W4 A.O Smith Gas Hot Water Heater Draft Inducer

W4 A.O Smith Gas Hot Water Heater Draft Inducer
by A.O Smith

Our Price: $194.95
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Tools
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Product Details

Manufacturer: A.O Smith
Model: W4
Product features:

1/20 hp, 3300 RPM, 1.8 amps, 115 Volts
Sleeve Bearings; Outlet = 2.25"; includes gasket
4 studs on front of blower for mounting- 4 3/16" on Center measured diagonally (# 8 threads)
6 Prong Female Connector
1 Year Manufacture Warranty

Description of W4 A.O Smith Gas Hot Water Heater Draft Inducer

Mfgr-Fasco; After Market Replacement Blower. Reference #'s 7021-10195, 7021-10910, 7021-12065

Tools and Hardware Reviews of W4 A.O Smith Gas Hot Water Heater Draft Inducer

Customer Review: Worked as advertised
Summary: 5 Stars

First off: The seller is awesome! Fast shipping! The following is not about the seller (will buy from again) but the product itself.

At first I was surprised to find this item on Amazon, it's a blower motor for a hot water heater. The pictures looked like the item I needed and the part numbers matched up so I purchased it. I was disappointed that I couldn't get higher resolution pictures, especially around the connectors.

Upon receiving the unit I noticed that the connectors from the controller box to the hot water heater were of different types. The older units used a Molex 4 pin connection, this one was a six pin connection. Looking at the schematics proved that the additional two pins were not used so this unit is compatible but manual rewiring is necessary. This was not a big deal since my problem was with the fan unit itself and not the attached controller (you get both, the fan unit is attached to the controller and the fan can be attached to the old controller unit.)

To fix this I was able to take the new fan unit and attach it to the old controller that attached to the hot water heater and all was well. Simply detach the "fan" portion of the new unit and attach it to the controller box of the old unit and it will work fine (unless the controller unit is your problem, which is unlikely.)

The biggest problem with this units design is the use of plastic in the fan blades. The plastic can not withstand the heat coming from the gas burners from the water heater. This is my third replacement, each had plastic fan blades that fail and cause imbalance that generates loud noise until the entire fan itself blows apart. This is a major design flaw. The controller unit in all replacements was fine, it was simply the fan unit itself.

My former neighbor was able to find a replacement unit that used metal blades on the fan for his unit, but his house was foreclosed and he moved on and I haven't been able to find him to seek out where he got his all metal fan unit from.

The negative about the plastic fan is not a slam against this seller, I will buy from this seller again, but the negativity is against the manufacture for using plastic fan blades in the design that can not withstand such high temperatures that will fail in a range of between one to three years.

My next replacement will be the all metal design, hopefully this merchant will be stocking it.

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