Sacrificial protection
A magnesium or aluminum rod sits in the tank and corrodes so the steel does not. When the rod is gone, protection stops. That is the part every water heater ships with — and the part you replace every few years.
About aurauto®
An engineering-led water heater protection brand. Our team comes from industrial impressed-current cathodic protection — ships, offshore steel, and buried pipe — and built aurauto to bring that discipline to North American homeowners with transparent origin, certified claims, and corrosion engineers active in AMPP and national forums.
Our story
aurauto exists to give homeowners a smarter alternative to the traditional sacrificial anode rod —and to make water heater maintenance something you can finally do yourself.
Every residential water heater ships with a sacrificial magnesium or aluminum anode rod. It depletes over time, and when it runs out your tank starts rusting from the inside —leading to rotten egg smell, pinhole leaks, and a heater that dies years before it should.
aurauto replaces that throwaway part with impressed current cathodic protection: a powered titanium anode that protects the tank with a low-voltage DC current. No depletion, no replacement every 3 to 5 years, and no service call. We did not invent this science — we scaled the industrial method used on ships and offshore steel to a rod you install yourself.
To be the Professional standard for water heater protection.
The science behind powered protection
Cathodic protection is older than the residential water heater. Factory tanks use the sacrificial version of that science. The TGR2-X1 uses the impressed-current version.
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Humphry Davy showed that connecting a more active metal could stop copper hulls from corroding in seawater — the first practical cathodic protection.
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Michael Faraday named the terms we still use: electrolyte, anode, and cathode. Corrosion protection became quantitative electrochemistry, not a workshop trick.
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Engineers began applying an external DC current so the structure itself became the cathode. That method — impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) — was used on ships, boilers, and pipelines.
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Industrial ICCP became standard on marine steel and buried pipe. A factory magnesium rod is still the sacrificial branch of the same family. aurauto is the impressed-current branch, built for a home tank.
The TGR2-X1 anode uses an iridium-tantalum (Ir-Ta) mixed metal oxide coating on titanium — the catalytic family specified for freshwater ICCP (oxygen evolution), applied at low impressed current inside a residential tank. Ir-Ta MMO explained →
Impressed current (ICCP)
A small DC supply drives protective current through a titanium anode that does not deplete. The tank stays the cathode. That is the TGR2-X1. How it plays out inside a steel tank is in our tank corrosion guide.
The team
The TGR2-X1 comes from engineers whose work is impressed current cathodic protection — the method used to keep ships and offshore steel from rusting in seawater. Our corrosion engineers take part in AMPP and national cathodic-protection forums.
General Manager
Senior EngineerLeads aurauto with a background in electrochemical corrosion protection. Sets product direction and manufacturing standards for the powered-titanium line.
R&D Lead
Professor-level Senior Engineer · National S&T Progress AwardThree decades at the forefront of offshore corrosion protection and structural life prediction. Former deputy director of a national hydraulic research institute; laureate of the National Science and Technology Progress Award; architect of lifecycle ICCP systems on hundreds of marine structures and co-author of seven industry standards.
Vice President, Commercial
10 years in cathodic-protection marketsBrings industrial ICCP practice into a product a homeowner can buy and install. Owns channel, customer education, and how the kit shows up at the tank.
Technical Advisor
CSCP Standing Council · Cathodic ProtectionNationally recognized authority on cathodic protection and industrial corrosion control. Standing council member of the Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection, shaping peer standards and advising aurauto on ICCP engineering rigor and long-life asset protection.
Made in China · Tested in North America
We build quality into every unit and we say exactly where it comes from.
Manufactured by Ningbo Shanhai Yunchuang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.
No.368 Dangui Road, High-tech Zone, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China
Every aurauto unit is made in China and tested and verified in North America before it reaches your door. Country of origin is disclosed transparently on every package, in user manuals, and on this website —we do not rebrand or relabel.
Quality is backed by independent certification: WQA Gold Seal certification against NSF/ANSI/CAN 372, an ETL Listed power adapter tested to UL safety standards, and ISO 9001 certified manufacturing. See our certifications page for the full list.
More about aurauto
Ir-Ta MMO Anode
Iridium-tantalum mixed metal oxide on titanium — freshwater ICCP coating engineering on the TGR2-X1 anode rod.
About > Ir-Ta MMO ▾Certifications
Every claim we make is backed by independent certification or transparent documentation —from WQA Gold Seal to ISO management systems.
About > Certifications ▾Follow aurauto
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