Kitchen Gas Appliances - Hot Water Heater

Good Morning,
While taking a shower this morning, I realized that we ran out of hot water. This has happened before, so it was either the pilot light or ran out of propane. I went down to inspect the problem and found that the flame was on high and it appeared to be normal. As I'm watching the flame, several drops of water fell onto the flame. There were three drops, about 15 seconds apart and then they stopped. Checking the heater several times after that and it seems the dripping has stopped and the flame appears to be working correctly now and we have hot water again.
By the way, the water heater is probably 15 to 16 years old.
Thanks for any information.
bj

You probably were seeing condensation caused by cold water entering the tank and being heated quickly. I would throughly inspect the chamber with a flash light to see if there are water stains or puddles, indicating a more serious problem.. As for your running out of water, it sounds like your dip tube is bad. This is a tube that directs the cold water to the bottom of the tank to prevent it from displacing the hotter water at the top. You can replace these, but due to the age of your water heater, I would suggest that you replace it. They last approximately 10-12 years. Yours doesn't owe you a thing, and a replacement will save you money in the long run as it will be far more economical. It can also save you the aggravation of a broken water heater leaking all over the floor. Do it now while it is still working.!

New units are far more efficient and recovery times are faster.