Water Heaters - Replaced Both thermistats and both elements but...

i have a 50 gallon or so tank thats a few years old. the hot water only last about 5 minutes before its basically out. i've replaced both the upper and lower elements and both thermistats... it doesn't seem like the lower element ever kicks in. the top of the tank is hot but not the bottom.... any help would be greatly appreciated..thanks

Welcome to the forums! When replacing the thermostats did you rewire them as the originals were? The bottom thermostat is dependent on the upper one for its action. Are either of the red buttons popped out. If so, reset them by pressing them until they click. Sometimes they come shipped in a tripped position, apparently after factory testing. Let us know if any of this doesn't work.

thanks for the response chandler. i rewired them exactly how the old ones came out. i tested all the contacts for power. the upper has 240 over the element when it was kicked on. the leads going down to the lower thermo never seem to have power from them. i don't think the lower thermo ever gets the chance to kick on... to answer yoru question though, there is no breaker on the lower thermo just a temp adjustment. i just moved into the house a few months back.... its possible that the old owner tried messing with it himself. is it possible for you to give me a wire color demo? possibly the order of the colors down the left side of the upper thermo then the colors down the right side right now its: black, red then yellow down the left side... then red blue black down the right..... does thta sound correct or is it too vague because different manuf. use different wiring....
thanks again for you help

it seems the original home owner had done some rewiring himself... there was an 800 number on the side of the WH that had a tech guy that was able to tell me the proper placement of the wiring....hot showers here i come

Super! Glad you got it working.