FYI--Check Your Anode Rod in Taylor OWB

[Beagledoc]

Last year was our first with a Taylor T450 waterstove heating our home and domestic hotwater. Prior to this, we were heating with a heat pump and lp gas. We saved enough in lp gas alone this past winter to pay for more than half the stove!

Taylor recommends that you change the water/chemical yearly in the stove and check/replace the anode rod. In talking to other folks in our area who have these stoves, most said they had never changed the water or checked the anode rod in their stove (some after 8-10 years of using their stove). The only way to check the anode rod is to drain the tank (unless you want to get wet).

Being a conservative person, I decided to change the water the first year like Taylor recommended and ordered an anode rod just in case I needed to change it. The water/chemical I drained out was clear. The old anode rod was completly destroyed! I was shocked! I called Taylor to make sure I had not done anything wrong with my installation (stove is grounded as they recommend). The rep there said no. This is common and that is why they tell you to check and change the rod yearly to protect the stove. I guess I will be draining my stove yearly like they recommend rather than listening to my neighbors with Taylor stoves.

Are other users of Taylor OWBs finding the same thing?

 

[Biker Dude]

There is an anode rod? Where is that and what kind of chemicals do you put in the stove? When I got my T-450 used 5 years ago I didn't get an instruction manual with it. Are you talking about boiler antifreeze or is there another chemical that's required?
:monkey:

 

[time warp]

Your taylor dealer has the water additive & the anode rod. You should change it at least once a yr. I pulled mine this yr. & there was nothing left of it. The rod is located in the back of the stove along the bottom. It unscrews & yes you will get wet

 

[Beagledoc]

When I plumbed my stove I put a boiler spigot on one of the lower water outlets on the stove . This allowed me to hook a hose to the stove to drain it. The anode rod is a little lower than this spigot so I still had to drain probably 20 gallons out of the stove by catching it in a large trash can.

As stated earlier, the anode rod is on the back of the stove at the bottom in the center. The plug/anode rod are all one assembly so you just screw the old one out, put some plumber's tape on the threads of the new one, and screw it in. The entire rod is about 4 feet long.

You can order the chemical directly from Taylor. The T-450 takes two bottles of chemical. I am not sure what this liquid is, but supposedly it is made specifically for the Taylor stoves to protect the water tank. To pour it in the stove, I attach a small funnel to the top of the water level tube on the front of the stove and pour it in from there. It makes the water look slightly milky.

Adrian

 

[Biker Dude]

Well no wonder I haven't seen any anode, the lower rear area of the boiler has been replaced and they didn't put any anode spot in the new metal.

Do all boilers have an anode or is it just a Taylor thing?

 

[Scrapiron]

manual

Biker Dude-

Send me a PM with your email address and I'll hook ya up with a scanned manual.

-Skot

 

[kalib stock]

anode

just changed my anode rod and chemicals yesterday! yes it is common for the anode rods to eat away to nothing!!
(better then eating at your water jacket)
If people dont change out the rod and add chemicals they will have leaks down the road. you just have to take care of them, its just like anything else.