Spilled Water on My Gas Stove - Won’t Light

Cooking is a creative process, and sometimes being creative means getting a little messy. If you have a gas-lit stove, there's a good chance that you’ve spilled water on it before.

And while that's not normally a problem, sometimes spilling water on your gas stove means water damage has occurred, and your stove will no longer light.

So, before you go and make an even bigger mess out of things—here are the steps you should take to check your stove and make sure that you're being safe while you're trying to relight your stove after you've soaked it in water.

But remember, before you dive in and go full fix it, make sure that you put safety first. If you smell gas of any kind or think that your stovetop could be leaking, cut the gas line to your house and evacuate.

Then call a professional. A gas leak is never something to be messed with. If you decide that you need to mess with the electrical of your stove while you're fixing the stovetop, make sure that you turn off the power to that portion of the house. It's easier to get electrocuted than you think—trust us.

The Waiting Game

Don't hate us for saying it, but sometimes the best solution is a little patience. It's like when your laptop won't work and somebody asks you if you've tried restarting it—it's a little bit infuriating, but it's also sometimes the solution.

Your best bet is always to start with the easiest solution first, so clean up the water and make sure that you've cleared any moisture that you can clear from your stove. And then wait a little bit.

Maybe your stove just needs a little bit of time for the water to finish evaporating from the electrical areas that it has affected. If you've waited for longer than an hour and your stove still won't light, it might be time to move on to a different solution.

Disassemble and Dry

If your stovetop still isn't working after you've waited for a little while, it may be time to disassemble a little. Remove any part that is easily removable on your stovetop. This means grates and knobs.

And then look for any remaining water that may be there. If you don't see any water, unplug your stovetop and begin investigating near the electrical portion of your stove.

Making sure that nothing is plugged in, you can gently blow-dry the electrical portion on low heat in very short intervals to help speed up the drying process. Once everything feels dry, you can plug your stovetop back in and test the sparkers.

Be very careful as you do so, and do not touch any electrical element while you’re testing.

Call for Help

If the spark on your stove no longer works, you may be dealing with a bigger problem than just water damage. All the water might have added to the issue, there's likely another underlying cause contributing to the problem. This may be the time to call for help.

Our first call to help, if we're being honest, is usually YouTube. If you can put the make and model of your oven stovetop into YouTube and find an in-depth tutorial on how to solve the problem, that might be the solution you're looking for.

That being said, please do not take on any task that could potentially harm you and that is out of your skill-set. This is no time to be a DIY hero—if you want to keep cooking, you need to be cautious.

If YouTube doesn't have what you need, it's time to call in the professionals. You can place a call to the manufacturer if your stovetop is still under warranty, or you can call a local repair person who will likely be able to give you an expert opinion and quote you a price for getting your stovetop fixed.