Water heater dripping inside to the burner but only when the burner is on.?

Question

The dripping stops once the burner stops.

Answer 1

Natural gas is made up of methane(CH4) when mixed with 2 parts of Oxygen(2O2) and burned you get carbon dioxide and 2 parts water vapour CO2+2H2O when the hot byproducts of combustion hits the cold tank the water vapour condenses into water droplets and drips onto the burner. The colder the tap water you have and the colder the water in the tank all influence the amount of dripping you will notice dripping onto the burner.This is normal go to your neighbours house after they have a long shower and you will see the same thing there. The same applies to other Hydrocarbon fuels like propane

Answer 2

the only 4 things that are going to put the fire in a "standard" gas water heater are: 1. bad thermal couple 2. gas control valve 3. some type of venting issue 4. new models the "FVIR" bulb in water heater ruptured which holds the damper at the bottom of the water heater up which allows the combustion air in from the side vents. But yes 8 out of 10 changing out the thermal and if that doesn't do it, the gas control valve will do the trick. Problem with the magnet. Safety feature pretty much standard on new gas water heaters.

Answer 3

Thank you frozenbrew! After replacing the thermocoupler, water dripping onto the hot element alarmed me, but stopped completely after turning off for an hour, reading your post, and restarting (this time from a partially warm tank, rather than a cold one).

Answer 4

Your going to have an explosion of water eventually and, soon. Believe me when I tell you this. You have a spot in the tank that has finally corroded through and it's leaking under pressure when the water gets hot and expands. One day it's going to give and your going to have a a flood. If your tank is over eight to ten years old go get a new one right now and think about putting it in real soon.

Answer 5

Sounds like your tank has a small place rusted through, you probably should start planning to replace the water heater.

Answer 6

if not leaking at fittings and running all the way from there to the burner then it might have a crack .
how old ? maybe it'll make it past the season greetings ?
good luck .

Answer 7

It is probably condensation and not that big of a deal. Try putting a dehumidifier in the area and see if that helps. It isn't a great situation but it certainly won't explode.

Answer 8

It is probally condensation if the water heater is in an area that is damp.