You will notice that the outer shell is cracked in this photo. It was like that when I got into the area. The ocean marine environment is saltwater based and is very hazardous to even plastics. The boat is buttoned up and gets hot and just dries out plastic until it is brittle. Looking at the tank around the insulation it appears to be in great shape. It also appears that new tanks from SuperStor have a metal jacket.

Also looking at the picture it appears that whoever installed this tank decided not to put ring connectors straight to the thermostat control. I would have preferred a different methodology of going straight in.

After all connections are made turn the water back on and fill the tank with water prior to turning the power back on to the tank. The heating element has to be completely submerged in order to not damage it. The simple way to remove air from all water systems is to open up both the hot and cold water at each faucet.

BH