Had a new well drilled, right after it was all hooked up and when the new well water got into the water heater there is always air built up that has to purge from the faucets every time I use the hot water. I live alone so the demand for hot water isn't much, dishes and shower. Called the well driller and he figured its because of the different makeup the new water has and its interacting with the water heater or the anode rod. I tried calling Sears tech help, after talking with two hard to understand customer service representatives and getting disconnected when they were trying to forward my call to the water heater tech help I gave up with calling. The owners manual says to get anode rod part number 9001453 if your water smells like rotten eggs, which mine does not, sears, amazon, and walmart all have that anode rod. It also mentions air in the hot water faucets from hydrogen gas but says thats typically after the system sits unused for a couple weeks, mine happens after a day. The parts diagram shows the anode rod and calls it the primary rod, will there be a separate hole this replacement rod will go in, or do I pull out the old one and put the new in this ones hole? I don't see any other openings or fittings ontop of the heater, there are 3 clear plugs equally spaced around the edge of the heater but they appear to be where spray foam was installed through. If I do buy the replacement rod am guessing will have clearance issues to the ceiling, hoping I can cut down the rod if need be?
Water heater does have a side arm heater on it being heated by a outside wood boiler, with my low usage of hot water am guessing water temps are up to 150 in the water heater, but it worked fine with the old well and this same water heater.