Water Heater Elements Corrosion

oliverpsmile · Post by **oliverpsmile** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 7:21 pm

Suburban Water Heater: SW6DE (electric and gas)

The Electrical Element is to be replaced (dead).

The shown Electrode is different than the two prong electrode specified in the manual. The manual also specifies Electrode Wire.

I wonder where the wire is connected to?

al1florida · Post by **al1florida** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 8:10 am

I believe the one on the right is the sacrificial anode.

oliverpsmile · Post by **oliverpsmile** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 11:03 am

Al, you are correct in a sense. This is the left over of the anode.

I wonder if anybody is checking the status of the anode on regular basis.

In my case I have passive cathodic protection. However, the documentation of the WH shows active one (two prong element with voltage applied) - wonder if anybody has one and how the voltage is applied.

After thorough cleaning and careful inspection, I did not notice any corrosion of the tank itself. Most likely the heater started corroding before the tank and shortened (my GFI receptacle signaled first) and died.

tomzleapin · Post by **tomzleapin** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:26 pm

The two pronged device is the 120 VAC heating element. The sacrificial anode has no wire attached.

oliverpsmile · Post by **oliverpsmile** » Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:42 pm

Tom the electrode I refer is this (first listing from Google):

http://store.unlocked-phones.org/2800-2 ... lectr.html

tomzleapin · Post by **tomzleapin** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:17 am

The item pictured in the link is a spark igniter for the burner. I assume you are looking for a heating element and an anode rod. Here's what I found on Amazon:

Suburban 520789 1440W Screw In Electric Element
Suburban 232767 Magnesium Anode Rod

al1florida · Post by **al1florida** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:17 am

Oliver,

The link you are showing above is going to the Direct Spark Igniter to lite the propane, not the 120V heater element. I found a manual online and it shows the p/n of the heater element is: 520789.

Amazon.com has one http://www.amazon.com/Suburban-520789-1 ... B003G9G4X4

oliverpsmile · Post by **oliverpsmile** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:44 am

Thank you all.

I was carried away: long time ago I was involved in a project replacing the roadway in some NYC tunnels which included an Active Cathodic Protection and Monitoring System.

Maybe I expected too much sophistication from BF