Part of a truck campers’ preventative maintenance program should be to check regularly and replace, as need, 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 tank for $393.49
majority of Hot water comes in two favors
For truck campers, there are two primary manufactures of hot water heater. Atwood with aluminum alloy tanks and Suburban with their steel tanks.
A sacrificial rod of either magnesium or aluminum or a combination of both are suspended in the Suburban water tanks.
The purpose of these rods are too slowly corrode away protecting the tank from rusting and being corroded. Anode rods need to be inspected regularly and replaced as needed.
At the very least, when you winterize your RV would be a good time to inspect and replace the anode rod.
Review http://www.suburbanwaterheater.net/ for the sacrificial anode rod for you Suburban model.
Two possible of sacrificial anode for Suburban are available from Amazon:
- Suburban 232768 Aluminum Anode Rod for $13.98
- Suburban 232767 Water Heater Anode Rod at Amazon at $18.20
Additional safety information and a video on replacing the sacrificial rod, flushing of the heater as well as additional maintenance tips can be found at http://www.loveyourrv.com/yearly-rv-hot-water-heater-maintenance/