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Thread: Geyser Anodes

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    Gold Member Houses4Rent's Avatar
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    Geyser Anodes

    I always wonder whether anybody is really changing geyser anodes regualarly? What do you do?

    The geyser is a funny thing. Nodody really has a hightened vested interest to make it last in my view.

    The manufacturer only needs them to make them last past the warranty. The sooner it fails after that the better. I have seen geysers not even survive the 3y warranty. Kwikot are the worst in my view.

    The plumbers make more money the more geysers they replace/repair.

    Insurances factor it in anyway and get they money in the end by pricing the premium accordingly and/or just impose a bigger access to soften the "hit".

    Owners just pay the access and expect to pay it every few years. So owners also factor it in and its not hurting them too much.

    So will changing anodes make any difference?
    How much does that exercise cost on average?
    How often should one replace them?

    I ignored the following points here:
    - most people do not even know about anodes
    - drain on the environment due to old geysers/parts, travelling to and from site etc
    - whether the switching on and off vs leaving it on permamently makes any difference to the geyser life/elec consumption
    - resulting damages due to leaks often due to substandard installations e.g. no or faulty drip trays
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    Moderator IanF's Avatar
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    Has anyone tested a magnetic induction geyser?
    Is this (b)leading edge or a worthwhile purchase?
    Only stress when you can change the outcome!

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    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    I still have a copper geyser in my house, I was given it 20 years ago by a friend when it sprung a leak and he got a new replacement. I dismantled it and welded the crack and it's been running fine ever since.

    The newer cylinders are plain steel with some kind of internal resin-type coating. They seem to have a lifespan of a few years at best from what I've seen, I assume once there's even a small crack or breach of the coating the steel underneath rusts rapidly.

    The annode is something of a mystery to me, I'm not sure if it's just a way for the manufacturers to wriggle of of warranty claims. If the cylinder is coated internally it shouldn't be in contact with the water therefore electrically speaking the annode is redundant until the point where the coating has failed at which time corrosion will be endemic with or without the annode, all it will do is delay the inevitable by a short time.

    If you look at it from a manufacturers point of view the annode is a stroke of genius, it's the perfect get-out clause because who in their right mind is going to have a plumber around to replace it every year probably at a cost in excess of a grand? It's the equivalent of your car warranty only being valid if you replace your oil pump every year.

    Unfortunately the geyser in my holiday house burst afew weeks ago. It's a steel Kwikot and the insurance company requested proof of maintenance when I claimed. I told them I hadn't done any and they said the claim would be refused until I pointed out that the cylinder was the same one they replaced last September.
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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by IanF View Post
    Is this (b)leading edge or a worthwhile purchase?
    This claim from the link you posted certainly is pretty impressive, Ian -

    Electricity usage
    To heat a conventional 150 lt geyser from 20 deg C to 65 deg C takes two and a half hours and uses 7.8kw of electricity. In tests done using the Harver CN 30 L 200w Split Magnetic Induction Geyser to heat the same amount of water by means of the split magnetic water heater took approximately 1 hour and used approximately 2.5kw of electricity.
    From a technology point of view, induction heating is definitely not bleeding edge. I had a look at induction hobs a little while ago and dug into the technology at the time. What surprised me most was how long the principle of induction heating has been known. I was, and remain, a little surprised that induction heating isn't more mainstream than it is at the moment.

    The science is solid. It works. It is faster and more energy efficient compared to normal resistive heating elements. And it comes with spectacular temperature control ability pretty much built in.

    What killed my interest in the induction hob was it turned out I had only one ferrous pot in our kitchen. So I went with the IR ceramic top instead.

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    Gold Member Houses4Rent's Avatar
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    AndyD, I told you Kwikot is the worst... They once rejected a claim saying that its out of warranty. The problem was that the plate with the info was blank. They have no idea what they are doing in my mind...

    Anyway, maybe we should go back a few steps and see who knows here why geysers have anodes? Why some geysers may not have anodes?

    I probably claimed 30-40 geysers by now for my clients and not once anybody Incl insurance people) mentioned anodes or maintenance! If its burst it gets replaced.

    Are you sure the normal geysers are coated from inside? I once read that there is a brand out there which has the coating and offers 10y warranty and the prices are marginally higher. I never researched it further though. 'WE gesyers' or something like that and there was some connection to Germnay too if I remember correctly. Does that ring a bell with anybody? I have the info somewhere, just do not know where anymore.
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    Gold Member Houses4Rent's Avatar
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    I bumped into a perosn who use dto have a plumbing supply shop for 7 years. The company who gives 10y warranty on geysers is Duratherm. He also confirmed that Kwikot are the worst. He even shared with me that Kwikot priduced a gesyer with 2 years warranty. It was exactly the same geyser and the same price too as the 5y product. They lost too much money due to geysers which failed under 5y..... He said most failed after just over 2y onwards hence the 2y reduction. What a crap business model.

    http://www.duratherm.co.za/

    All Geysers produced from January 2004, and which can be identified as such, carry a ten year guarantee, provided the geyser is installed in accordance with S.A.N.S 10254 in it's entirety and is used for domestic purposes only.
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    Gold Member Houses4Rent's Avatar
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    I also learned in simple terns what the function of an anode is. Its is kind of a "bait" for corrosion. The long anode gets 'consumed' before the geyser shell gets attacked by corrosion. So the very long anode will be much shorter after a year when it should be replaced.
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    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    Yep that's the theory, the annode is sacrificial and eventually it 'disappears'. Even small DC voltages that are developed when two different metals are in close proximity with a conductive liquid between them cause accelerated corrosion. The supplimentary bonding straps that are fitted to geysers should inhibit the corrosion by preventing voltages forming between different areas of the cylinder if they're fitted correctly but it doesn't prevent corrosion entirely.

    Going back to one of your earlier posts I'm interested to know how a geyser cylinder is constructed and whether it is coated with a resin type protection or whether it's galvanised. I'm sure there must be some sort of inner lining to stop the steel cylinder rusting. I'd be interested to see a post mortem on a failed cylinder.
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    Gold Member Houses4Rent's Avatar
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    Hi AndyD, never cut one open. I doubt its galvanises at all. But as to what resin the liner is see the Duratherm website. They mention what they use.
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