwood with aluminum alloy tanks and Suburban with their steel tanks.
The Suburban water tanks have either a magnesium or an aluminum sacrificial rod suspended in their tanks.
The purpose of these rods is to erode slowly, protecting the tank from rust and corrosion. Therefore, anode rods need to be inspected regularly and replaced as needed.
At the very least, winterizing your RV would be an excellent time to inspect and replace the anode rod.
Review http://www.suburbanwaterheater.net/ for the sacrificial anode rod for your Suburban model.
Two possible sacrificial anode rods for Suburban are available from Amazon:
- Suburban 232768 Water HeaterAluminum Anode Rod for $27.98
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- Suburban 232767 Water Heater Anode Rod at Amazon for $16.97.
You can find additional safety information and a video on replacing the sacrificial rod, flushing of the heater, as well as other maintenance tips at:
http://www.loveyourrv.com/yearly-rv-hot-water-heater-maintenance/
Any suggestions, comments – good or bad – don’t hesitate to contact us at
webmaster@northeast-truckcampers.org. Thank you.