Question: The ignitor on my General Electric gas stove burned out. Can I manually light my stove? The burners on the top of the stove work fine.
Answer: No, this is not possible due to the gas being controlled by the gas safety valve. You need the ignitor to be working properly before gas is allowed out of the gas safety valve.
The ignitor is a small round or rectangular (flat oven ignitor and the round oven ignitor) device located near the burner and is wired in series with the gas safety valve. When the ignitor is cold, it has a lot of resistance, meaning it gets most of the electricity in the circuit. As the ignitor heats up, its resistance drops allowing the heat to pass to the bi-metal strip in the gas safety valve, which then allows gas to be released to the burner assembly. The gas then gets ignited by the glow-bar ignitor. The ignitor glows the whole time the burner is on, keeping the gas safety valve open. The thermostat senses when the desired temperature is reached, and cuts off electricity to the gas safety valve and ignitor.
DavesRepair.com has an article on “Gas Oven Glowbar Igniters” along with photos and some helpful tips if you plan on making this repair yourself. He also offers some helpful suggestions on the two different types of igniters: the flat oven ignitor and the round oven ignitor and how to tell which shape your gas oven takes.
APWagner.com also offers a helpful article on How Gas Ovens Work which might help you troubleshoot any problems. You can also buy any of these replacement gas oven parts mentioned in this article online at APWagner.com.
General Electric Flat Oven Ignitor Part Number WB2X10016
Flat oven ignitor that is commonly used on gas stoves and ranges from GE and others.
Price: $79.25
Read more about this part or buy it now.
View more flat oven ignitors for gas ovens online.
Universal Round Ignitor Part Number 5304401265
Universal round ignitor commonly found on gas ovens from Frigidaire, Tappan, Westinghouse, Gibson, WCI, and others as well.
Price $70.46
Read more about this part or buy it now.
View a wider-selection of round oven ignitor parts for your gas oven online.
November 18, 2008 at 3:43 pm |
[...] Gas oven won’t heat up? It could be your iginitor [...]
July 3, 2009 at 2:34 pm |
my rangemaster (leisure) gas oven will ignite, but the flames are not getting very high or reaching the required temperature.
July 6, 2009 at 7:58 pm |
Hi Paula,
It could be your ignitor. If you have a glow-bar ignition system, the glow-bar may be old and going bad. It will still glow, but not hot enough to open the gas safety valve. This is a safety feature that ensures there won’t be any gas available if it won’t ignite for sure. Try replacing the ignitor. It’s a relatively cheap part to replace.
Sometimes the oven thermostat or oven sensor can be calibrated wrong, or it may be faulty. If your particular range has an oven that uses an electronic thermostat, and the oven temperature is off by tens of degrees, you probably have to replace it.
On most units that have a mechanical thermostat, you can actually remove the thermostat knob, and adjust the knob to more accurately represent the actual setting of the thermostat. On many models, there’s a screw on the back of the knob with a small calibration plate or ring. You can loosen this screw and adjust the calibration plate. Remember to tighten the screw again. If yours isn’t adjustable, and the temperature is off by a large amount, you should just replace the thermostat.
Check the oven temperature. You can monitor the oven with a calibrating thermometer to check whether or not your thermostat is off.
If you need help finding the correct part for your Gas Range, visit APWagner.com or call at 1-888-279-2463
Mon-Sun – 8am-Midnight Eastern Standard Time.