Should I replace this WH Anode?

[lwmcguir]

We have some of the hardest water anywhere and it does not take long for an anode to go bad here. I fill the tanks with soft water from the house line when we camp but even with that I check the anode and usually end up changing it every two years. I never leave water in the heater or lines when storing the trailer. At 110 degrees it grows algae in a hurry and that is ugly in the water heater and lines besides that the only time I left it in the water heater it came out black and smelling like sulfur. Not nice.

Lynn, you arent growing algae (cyanobacteria) in the water heater. Algae takes sunlight. You have some kind of bacterial slime. If it is truly slime the water should be checked. You may get some calcium carbonate that is very slimey but dont create problems other than hard water deposits.

 

[wdk450]

Lynn, you aren't growing algae (cyanobacteria) in the water heater. Algae takes sunlight. You have some kind of bacterial slime. If it is truly slime the water should be checked. You may get some calcium carbonate that is very slimy but don't create problems other than hard water deposits.

I think you need to do a total water system sanitation and flush.
Just a guess on the slime - the anode page I linked in an earlier posting talked about aluminum anode rods causing slime.

 

[porthole]

looking at the holes - you cant see how much is gone internally.
I would replace it