Well, I don't know what my aluminum tank did wrong, but it developed a hole that looked like it was caused by corrosion. Perhaps it didn't technically rust, but the effect was similar.
The entire inside of the Atwood tank *is* the anode. Atwood uses an inner cladding of an Aluminum/magnesium alloy- the surface area is many times that of a rod, but.... you must flush the Atwood at least once a year (more is better).
The Suburban anode is basically there to protect the final welds- they assemble the entire tanks except for the "flame cup" where the burner is, then they spray the inside with the porcelain slurry and fire the tank, and then they weld in the flame cup. This means that weld is not "glass lined" (along with any breaks in the glass), so you have a very small area with the galvanic action concentrated there.
Suburban needs an anode because it's a glass lined steel tank (like your home unit) and will eventually corrode without one. The Atwood is aluminum and will never rust.
Scott, Grace and Wesly
2003 Dodge 3500 4x4, 6 speed Cummins (lightly bombed),
2004 Forest River 25RKS many, many mods.
H0NDA eu2000i
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