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glatt · 12-16-2014, 08:41 PM

The gas oven has been on the fritz. You could hear it the last several times we used it, cycling on and off every ten seconds or so. But there was a glow coming out from under the floor pan, so something was lit down there.

So I took the bottom floor pan of the oven off to watch the burner. It was definitely messed up. I figured it could be the igniter or the valve, or the pressure regulator. Or the control panel or the thermostat.

I did a little research and found that the igniter actually controls the valve. When the igniter heats up it starts drawing more current, and when it hits a magic number of amps, the valve opens and sends gas to the burner. So I dug out my multimeter and measured the current. I had read in one place that the magic number was 2.8 amps, an I read somewhere else that you should replace any igniter that draws fewer than 3.2 amps.

This guy was drawing 2.5 amps. So I think it's the igniter. That's good, because they are only $30 online. The valves are more like $150.

So now you know what an oven burner looks like just as the igniter is starting to fail.

I ordered one from Amazon with two-day shipping. Need to get this fixed this weekend before the holiday. It should be easy. Just remove a couple screws from the old igniter. Unplug the connecter, an swap in the new one.

12-16-2014, 08:41 PM	#574
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	The gas oven has been on the fritz. You could hear it the last several times we used it, cycling on and off every ten seconds or so. But there was a glow coming out from under the floor pan, so something was lit down there. So I took the bottom floor pan of the oven off to watch the burner. It was definitely messed up. I figured it could be the igniter or the valve, or the pressure regulator. Or the control panel or the thermostat. I did a little research and found that the igniter actually controls the valve. When the igniter heats up it starts drawing more current, and when it hits a magic number of amps, the valve opens and sends gas to the burner. So I dug out my multimeter and measured the current. I had read in one place that the magic number was 2.8 amps, an I read somewhere else that you should replace any igniter that draws fewer than 3.2 amps. This guy was drawing 2.5 amps. So I think it's the igniter. That's good, because they are only $30 online. The valves are more like $150. So now you know what an oven burner looks like just as the igniter is starting to fail. I ordered one from Amazon with two-day shipping. Need to get this fixed this weekend before the holiday. It should be easy. Just remove a couple screws from the old igniter. Unplug the connecter, an swap in the new one.