I removed mine when the tank was about 5 years old. It took a large pipe wrench (the hex top of the rod was above the tank) and a 3 foot or so section of galvanized pipe on the wrench handle and lots of effort to remove it.
I removed mine when the tank was about 5 years old. It took a large pipe wrench (the hex top of the rod was above the tank) and a 3 foot or so section of galvanized pipe on the wrench handle and lots of effort to remove it.
Are you sure it's the hot water side? Usually if it's not a separate rod, it's part of the cold water inlet tube which introduces the cold water at the bottom of the tank.
I'm not sure of anything but that's what the AO Smith technical support told me on the phone.
Taking the suggestion from others, I measured the headroom to only be about
10 inches above the water heater - so I don't really think I can get the old anode out without removing the entire water heater, which I don't really want to do.
I had a spare hot water tank to practice on and it was 27mm and it took a very long pipe (about 8 feet) to twist it off.
So, those things are in there rather well if they're not removed every once in a while!
Doesn't seem like it, especially if it's part of the water inlet tube. For low clearance separate anode rod applications there's a special replacement rod that has periodic narrow sections, so you can bend it to get it to fit.
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