WOW! I'm glad you caught it before something really bad happened! I should consider my self lucky, my Rowenta was leaking all over the place and suddenly just stopped working altogether. Throw it out and will never but a Rowenta again. I purchased a panasonic cordless iron and I love it so far so good! It doesn't have the steam like the Rowenta but for all the stop and go ironing I do in quilting it's great! The big plus is not having a cord to get tangled up in!!!!!!