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That sticky igniter on gas ranges drove me nuts till I figured this out
I kept getting callbacks on gas range igniters where the owner said it was clicking but no flame. I'd replace the whole igniter assembly and it would work for a month then do the same thing. After maybe the fourth time on the same model I finally noticed it wasn't the igniter itself, it was the burner cap sitting slightly crooked. People clean them and don't put them back on right, or they get warped from high heat over time. The gap lets gas escape before the igniter can light it, so it just clicks forever. Now I check the cap first, give it a little twist to seat it flat, and I've saved myself three replacement trips in the last two months. Anyone else run into this or have a different trick for the same issue?
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casey34211d agoMost Upvoted
That GE model with the burr is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. I had a Frigidaire once where the cap sat fine but there was this tiny roll of metal on the underside from the stamping process. Filed it down flat and the clicking stopped that same day. Now I just keep a small file in my bag and hit the rim of any cap that looks suspect before I even bother pulling the igniter. Saves hassle.
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Wait, you really think the cap is the main issue here? I've seen that a few times too but in my experience it's usually crud buildup under the igniter itself that messes with the spark gap. Seems like the cap thing would be more obvious unless someone really slammed it on there wrong.
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emma_jones11d ago
Wait, @kim_davis, have you actually tested that theory by swapping just the cap between burners that work and ones that don't? I'm not saying crud buildup is never the issue, but I've had three ranges where cleaning the cap and reseating it flat fixed the clicking, no igniter cleaning needed. On one GE model the cap had a tiny burr on the edge from a drop, just enough to lift it maybe 1/16th of an inch on one side. The gas would pool under there instead of shooting straight up. Took me filing that little lip off and it's been fine for six months now.
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