I have never heard of this before. Thanks for mentioning it.
Comment on Element in water heater died; less than two months old.
cogitase@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Have you checked your sacrificial anode? If it’s gone, this will keep happening.
lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
atlas@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The sacrificial anode is there to protect the steel tank. It lasts a long time. This is a hard water problem as everyone else is saying, and a water softener would solve the issue.
-plumber
Pzulu@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Steel tank, not copper?
atlas@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Steel tanks, that’s why the sacrificial anode is there so the water eats it away instead of the tank.
ikidd@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
In NA, steel is standard. I’ve never seen a copper hotwater tank in Canada. I think that used to be somewhat common in Europe, but copper is freakin’ expensive now so that’s gone by the wayside, as well.
Threeme2189@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Anodes for the anode gods!
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Rust for the Rust King!
blindbunny@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Was hoping someone remembered what that thing was called
janus2@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
that is a high fantasy wizard ass sounding name for a plumbing part
Thassodar@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
“Sire, the Sacrificial Anode…has failed.”
“SOUND THE ALARMS!”
seathru@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
Anodes protect against corrosion. They don’t do anything for hard water scale.
huginn@feddit.it 3 weeks ago
That’s not entirely true: sacrificial anodes attract and collect calcium and magnesium as well as preventing rust.
seathru@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
The prevention of rust does slow scale accumulation because rust is a rough porous surface that scale likes to stick to. But other than that (anodes also are rough porous surfaces) I’m not aware of any way they actively reduce it. Maybe the electronic ones, but that’s out of my wheelhouse.