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M$2 January 31, 2009 08:11 PM

practical question - how to fix malfunctioning lighters on an older gas stove?

I have a new tenant moving into the back house and I was told that couple of gas stove lighters are not working - or rather sometimes they still work and sometimes not. you can still hear the sound but most of the times it would not light up gas.

so the question is - how to fix it? maybe it's just clogged?

is it a common problem with older stoves (8 years old)? is there a simple way to fix, or should I call the gas company?
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Best Answer  Chosen by Asker

 
January 31, 2009 08:45 PM
You hear clicking but there’s no ignition.

First thing to do in this case are the following observation checks which do not require any tools, instruments, or taking anything apart.

1- Check the spark color. A healthy ignition system will produce crisp blue sparks. A weak ignition system, on the other hand, will produce light blue, almost white sparks. The following two checks can be made by switching the suspected burner with a known operating burner:
1. Ignite the burner with a match to verify proper gas supply and air shutter adjustment. Make sure the flame is a clean blue flame, not yellow and sooty.
2. The gap between the ignitor and the burner base is too large. It should be about the thickness of two dimes.
3. Gookus is caked on the ignitor or burner base. Clean the burner caps, heads, flame spreaders, ignitors…that whole area. HINT: do not use stuff like Comet because you’ll gunk everything up big time. Warm water and Basic-H are a good choice.

These following two checks are done by physical inspection “under the hood”:

1. Loose wiring connections at the ignitor, the grounding strap, or spark module.
2. Broken or pinched ignitor wire between the burner and module.

2. Check the spark frequency. Say what? A healthy spark system will crank out three to five sparks per second. If yours is a lot slower than this, then the prime suspect is reverse polarity at the 120vac outlet the range is plugged into.

You hear clicking but it’s erratic.

This is usually a bad spark module. But first, verify that the outlet polarity is correct before you change the module. This flow chart gives you further guidance on troubleshooting erratic spark problems.

Source(s):
Fixitnow.com Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Asker's Rating:
• great answer - thanks!


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