Hot Water 911: Electrifying Information on Stray Voltage

Recently, Hot Water 911 has been asked to help out a few of our customers with what has turned out to be a stray voltage problem.  We thought, since we are answering so many calls pertaining to stray voltage, perhaps we should address stray voltage on our site.

First of all, what exactly is stray voltage? Stray voltage is when voltage occurs between two objects that should not have any voltage difference between them.  Stray voltage may result when there is corruption in the ground or neutral current to your building or home.  So, how would stray voltage affect your water heater?

There is almost always a very minute amount of stray voltage that most buildings experience.  Because of this, water heaters are equipped with a part called an anode rod, or the sacrificial anode.  The anode rod is usually composed of either aluminum or magnesium, depending on the water heater’s manufacturers recommendations.  This anode rod serves to accept any minute amounts of stray voltage so that the current stops there.  Typically anode rods should last about ten years before they need to be replaced.  If there is an inordinate amount of stray voltage coming into your building, you might find that you are needing to replace your anode rod more often.

So, how can you tell when your anode rod needs to be changed?  When you do your annual water heater maintenance, one of the things that you should also check are the screens in all of your faucets. This is a perfect time to make sure that there is no grit or green chunks that are starting to block your faucet’s screen.  The grit and green chunks can be an indication that your anode rod needs to be changed.   For situations involving your anode rods, you are going to want to contact your water heater service company.  They know exactly how to access the anode rod correctly and to diagnose an unhealthy anode rod and they will know how to correctly replace the anode rod with the appropriate new anode rod.  If you are finding that you need to replace your anode rod every one to two years, stray voltage may be the cause.  At this point, you will want to call in a competent electrician who can evaluate the level of stray voltage going to your building and rectify the problem.

Hot Water 911 is happy to help you with your stray voltage questions, your anode rod questions and any other water heater related questions that you may have.  Feel free to contact us at 1-800-GO HOT WATER or email us at info@HotWater911.com