wekiva wrote:

We moved into a new-used home about a year ago. 6 months ago our water no
longer got very hot. We had a plumber come out and install a new element in
our heater. (I believe there are 2 and he replaced 1). 2 days ago our hot
water got VERY hot. It will cause a burn if you hold hand under it now. Is
this indicative of a failing element? The hot water heater is probably 20
years old...probably time for new one? Or should we check on replacing the
other element?


Besides thermostat problems, a failed element can cause overheating.
If the element shorts to the (grounded) sheath internally, high
currents can flow which the thermostat cannot interrupt.

With the power turned off, take the wires off the element terminals
and use Ohmmeter to check from each terminal to ground. A good
element will read greater than ~10,000 Ohms to ground.

Jim