If you end up getting a new one I sure would advise you to consider installing it yourself. I did it by reading the do-it-yourself plumbing book from Home Depot and asking a lot of dumb questions. Well, thinking back on it that was in the good old days when the clerks at Home Depot were really good profesionals. Seems these days you are lucky if you can find a clerk and if you do it is a dumb kid who knows nothing. Oh BTW, I am a 62 year old woman and I went on to plumb my sister’s cabin using the book and dumb questions…and plastic pipe, Gods gift for do-it-yourselfers.
You’re welcome bp, I tried to get back with ya on the heater model and etc.
IIRC Reliance was purchased by State and is now Reliance/State Ind. They make Maytag appliances also…(I think)
Your model is out of date and parts may be hard to get. The Reliance/State model 600 series is available though. Don’t know for how long. Looks like reliance products are being filtered out completely.
I’ve got a couple of (damned hard to find) cites if you’re interested.
http://www.aubuchonhardware.com/brands/reliance-state_ind.asp
<HTML><FONT BACK="#ffffff" style=“BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff” SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10>http://doitbest.com/shop/vendor_items.asp?mscssid=48NPT5HK05HC9JKD9LK6LW46E4PBCEDB&mbrid=502987&paging_code=1&SearchID=464457&find_in_vendor=water+heater&vendor=Reliance%2FState+Ind.&vendornum=6692<BR>
<BR>
http://www.stateind.com/residential/residential.htm</FONT></HTML>
hope they work…good luck 
You’re welcome bp, I tried to get back with ya on the heater model and etc.
IIRC Reliance was purchased by State and is now Reliance/State Ind. They make Maytag appliances also…(I think)
Your model is out of date and parts may be hard to get. The Reliance/State model 600 series is available though. Don’t know for how long. Looks like reliance products are being filtered out completely.
I’ve got a couple of (damned hard to find) cites if you’re interested.
http://www.aubuchonhardware.com/brands/reliance-state_ind.asp
<HTML><FONT BACK="#ffffff" style=“BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff” SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10>http://doitbest.com/sh
You’re welcome bp, I tried to get back with ya on the heater model and etc.
IIRC Reliance was purchased by State and is now Reliance/State Ind. They make Maytag appliances also…(I think)
Your model is out of date and parts may be hard to get. The Reliance/State model 600 series is available though. Don’t know for how long. Looks like reliance products are being filtered out completely.
I’ve got a couple of (damned hard to find) cites if you’re interested.
http://www.aubuchonhardware.com/brands/reliance-state_ind.asp
<HTML><FONT BACK="#ffffff" style=“BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff” SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10>http://doitbest.com/sh
WTF was that? I swear I only hit submit once.
and YOU miss smartypants I have something to say to folks like you and to you in particular.
BRAVO <tips hat> I can’t begin to relate the number of times folks have had me over to repair “too simple to believe” jobs.
Lady called me, said her water wasn’t working in the bath room sink. Showed up and removed the aerator/screen on the end of the faucet, dumped out the sediment, replaced and presto…water.
Another…showed up, toilet broken…replaced chain on handle…hmmm
best yet…refrigerator not cold…show up, plug it in…grrrr
Of course I cannot charge these widow women for this kind of stuff.
I wonder if they just like the company?
Again… props to you on your resourcefulness and confidence.
So…we replaced the fuses, the elements, and (just tonight) the thermostats. Elderpoet checked all the connections with his little wire-checking thingy, and they all seem to be working.
If I don’t have hot water by midnight, I guess I’ll be buying a hot water heater tomorrow…
You’ll probably need a new cat, too…
Gosh T=keela, thanks for that nice complement. Funny you should mention the fridge incident. Or maybe not so funny…
When people my age were little and learning to read, it was the Dick, Jane, and Sally series. Years later I realized that I only remembered one story from those books and it was the one where Mother got an ELECTRIC refridgerator. She had to call the repair man because it wouldn’t work. Of course the book made quite jolly of how the MAN just plugged it right in for the silly twit. Of course nobody would have called her a silly twit back then. It just seemed normal for women to be so dumb. Silly, silly, mother, the reader said–I think it really bothered me because I knew I wasn’t.
We did it! We bought and installed a new heater, and now we are all clean and happy again. Thank you all SO MUCH for your help and encouragement. Now I feel like Jodi Repairgal. 
Not to worry, stockton. We have eight cats. Three are identical, interchangeable kitties. Their names are Buckley, Buckley, and Buckely.
I think I’ll go take a shower. Whoohoo!!
Sorry to sound confused, but if the fuses are good, the thermostats are good, and the elements are good, there is no logical reason for you to not have hot water! 
Sometimes it’s better when dealing with old appliances to simply start from scratch and buy a new one in the first place OR so I’ve discovered. You know what they say about hindsight.
More than likely if it wasn’t any one thing in particular. A direct short (the mouse) fried the wiring and/or all the components.
In any event, good for you, I know how wonderful hot water is when you’ve been without.
Not too costly a lesson I hope. Cheaper than the professionals either way I bet. 