Here's a two-for-one nobody asks for: you notice water around the water heater, and then you notice the hot water's gone entirely because the pilot light went out. Coincidence? Almost never. Water and pilot assemblies are old enemies, and when they meet, the pilot usually loses. Let's untangle what happened and what to do about it — in the right order.
How a leak kills a pilot
The pilot assembly lives at the bottom of a gas heater, right where leaking water loves to travel. A drip from above — a weeping fitting, a sweating pipe, a T&P discharge — can fall directly onto the pilot or the burner area. Water snuffs the little flame outright, or it fouls the thermocouple: the small sensor rod that sits in the pilot flame and tells the gas valve "all clear, keep the gas coming." A wet or corroded thermocouple can't sense the flame properly, so the gas valve does the safe thing and shuts down. No flame, no hot water — the system working as designed, just for an annoying reason.
Things to avoid
The temptation is to just relight it and move on. Resist — at least until the leak is addressed. Relighting a pilot while water is still dripping onto the assembly is an exercise in frustration: it'll likely go out again, and you're spending time near a compromised appliance for nothing. Worse, repeatedly flooding the area with unburned gas while fumbling with the igniter is genuinely unsafe. Fix the water first, then the flame.
The right sequence
One: deal with the leak — shut off the water supply, and call (833) 713-2101 so we can find and fix the source. Two: let the burner area dry out completely; a soggy pilot assembly won't light reliably no matter what you do. Three: relight following the manufacturer's instructions on the unit's label — usually holding the pilot button while igniting, then keeping it held for thirty seconds or so to let the thermocouple warm up. Four: if the pilot won't stay lit after all that, the thermocouple itself may be fouled or failed, which is a small, standard repair.
When the thermocouple is the real problem
Sometimes the leak is fixed, everything's dry, and the pilot still won't stay lit. That's the thermocouple telling you the water got to it first — corrosion on the sensor tip keeps it from generating the tiny voltage that holds the gas valve open. It's one of the most common gas-heater repairs there is: straightforward, and a good reminder of why leaks near the burner get prompt attention.
Two problems, one visit
The good news about this particular double trouble: it's usually one service call, not two. We fix the leak, dry things out, relight per the manufacturer's procedure, and verify the burner cycles normally — including replacing the thermocouple if the water claimed it. Pilot out and puddle under the heater? Call (833) 713-2101 and we'll sort both.