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Serving the South Puget Sound and Western Washington Areas Since 1976

Serving the South Puget Sound and Southwest Washington Areas Since 1976

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Sunset Air Blog

What Happens During Water Heater Maintenance?

We’ve written before about the benefits of water heater maintenance, and how you should schedule it at least once a year. We’ve never really gone into detail about what goes on during a water heater maintenance appointment, though. The full procedure is long and, to be honest, rather boring. However, there are some aspects of it that you may benefit from being familiar with. Read on to find out more about some of what happens during water heater maintenance.

Checking the Anode Rod

The anode rod is a long metal rod that is inserted into a water heater storage tank to prevent it from rusting. It does this by slowly degrading, and attracting the ions in the water that normally cause rust. This process is called electrolysis. Unfortunately, eventually the anode rod will degrade to the point where it can no longer protect the water heater from rusting. At that point, it will need to be replaced. Part of our annual water heater maintenance checkups involves checking to make sure that the anode rod is still in good condition, and replacing it if it isn’t.

Flushing the Tank

If your home has a hard water problem, sediment tends to build up on the bottom of the water heater tank. Eventually, this sediment forms lime scale and starts to insulate the water in the tank from the heat of the burner assembly. In order to solve this problem, the tank needs to be flushed out at least once a year to get rid of the sediment buildup. If the sediment is already pretty stuck on, it can be scrubbed out manually.

Sunset Air offers a full range of water heater maintenance services throughout Olympia, WA. If you need water heater maintenance services of any kind, call today to schedule an appointment.

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