Is it Good When Your Gas Oven Ignitors Keep on Clicking?
Gas ovens use propane or natural gas to light their burners, both on the stovetop and within the oven compartment. It is common for the ignitors that these ovens use to click as they operate, before they ignite the flow of gas and turn off. This clicking occurs with burners both on the stovetop and inside the oven compartment. However, your burners can still develop problems even if the ignitors are clicking. By comparing the symptoms of a faulty burner with the noise the ignitor is making, you can narrow down problems.
Ignitor Operation
Ignitors work by creating a spark which ignites the incoming gas. This spark is often made between two electrodes, although for some systems there is a single ignitor point that is quickly heated up by a burst of electrical current. With each click, the ignitor is producing energy to try and ignite the gas. Some perform this process automatically, while some burners have an ignition setting on dials that you have to hold.
Normal Clicking
If your ignitors keep on clicking on your gas burner, but your burner still operates correctly, then you don't have anything to worry about. A series of rapid clicks at the beginning of the burner sequence is expected, since the ignitor needs to work for brief period before the gas has built up enough to ignite. Inside the oven compartment, intermittent clicking may occur as the burner fires up, increasing the temperature over several minutes to the proper degrees. However, if the ignitor does not click at all, or if the ignitors click even after the burner is on, this indicates a problem.
No Clicking
If the ignitors do not click at all or only click once before stopping, you probably will not be able to light your burners at all. This is a sign that something is wrong with your ignitor itself. It could have burned out or deposits could have formed on the electrodes to keep them from working. Cleaning and replacing ignitor components should be able to solve this problem.
Continuous Clicking
If your ignitor will not stop clicking, this is another sign that something is wrong with your oven. If the burner will not light, the gas flow is probably stopped or clogged. If the burner lights but the ignitor keeps on clicking, this is a sign that the ignitor is not sensing that the burner is working or that your dial is stuck on the ignition system and cannot move on.
References
Writer Bio
Tyler Lacoma has worked as a writer and editor for several years after graduating from George Fox University with a degree in business management and writing/literature. He works on business and technology topics for clients such as Obsessable, EBSCO, Drop.io, The TAC Group, Anaxos, Dynamic Page Solutions and others, specializing in ecology, marketing and modern trends.
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