Russell Smith wrote:

I have a hot water heater that uses a small screw to set the temperature of
the water. I have the unit set at about 120-135 degrees, but the water
coming from the unit is more than 150. Also the breaker on the water heater
itself is kicking off each day and I have to reset it to get hot water. Any
ideas of why this is happening? What should I do?

2 possibilities:

The thermostat is defective (sticking?).

One of the elements has an internal fault to the element sheath.
This can allow current to flow even though the thermostat opens
(one side of) the circuit.

Jim