Hot water heater Anode rod replacement?

[dkutz]

Just a tip here.

You will probably find the anode very hard to loosen. This is not because some animal over-tightened the nut. It's because microscopic bits of corrosion builds up between the threads over time. This makes the threads "Lock" because those little pieces of corrosion are like tiny sharp rocks laying between the threads, The harder that you try to turn the nut, the tighter the pieces will lock and jamb between the threads.

ALL plumbers know about this problem and the solution is [COLOR="Red"]NOT[/COLOR] to get a bigger wrench, as you can damage the the tank. The solution is to tap around the edges of the nut with a small hammer or the back side of a Crescent wrench BEFORE you try to turn the nut. Tap around the nut in a counter-clockwise pattern. This will break down and loosen up the corrosion in the threads before they become locked and packed together so tightly that the nut becomes very difficult to turn. If you do this first, you may be surprised at how easily the nut turns.

Takes a Nut to know a Nut!:eyecrazy:

[hoppy]

I pull the anode every trip in order to drain the water. Don't like keeping the water in there to go bad, or don't need the extra weight. I have an '05 FW Victory and assume that's the only way to do it. I open and drain the two valves near the rear of the PUP but noticed the water heater has to be drained separate. Right?

Not sure where your drain valves may be, but mine are directly under the water heater, underneath the storage bin. With mine, I need to open both valves, and let it drain on the trip home.
Hope this keeps you from having to remove the anode after each trip.