New water heater(5-8mo) water reeks! I'v ran it to cold several times,but the water has a swamp/old egg/wet dog tangled with a skunk smell..HELP!! Need home fix,can't afford pro help...still washing on cold as is hard to get that reek out of cloths!!
Stinkie water heater water
- Thread starter peg4x4
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Were all of the openings into the tank capped when it was installed? Unless your water is pulled from a swamp, I would guess something had crawled in there and died before it was installed. You could drain it and flush it and hop that got rid of the problem, but I'ld probably sh, oops, get rid of it and put in a new one.
Just thought of something else, does it have a back flow preventer on the outflow side?
dun
Just thought of something else, does it have a back flow preventer on the outflow side?
dun
Have you tried draining it through the valve on the bottom of your hot water heater? You can hook up a waterhose to it and let it drain and refill several times. You might be surprised at what is flushed out.
I used to have to drain and flush mine about 3 times a year because the hard water builds up deposits in the water heater and it begins to smell. That was before I installed a water softener and filter. Now I drain and flush about once a year.
Another answer may be to remove the element???? (I don't think that is the name...what's that rod called??? ). Anyway it can be removed by unscrewing it from the top and then putting a cap where the element was. Although this will void any warranty on the hot water heater it will do away with the smell.
I used to have to drain and flush mine about 3 times a year because the hard water builds up deposits in the water heater and it begins to smell. That was before I installed a water softener and filter. Now I drain and flush about once a year.
Another answer may be to remove the element???? (I don't think that is the name...what's that rod called??? ). Anyway it can be removed by unscrewing it from the top and then putting a cap where the element was. Although this will void any warranty on the hot water heater it will do away with the smell.
Mahoney Pursley Ranch
Well-known member
I believe it's called an anode rod. It is there to PREVENT corrosion buildup in the tank. I would not remove it. Since the water heater is only 8mo. old wouldn't it still be under warranty? Worth a call if it's defective or if something crawled in there and died before it was installed.
dj
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Mahoney Pursley Ranch":3zo2fk5b said:
The odor can also be caused by the anode rod inside the heater. The anode is a sacrificial metal rod that attracts corrosive elements in the water supply to protect the lining of the tank. Most anode rods are magnesium. In water supplies that have "low conductivity," the anode rod operates at low current levels, releasing a small amount of elements from the rod to the water. When the conductivity is high, an excessive amount of inefficient current is produced, releasing larger amounts of elements to the water.
The whole article is here
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hi_utilit ... 11,00.html
Seems like I read/heard something about this happening to alot of folks lately?
I'll look for the papers on it,but place a bet I won't find them..My son put w/heater in while I was gone,so I don't know what he did,and as I'v gotten old,I don't know a thing..(Hope you don't have/be that problem at your place) Got the thing from Sears,so if find papers,shouldent have a problem..
fit2btied
Well-known member
We had the same problem with the 80 gallon (for filling baptistry) electric water heater at our church. The local plumbing supplier said it was because we didn't use enough hot water and it spoiled in the tank. Same thing happened to our camping trailer's 5 gallon gas water heater. RV dealer said the same thing - we didn't use it enough. We had 2 different plumbers out to work on the one at church with no improvement. A local landlord said to cut the aluminum anode rod off. Said he does it anytime he installs a new water heater. We did. That was four years ago and it has never happened again. When I saw that it worked at church, I replaced the one on my camper with a plug, and it has never done it again either.
