Anode Rod -- broken off

[kavkan]

So my wife gets a "deal" to have the hot water tank and furnace serviced. Out come two guys. One guy is working on the hot water tank. Our water has been perfectly fine up to this point.

He goes to change the anode rod and when he is pulling out the old one it breaks and 95% of it stays in the tank (hopefully floating to the bottom without cracking the liner). His solution to this new problem that he just created is to attempt to sell me a $1,500 water tank. I told him, "No thanks." He put the new anode rod in. But then I don't think he flushed the system again.

So now when I run the hot water the tub fills with rusty water . . . no odor, just discolored.

Will I be alright simply flushing the system myself a couple times? Or do I need to fish the corroded rod out of there? If I need to fish it out, any tips?

 

[phishfood]

Did they thoroughly flush the hot water tank when they serviced it? If the tank has not been flushed regularly, it will take a bit of flushing to get all of the sediment and rust out of the bottom of it.

 

[kavkan]

For anyone following up on this post in the future.

I repeatedly flushed the tank myself. The rod was so deeply corroded that I could feel rust and metal sentiments being expelled in the stream of water (don't stick your hand into the initial flush of hot water of course).

Our water is running clear and free of sediment again. I will probably check again in two or three weeks, but I think rod was in such bad shape that the turbulent water from the flushing process helped to break it down. That's my hope anyways.