Replacing the Oven Igniter
You’re getting ready to cook a nice casserole for the family for dinner, and you reach over to turn on the oven, but nothing happens. There’s no click, no heat, nothing. Your oven igniter no longer works, and you can’t afford to replace the oven or have a technician fix it for you. Don’t worry; you can easily replace the oven igniter yourself, with a few instructions, and a step-by-step video.
Update: AppliancePartsPros.com has produced a quick video that shows how to replace an oven igniter step by step:
Purchase a new flat oven igniter here: Oven Igniter
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Purchase a new round oven igniter here: Round Oven Igniter
Most gas ovens use a glowbar igniter for their electronic ignitions in series wit an oven valve. The current passes through the igniter, acting as a heater that will cause another piece of bimetal to “warp”, which in turn opens the gas valve. When the burner flame continuously heats the igniter, the valve will remain on, but if the flame is extinguished, the resistance of the igniter increases, and the valve is turned off. These igniters are the most common part of an oven to fail.
You’ll find there are two basic types of igniters – flat and round – and they re not interchangeable, so you’ll need to know which one you are looking for prior to making a purchase.
While you can use meters to diagnose the problem with your oven, you don’t really need to – if you see the igniter glowing (a dull red) but the oven doesn’t light, you need to replace the igniter. You may even smell a gaseous odor. Even if it does light but takes more than two minutes, you need to replace the part. More than ninety percent of the time, the igniter is going to be the problem with an oven that won’t heat up. If you don’t see any glow at all, you can be fairly certain that the igniter itself is broken; inspect if for cracks, and if found, you definitely must replace it.
What makes the replacement of the igniter so simple is that you don’t have to worry about polarity of the part – you simply wire the new piece in exactly as the old one was prior to removal. Be sure that you don’t attach it directly to 120 volts because it will burn out. Also, you want to make sure that the igniter and the valve are in series with each other to avoid burning out both pieces in a hurry. The new igniter should come with ceramic nuts to secure it back into the position of the original part, making installation a breeze. The entire process should only take a few minutes.
Of course, you may find that, after you’re finished replacing the oven igniter, the part will glow and the oven still won’t light, in which case you need a new valve. Because of the price of this piece, you shouldn’t replace it more than once – the second time it goes out, you should replace the oven entirely.
Replacing the oven igniter is the simplest way to repair your oven, and it takes little technical knowledge or effort on your part to get it done. With a little information on how to diagnose the problem, you’ll be on your way to do-it-yourself heaven!
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June 25th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
new igniter keeps on glowing after the burner lights. How long should the igniter stay on after the buner lights?
July 6th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Planning on replacing the ingnitor. Do I have to get into the back to the oven in order to detach the wiring to replace or is there a way to access from the front/interior?
July 11th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
John, this is absolutely normal. An oven igniter does two things - 1. ignites the gas 2. opens and keeps the gas valve open while your oven is on by supplying just enough amperage to the valve.
Steve, here is a post that has step by step instructions on oven igniter replacement - http://forum.appliancepartspros.com/oven-repair-including-ranges-cooktops/1332-help-instructions-install-oven-igniter.html I can tell you that this is one of the easiest appliance repairs you will run in to. Just make sure to follow all the safety guidelines like turning off power to the oven first and watching out for sharp edges.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I ran the cleaning cycle of my Jenn air JGR8850adb and one hour into the process, an F1 code came up and the process stopped. The oven otherwise seems to work fine.
Any idea?
July 5th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Alexandre, see F1 error code test here http://www.appliancepartspros.com/repairtips/repairtips_appliance+fault+codes.aspx
August 25th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
I followed your advice and replaced the igniter. However, the oven still doesn’t heat up. The igniter doesn’t glow at all. I am not sure what to check next. Could it be the safety valve or the control switch, where the knob turns.
Thanks a million,
Gerald
January 11th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
my viking propane 36″ range makes a rapid clicking sound but no ignition asnd no visable spark happens.
September 5th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
I replaced the ignitor and it doesn’t even glow this time. I thought it was the polarity, but I see here that doesn’t matter. The oven worked slightly before with a very faint gas smell. Now, there is no heating at all and no gas smell. The gas is back on because the stove top works. I had to cut and ceramic-nut the wires together. And I can’t return the piece either?
September 8th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
Brett,
Sounds like the igniter is either not getting power to it (check the connection at the wire nuts) or the igniter coil may be broken. If you bought the new igniter from AppliancePartsPros, I’m sure they’ll take care of you.
December 4th, 2011 at 4:40 am
I replaced my ignitor using this video. Removal and installation went perfectly. Before the oven was completely dead; with the new ignitor it gets up to the desired temperature. However, there is still a problem. There is the smell of gas and also there is the occasional sound that sounds like the gas is being ignited (i.e., the same sound you would hear on a gas grill when first igniting the grill). What would cause this?
June 20th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
my frigidaire lp gas oven ignites upon preheat but when starts second cycle, smell alot of propane. help please….what is the problem?
November 12th, 2012 at 11:17 pm
ignitor starts glowing after 15 seconds gas comes on oven beeps when desired temp. reached shuts off and start losing heat where ls the problem centered
November 13th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
Larry, what happens then? Does the oven come back on?
The oven doesn’t always stay on. Normal oven operation is very similar to what you are describing: igniter comes on, then burner ignites, oven heats up to set temperature and burner shuts off. After temp. drops a few degrees (about 25 I think), the cycle repeats again, until the oven is turned off.
December 17th, 2012 at 2:00 am
Husband just replaced igniter and after plugging the stove back in, the oven turns on (without any buttons being pushed) and won’t shut off until he unplugs it again.
Repair Question? Post it in the Forum
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