The first time I bought a new heating element, the AOSmith supplier
gave me a tip.

Don't bother draining the tank, even for the bottom element. Turn off
the power, turn off the main water supply, and open the hot water
faucet at the lowest sink in the house. The water will run for a
while, and then it will stop. If it doesnt' stop, try to turn off the
main water supply again (but mine stopped within a minute or two.)

Then position the new heating element where you can reach it
immediately, unscrew the old one and as quickly as possible, remove it
and put the new one in, and screw it in. The time when there is
nothing in the hole is 3 seconds or less, and I would guess about 2
tablespoons of water fell into the water heater insulation. I left
the cover off for a couple weeks to give it time to dry.

Everything went like a charm. I think I have to replace another one
this week. If anyone wants to know how it goes this time, ask.

This was a screw-in element, but it might work as well with a bolt-on.



On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:40:28 -0600, Gerry Atrick
wrote:

On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 13:00:02 GMT, "JohnA via HomeKB.com" u32227@uwe
wrote:

The circuit stayed fine thru the night, I ran some hot water and cautiously
opened the 2 panels on it to see if I could examine anything out of place and
(not knowing or touching anything) but it did make a pop/knock sound in the
tank while looking at the tank.

I put the panels back and it brings a question to mind...
Why are there 2 thermostats on the tank?

Because there are two heating elements. One thermostat for each
element. If it popped inside the tank, you got a bad element.

Not too hard to fix. Shut off the power, drain the water from tank,
and remove the 4 bolts that hold in the element. Of course your guess
is as good as mine if its the upper or lower element, so you may as
well remove both. Look for holes, cracks, pits corrosion, and other
damage to the element. They should be smooth.

You'll likely need a new gasket for the good element that you replace.
Or just replace both elements and be done with it. They are not real
expsnsive.


Tank info: I do not see a year on it.
Raheem for manufactured homes, model 71-52d b,
wattage 240/208 upper and lower 4500/3380
50 gal and yes it has a double circuit switch.
John