Gas Burner Won't Light
You turn the knob. Click, click, click. No flame. Or worse, you smell a little gas and nothing happens at all. Maybe one burner works fine and the front left one just sits there sulking. This happens a lot in our part of the country, and most of the time the cause is simpler than you'd guess. Here's how we sort it out.
- Safe checks only
- All major brands
- Written quotes
- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quote before work starts
Taking calls until 5:00 PM ET
What the clicking is actually telling you
That click is the spark igniter firing. If you hear it, your stove has power and the switch under the knob is doing its job. The problem is downstream: either the spark isn't landing where the gas comes out, or the gas isn't getting there. If you hear nothing at all, the trouble is upstream instead — power, a bad switch, or the igniter module. Different roads, different fixes. One more clue worth noting: if every burner clicks when you turn just one knob, that points at a stuck switch or moisture in the switch body. Tell us which of those you're hearing when you call.
Start with the cheap stuff: spills, crumbs, and wet caps
Boil-over is the most common reason a burner quits. Sugary sauce or grease dries into the little holes on the burner cap and blocks the gas path. The spark fires into empty air. Same thing happens after you wash the burner parts and reassemble them damp — water in the burner head will kill ignition until it dries out. Pull the grate. Lift the burner cap straight up. Look at the ring of ports underneath. If they're crusted, that's your answer. A stiff toothbrush and a paperclip clear them. Let everything dry fully before you set it back down, and make sure the cap sits flat and square. Half the calls we take end right here.
Igniter problems: cracked, worn, or soaked
The igniter is the little ceramic-and-metal nub sitting beside the burner. Grease bakes onto it. The ceramic cracks. The spark then jumps to the frame instead of the burner ports, and you get clicking with no light. A cracked igniter usually shows a hairline in the white ceramic. A dirty one looks brown and glazed over. On a gas stove with electronic ignition, constant clicking that won't stop — even with all knobs off — usually means moisture or a shorted switch, not the igniter itself. Around here, older farmhouse outlets and shared circuits make this worse. Weak or ungrounded power can make ignition erratic across the whole cooktop, not just one burner.
Gas flow and safety valve issues
If the spark looks strong and lands right but there's still no flame, gas isn't reaching the burner. Could be a partly closed shutoff behind the range. Could be the safety valve or the orifice. On sealed-burner ranges, a clogged orifice is common in homes with hard water and heavy cooking residue. This is where you stop. Don't loosen a gas fitting. Don't pull the cooktop apart. If you smell gas at any point — even faintly — shut the knobs off, open a window, leave, and call the gas utility first. When the burner is dead and clean, that's the point to bring us in. Call us and describe what you heard.
What we do that you can't from the kitchen floor
We test the spark module output and check each switch for continuity instead of guessing. We measure gas pressure at the manifold, verify the orifice size matches the fuel, and inspect the safety valve for a stuck plunger. We check the ground, because a poorly grounded range clicks and misfires in ways that look like ten other problems. We also look at your house side of things. Hollow-road properties on older wiring, propane conversions done years ago by somebody's cousin, moisture from an unheated back kitchen — all of it shows up in ignition faults. We repair all major brands as an independent shop. One truck, one guy's name on it.
Gas Burner Won't Light — quick answers
Can I light the burner with a match while I wait?
On most ranges, yes — turn the knob to low, hold a lit match at the burner, then open the gas. Never let gas run before the flame is there. If you smell gas at all, skip it and call us.
Why do all my burners click when I turn on just one?
The spark module fires all igniters at once by design on many ranges. It's normal during startup. If clicking continues after the burner lights, or won't stop with knobs off, a switch is likely stuck or wet.
The burner lights but the flame is yellow and lazy. Same problem?
Different issue. Yellow flame usually means a blocked air shutter, a dirty burner cap, or wrong orifices for your fuel type. It burns dirty and sooty. Worth having looked at rather than ignoring.
How it works
- Step 1
Tell us the symptom
Call us or fill out the form. Describe the noise, the smell, the puddle. Brand and model help. We ask a few questions so the van carries the right parts before we ever pull in.
- Step 2
We come find you
Gravel drive, creek crossing, farm lane off a county route — give us a landmark and we'll get there. We text before we head out so nobody sits by the window all day waiting.
- Step 3
Diagnose, then repair
We open the machine, test the part, and show you what failed. You hear the plan before any work starts. Common parts ride with us, so many jobs finish on the same visit.
- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quote before work starts
Questions worth asking any repair company
Ask these of anyone you let into your home — us included. Call and we'll answer all five before you book anything.
- 1Ask for their license numberThen verify it with your state licensing board rather than taking it on trust.
- 2Ask for proof of insuranceLiability cover protects you if something goes wrong in your home.
- 3Get the quote in writingIncluding the trip fee, whether it's credited against the repair, and parts.
- 4Ask how they handle callbacksIf the same fault returns, what happens? Get the answer before work begins.
- 5Check their own reviewsLook the business up independently — their Google profile, not just what they tell you.
Why homeowners call us
- Coal-country water eats machinesHard water and iron leave scale on heaters, valves, and pumps. Dishwashers film over. Washers clog. We see it every week and we clean and replace the parts that mineral buildup actually ruins.
- Old farmhouse wiring, respectedPlenty of homes here run on two-prong outlets and panels older than the appliance. Low voltage and shared circuits cause faults people blame on the machine. We check the power before condemning a board.
- Mike's name on the truckThis is a small workshop, not a call center. The person who answers knows the tech who shows up. If something isn't right after we leave, you call us and reach us directly.
- Independent on every brandWe work on refrigerators, ranges, washers, dryers, dishwashers, and freezers from all major makers. No brand tells us what to recommend. Sometimes the honest answer is that a repair isn't worth doing.
- All major brands, gas & electricWhirlpool, Samsung, LG, GE, Maytag, Bosch, KitchenAid and more — as an independent repair company.
- Straight answersIf it isn't worth repairing, we'll say so — often on the phone.
About this guide
If the safe checks didn't fix it, the fault is real
Describe what you found and we'll take it from there — booking takes about a minute.
- A real person answers
- Open 7 days
- Written quotes
- All major brands
- Gas & electric
Rather not call? Get a free quote →