January 6, 2024

a) Good evening! I hope that you are comfortable and well, and that you sleep well tonight.

b) This morning my feet and legs were so painful, spastic and weak, that I considered telephoning you for help; but then managed to get up and dressed by myself without falling.

c) Yesterday afternoon, Nathaniel gave me a history of the failure of the Nantucket hot water supply. His account suggested to me the following further considerations:

d) There is no evidence that the showerstall or bathtub mixing valves require adjustment. I advise leaving them alone for the present and for the forseeable future.

e) Nathaniel told me that the electricity to the hot water tank has been turned off, and the tank itself drained. Before refilling the tank

e1) I would test for tightness each of the screwed wire connections: in d240103_04_hot_water_heater.png (attached) to ground, to high temperature limit switch, to upper thermostat, to upper heating element, to lower thermostat, and to lower heating element.

e2) I would then, with the Ohmmeter, measure the resistances between the two exposed connections of each, the upper and the lower heating elements, which would at this juncture be dry and unaffected by the conductivity of water.

e3) I would compare these measured resistances of the installed heating elements with the resistance of one of the standard  4500 Watt replacement elements you brought along, and replace any installed resistance element whose resistance was substantially greater than the resistance of the standard.

e4) With respect to the Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) box shown on d240103_04_hot_water_heater.png (attached), I would measure the resistance between the upper left terminal 1, attached to the black wire and the lowest left terminal 2, attached to the yellow wire. If this resistance is other than zero, I would install the new Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) module I had brought along.

f) Installation of Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) module.  With the electricity turned off at the circuit breaker box, I would NOT remove the wires from the installed, defective Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) module all at once, but I would transfer the wires from the installed, defective Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) module to the new Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) module one wire at a time.  When all the wires had been transferred I would unscrew the defective Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) module from the tank. The new Upper Thermostat and High Temperature Limit (ECO) module should then be attached to the tank directly, without any intervening insulation.

g) Please do not be angry with me.