Review on 🔧 Rheem SP20060 Electric Water Heater Maintenance Kit, 2 by Juan White

This was long overdue. My water heater has been working below target for a long time, and the price of a new device did not allow me to replace it. My device is over 22 years old and shows no signs of a leak. In the 22 years I've lived here, I've emptied the tank three times, but not quite. I was watching a youtube video showing how to replace the heating element and thought I'd give it a try when I got around to it. I've had this item on my "wish list" for a very long time, but recently I saw a listing on Revain for not only both items but also thermostats, all for $33. So for that small amount I would essentially have a new heater. Removing the items would allow me to assess the condition of the inside of the tank. If I encountered a lot of mineral deposits, I would know that this repair was just a band-aid. A friend who owns a plumbing company warned me that there was a good chance the element would get caught and not come out easily, and that strings could pull out with the element. I've been warned that if it's still working then I should leave it alone until it's destroyed and then replace it with a new energy efficient model. I followed the basic instructions; I do thermostats first. Then I had to replace the bottom element because when I create the top one, it gets moved to the bottom workspace. None of the elements came off with quite a bit of trouble. There is a rubber o-ring between the threads and the tank so I knew it couldn't be grabbed at that point, it had to be the threads. I soaked the threads on both PB Blaster elements and waited half an hour before trying again. I bought the recommended tool and it didn't move either. With constant force, the tool began to slide on the shoulder of the element. I soaked it again with PB Blaster and waited another 30 minutes. In the meantime, I went to my tool box and pulled out a .5" drive breaker bar. I took the new item into my container with heavy truck heads and found the one that fit best. It was actually a metric head, but its size escaped my recollection. I brought it to the heater and with less effort than unscrewing the lug nut, I felt it slowly and gently loosen. Then I went to another one and the same thing happened - they were both free. I unscrewed them about a turn, sprayed more PB on them, then re-tightened them. I waited a while and then, using a rocking "tight-loose-tight-loose" motion, pulled it out about halfway with no effort. I went back to this lightweight tool and quickly swapped it out - pulled out the old one and quickly put in the new one, running it out by hand before using the tool and finally tightening it with my rod. I followed the instructions on how to properly fill and turn the heater back on. I tested it for about 45 minutes and it worked great like it was brand new. So for $33 and a few hours of patient work, I have hot water. I am very satisfied with both the product and the company. Above all, take your time and watch the tutorial videos.