electronic titanium anode questions.

[pnovak]

My understanding is that an electronic titanium anode delivers a small bit of DC current to help prevent corrosion, and that when the DC current is as high as it can go, you can expect your water tank to fail very soon. Is this accurate information? Does anyone have first hand knowledge of this being true?

If I have an older hot water heater, and I don't know it's condition - new (to me) house - can I use an electronic titanium anode to check it's health using the above 'high current' indicator??? It would seem so.

Lastly, does anyone know of a brand that has a 'high current indicator' or of some method to actually measure the amount of current being used? All I can find are red light/green light indicators.
thanks

 

[sarg]

Don't have answers to your specific questions but you can determine the age by serial number.
https://hotwatersolutionsnw.org/news/how-old-is-my-water-heater

 

[Twowaxhack]

From what I’ve read the anode puts out varying degrees of current based on the conductivity of the water.

The more conductive (ions) the water is the more current the anode will deliver, up to its max.

So I believe the amount of current doesnt directly tell you much about the condition of the tank. You could assume the higher the current the more ions are in your water and the more ions that are in the water the more potential there is for corrosion.


But I have zero experience with powered anodes. Our water heaters last 12-20 years without any maintenance, so you can see where a $150 anode plus install wouldn’t appeal to most customers.

I’d love to hear the opinion of others and their take on the subject.

Water quality is a big part of how long a heater lasts.