Long story short. I just replaced the top element in my hot water tank. Put it all back together, hooked the leads back up.

I ohmed it out and it ohmed good. I turned power back on and went to test continuity and when I touched the screws one of the tested probes sparked and it smoked my mulimeter.

So my question is simple. Did I do something wrong? There are only two leads going to the element and they are not marked and the element is not marked for specificity either.

So what did I do? Was it just dumb luck that my multimeter smoked on the element I just changed?

I am keeping a close eye on it, and water seems to be getting hot again so its working properly. I just don't want a damn electrical fire or something stupid.