100108283 - K,HEATING ELEMENT,4500W,240V,11",COPPER

Works great & was a perfect fit for our AO Smith water heater. A lot cheaper than having a plumber install one, too!

It fit perfectly and functions fine.

Nothing fancy, it’s a heating element for a water heater. Exact replacement, fit and worked perfectly.

I didn’t even drain the tank. My old element was reading 20 ohms and this one read 13 ohms. I killed the breaker to the hot water tank and the well pump and then I blocked in my pressure tank and opened/closed an upstairs faucet to ensure there was no hydraulic pressure aside from head pressure in the tank (I already knew it was cold too btw). I used a 1.5” socket to remove the old one. Once it was loose enough I un-spun it by hand and quickly inserted the new one. As stated in another review, there were no faucets “on” so there was no vent which kept the water loss to less a pint or less. Worked surprisingly well for such a big hole and 20’ of potential head pressure.

I replace the elements every two years to keep calcium and iron deposits out of my hot water. I replaced the original rods with rods from lowes, which look to be no-name Chinese products. They worked, but had poor recovery. Recovery is important in a large household, especially if the person following you is your spouse. The Smith rods had great recovery time so I’ll use these again the next time I change them.