Creative wiring 101.

Not exactly up to code, someone in the past decided this was the way to do a splice in a wall!  That wall is at least 10 inches thick with R30 insulation squeezed between two 2×4 stud walls.

Here is what we found.

Amazed that we had any hot water flow at all!  Look at trhe kink in the left pipe, especially, although BOTH were kinked!