Follow up to the anode rod replacement. The 5 year old anode rod was not in as horrible condition as I have seen in some videos where they're replacing them. I was expecting it to be a lot worse.
It was a pain to get out from the heater - I didn't see any discernable rust, but it took a hell of a lot of effort to get that out. Anyway, it was a good experience to learn how to do it. For the time it took and $40 for the replacement rod to keep the heater in good shape it was worth it.
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