Plumbing and Piping - Put new bottom element in, water still messed up (water heater)

Hi, I got some very good help here last time so here goes, this is about my old post of my water heater. Heres a review:
installed brand new water heater out of box in October.
filled it up, ran faucets for approx 5 min after installation, turned on power to check it, then turned it off as we werent living here then. Moved in switched on power, all this was done before it got freezing out, and we had barely enough for one hot shower.
Wrapped pipes, hit resets.
then talked to you guys cuz that didnt work.
found out i needed a new bottom element.
Just changed it today, and still only a small amount of hot water coming in. The hardware store checked the old one with a tester and said it was still a good one.
Rechecked wiring with diagram on the water heater and the one that comes in the packet all checks out.
diagram is as follows it says yellow and blue wires are for power...both hooked to hot wires. black is for off peak service contact, and its not hooked to anything as i have nothing to hook it to....all this is correct according to the diagram.
This water heater is from the American Water Heater Company
its a 40 gallon storage tank, and according to the available wiring and the diagrams its a double element interlocking (non-simultaneous) Oh yes i almost forgot the wire running from the breaker box for the water heater is an aluminum one, but its all hoooked together in the top of the heater unit with wire nuts, and the wires were twisted together as much as possible, was kinda hard twisitng the almunium wires with the copper ones.
Well thats all i know to tell ya so any and all help i could get would be GREATLY appreciated......thanks much again

I believe you need special connectors to connect AL to copper wiring. Other then that did you check the thermostats? Or made sure you have 220V between the two wires going to the heater?

well im no electrician.....hehe i am barely able to do a lot myself as im just starting out, however........my dad helped me install it and he knows what hes doing.....and im pretty sure it is 220 based on what he says, and the fact that the breaker is a double switch not just a single one. As far as the thermostats go i dont know, i do know that before the bottom half of the water heater tank was cold behind the element, this was before i changed the element today. Also today when i installed it, i let the water run for 10 min just to be sure the whole thing was filled up, then i just waited another 20 or so for good measure with the water off. and then i turned the power on to the heater. Hmmm as far as thermostats.......i wouldnt even know how to check em to tell if they are in good order or not.......i do know howver the whole unit is only like 3 months old being installed.

Also if the heater is working to some extent doesnt this mean its getting power, therefore the special connectors wouldnt be the problem?

Start with a voltmeter and make SURE you have 220 volts across the 2 top screws of the upper thermostat. That is your incoming power. If you DO NOT have the power there, then check for power at the output side of the breaker(s) for the W.H. You could very well have a bad breaker or a bad wire between the breaker and the W.H.

ok thanks very much ill do that then report back :]
and btw thanks very much for the help