Rheem Model 81V52D Water Heater
My water heater seemed to be running out of hot water sooner that normal. Since the elements have never been replaced [7 yrs], I thought this might be the problem. So I shut off the power, cut off the water supply to the heater and shut off the valve from the heater to the house. I connected a hose the drain, opened the drain valve and opened the pressure valve. After the tank drained, I opened the water supply to allow more water to enter the tank in order to flush the unit. After doing this, I replaced both elements, top first. After replaceing the elements, I turned the water on to check for leaks and once verifying no leaks, I turned the power back on. After 2-3 hours, I had no hot water. I rechecked the breaker and made certain that the reset wasn't tripped. I've checked for power from L1 and L2 down to the lower element and its present at every point. I shut power back off and removed the element wires, I then checked across both screws on each element. The top element read resistance while the lower one had a complete short. So why don't I have hot water?