Water Heater Maintenance

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Greg A
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Joined: 11/02/2013 - 20:45
Water Heater Maintenance

If you have a water heater you'll need to flush it regularly to remove the mineral buildups that will destroy the tank if left to accumulate. It is pretty easy to drain it regularly with a 1 1/16: 6point socket to remove the anode rod. If you notice a rotten egg smell when using hot water, your tank is definitely in need of flush and cleaning. Here is one flush/clean process that is pretty close to what most folks do: Flushing and Cleaning RV Water Heater

When you remove the anode rod the tank will empty and you may need to flush and clean it up a bit, plus the condition of your anode rod needs to be checked at that point.

I replaced mine with this magnesium rod.

Aqua Pro 69716 9'' Long Lead Free Packaged Magnesium Anode Rod with 3/4" Male Pipe Thread

Also noticed my electric element on the dual water heater was bad and replaced that as well:

Suburban 520789 1440W Screw In Electric Element

The above parts will vary by brand and model of your water heater.

 

JDHaggerty
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Joined: 11/02/2013 - 20:13
Anode rod not used in Scamp Atwood heaters

One good thing about our Scamps Atwood heaters is that we do not need to replace an anode rod like other campers do. This is from the Atwood manual. The manual can be found at this website; http://www.atwoodmobile.com/dealer-manuals/waterheatermanual.pdf

ATWOOD CLAD TANK
The Atwood water heater tank is constructed of a core of high strength aluminum. The interior of the tank consists of a
15% thickness of type 7072 aluminum (pure aluminum and zinc) that is fused to the core during the rolling process.
This material protects the tank from the affects of heavy metals and salts found in waters throughout the country. It is
anodic to these heavy metals and acts much like an anode in a steel glass lined tank except it will last much longer.
There is also no need to replace an anode on a yearly basis.
Flushing the tank on a regular basis has been found to be helpful in insuring the best performance of your water hater
and adding to the useful life of the tank. For flushing instructions see your owners manual or contact Atwood for a copy
of our recommended procedures.

John/Dave and Marilyn Haggerty

2005 Scamp 16 standard side dinette

04 Dodge Dakota Quad cab 4.7

17 Dodge Durango 3.6

19 Ford Ranger Supercrew Ecoboost