100305721 A.O. Smith Product Preservers™ Powered Anode Rod System

We had a water filter and softener installed in our home a month ago to filter out chlorine and soften our water. It works too. No more hard water or chlorine smell. 2 weeks later, we started smelling a rotten egg odor coming from the hot water. Called the softener company and they recommended I replace my anode (from magnesium) to an aluminum one, a powered one, or install a “bleeder tube” to bypass the filter (which defeats the purpose).I went to one of the big box stores in town and picked up an aluminum anode and installed it. Seemed to work okay, but the thought of aluminum oxide in my water (as the anode does it’s job) sounded nasty. We went away for a long weekend and when we came back, so did the smell. Immediately ordered the powered anode rod. Shipment came quick and was well packaged. The installation was extremely easy to do. Only thing that would have made it easier is if the color wire leads were labeled on the controller. It is on the instructions, so there wasn’t a question as to which plugged where, but a sticker or letter would have been nice. It mounts to the top of the unit, which for an electric unit was very uncomplicated. You need to be a bit more aware of mounting location you have a gas unit. There is no noise or any kind of notice telling you it is working with the exception of led lights on top of my unit, which is at 7’. I can see it if I hold my phone camera up above the WH. I guess I will be holding my phone up in the air every month or two to make sure it still works.This device appears to be doing its job (3 days in and no smell). I will change the post if things change.I would certainly recommend this product with what I know now.

I have a A.O.Smith 50 gal. gas heater installed a year ago. A water softener is also installed in my system. The hardest part is removing the original anode (impact wrench time). The new anode is about half the length of the original and the power supply is only about 4 ft. (12v@150ma). It also has a 1 year warranty. I’m not sure if the original warranty to the heater would be a problem as it does state it doesn’t cover any modifications. I’m hoping that due to the same manufacturer of both items, that this won’t be a problem.The original anode started to create an odor and probably was accelerated by the water softener. I have city water but it’s not the best. Even instead 2 whole house water filters (1 before the softener and 1 on the output). Here’s hoping this will make a difference!

This review is for the 80 gal AO Smith hybrid model. We have hard well water and I've had to shock it every 3-4 months because of the smell. Hopefully, this will eliminate the odor.*Note: I will update my review in 3 months with feedback on water odor. This review is for the product and install.*Cons:-The tack weld looks like a child did it. Hopefully this doesn't erode off into my water line.-On my model of WH, the lid needs to be removed to access the anode rods. The anode you replace is directly under a wrapped copper tube (thanks engineers!).-Replacement anode had threads so coated in sealant that I could only get one full turn by hand before I had to use my pneumatic impact wrench to finish the job - and even then, it went about 3/4 of the way before stopping. I'll have to check for leaks a few times before I have peace of mind.-The plug-in wire is pretty short.Pros:-Easy to read instructions-Will update my review in 3 months on water odorEdit: almost a year later and this has almost entirely eliminated our water smell. It’s come back only once in 10 months and that might have been due to an old filter.

No more rotten egg smell from the hot water. iI have installed at least 20 of these for my customers.

My last water heater lasted only 4 yrs. It was a 10gallon stainless steel unit with a lifetime warranty. Lifetime warranty is MEANINGLESS when your heater starts pouring water and you need it fixed in 24hrs or less.This time I purchased a cheap NASTY 10 Gallon Rheem glass lined unit with an aluminum anode rod. I had to cut about 3 inches off this one to make sure it was the same length as the anode rod I was replacing(can't have it touching and shorting out against the tank). Getting the heater apart and locating the anode rod was the hardest part.DON'T BE AN IDIOT LIKE ME - MAKE SURE YOU WEAR AN N95 MASK FOR THIS . Fiberglass inhalation is no joke. I'm not even sure how many years I took off of my life because of that.On my cheap nasty Rheem 10 gallon point-of-use heater, in spite of their recommendations of annual anode rod service, I'm SURE they banked on no-one touching the anode rod ever. After draining the heater, this was 5 screws, lifting the lid, peeling up the fiberglass to reveal the anode rod lug, using a 1-1/16 deep well socket on my impact gun and the old rod was out. then cut the powered anode down to the same size as my old rod and then screw the new one into the tank. Probably SHOULDN'T have used an impact gun to torque it down, but I was in a hurry, so that is exactly what I did - and somehow mercifully I didn't destroy the powered anode in the process. Next I had to get sand paper to sand the burnt metal from the spot on the actual tank(NOT PRETTY OUTER SHELL THEY HIDE IT WITH) so I could make a good connection for the ground wire. Based on what I saw when I was installing this tank the first time, I DO NOT TRUST that the shell is grounded in any way to the tank underneath. (You probably shouldn't either). Having gotten a clean spot for the ground wire and having gotten it attached, I then needed to drill a hole in the side of the pretty shell on the unit for the wires to come through. Then with that done, I discovered I needed to bend one of the spades on the now installed anode rod so that it was pointing out to the side rather than straight up so I could get the lid back on. After all of that, I filled the tank to see if anything leaked - thankfully it didn't. Next I hooked up the powered anode controller. No errors present - good. pulled the wires off - no errors - hmm. Powered it off and turned it back on without the wires and it errored immediately - good! According to the manual it takes 20 seconds to detect issues. I didn't wait that long, so maybe that's why it didn't freak when I pulled the wires off.After all of this and a fully pressurized tank with all the air purged, still no leaks, and NO ERRORS. I put the whole thing back together, fighting the air out of the fiberglass, mashing down the lid with one hand and hex driver in the other. Took several tries to get all the holes to line up but I did it. And the darn thing still works! The anode controller seems to be happy. If the thing lives longer than it's heavily caveat laiden 6yr warranty, I'll call it a win.After the experience I've had with this unit, I HATE Rheem - I've never seen such crappy construction in my life!Maybe you'll have better luck. Maybe your tank will expose the anode lug so you don't have to disassemble the F!@#$%& tank to get to it.Why I never put on a mask in the middle of this I'll never know. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting fiberglass to be there after examining tear-down pictures of this specific tank online. Maybe it was because I thought it would be quick - IT WASN'T. In the end, it took 4hrs overall from start to final cleanup. I had fiberglass particles everywhere - including my face. I was NOT HAPPY. I'm still mad about it. Mainly at myself for trying to rush and get it done - risking my life in the process. Don't be stupid. Don't be me. Wear a F^%$#@& N95 mask! and TAKE YOUR TIME!

Easy to install. Took old anode out and put this in its place. Ok. Customer left for a week and when he used the water the next day is smelled bad again and the water had a orange tint to it.After flushing the tank it is back to normal. No smell.