Patent ID: 8890703
Filing Date: 2014-11-18
Classification: C23F,F24D,F24H,F28D,F28F,G01N,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A method for alerting a consumer of water heater anode rod depletion, comprising: initializing anode current readings and time readings to correspond to a current anode rod current and time reading when operating power is first applied to the water heater at initial installation and anode depletion; initializing a value of total anode rod depletion to zero; and initializing a weight threshold of the full weight of the anode rod to a first predetermined percentage for use in calculating anode rod depletion; periodically measuring anode rod current flow; obtaining a time reading at the time of current measurement; calculating anode rod depletion based on the measured anode rod current and the time difference between the current measurement and a most recent previous measurement; and activating an alarm if anode rod depletion exceeds a predetermined amount.