The Short Answer
Clicking without flame on one burner: food debris in the ports or moisture on the igniter — clean the cap, clear the ports, let everything dry. Clicking that never stops: a wet or corroded igniter switch. Silence instead of clicks: a failed igniter (one burner) or the spark module (all burners). And any smell of gas means stop immediately and call your utility, not a repair shop.
The Safety Line First
Everything in this bulletin assumes an important precondition: no gas odour. The rotten-egg smell added to natural gas exists precisely so you never troubleshoot through it. If it is present with the burners off, open windows, leave switches alone, and use your gas utility's emergency number from outside if needed. With that boundary drawn, the ignition faults below are safe to investigate — they involve the spark side of the system, not the fuel side.
Read the Click Pattern
| What You Hear | Most Likely Story | The Path Forward |
|---|---|---|
| Clicking, no flame, one burner only | Boil-over residue blocking that burner’s ports, or a soaked igniter | Dry-out plus a port cleaning — usually a kitchen-table fix |
| Clicking that never stops, even with knobs off | Moisture shorting an igniter switch somewhere on the cooktop | Unplug the range, let it dry fully; persistent clicking means a switch replacement |
| No click at all on one burner | That position’s spark igniter has failed | Igniter electrode replaced — quick professional work |
| No click on every burner | The shared spark module or its power feed | Module diagnosed and swapped by a technician |
| Weak orange flame or flame that lifts off the ports | Dirty ports or an air-shutter mixture problem | Cleaning plus combustion adjustment — a licensed-gas task |
The Clean-and-Dry Cure
Most single-burner ignition failures in our service logs trace to two ingredients: pasta water and time. A boil-over floods the burner well, residue hardens in the flame ports, and the spark either grounds out through moisture or the gas cannot reach the electrode. The cure costs nothing — cap and grate off, ports cleared with a straightened paper clip, cap washed and dried bone-dry, then reseated so it sits flush in its locating ring. A crooked cap is its own epidemic: it looks fine from above and misdirects gas away from the spark gap entirely.
“We carry spare igniters, but the tool that fixes the most burners in Sherwood Park is a paper clip and patience.”
Field note — The Technician Team
Sparks Are Professional Territory
When cleaning and drying change nothing, the electrical half of the ignition system is done: a cracked igniter electrode, a failed switch behind a knob, or the spark module that feeds every burner. Those repairs open the cooktop above live gas plumbing — exactly the work our licensed technicians at Sherwood Park stove repair exist for, and each is a quick, modestly priced visit. A gas oven below the cooktop failing at the same time is no coincidence either — the oven heat bulletin explains the shared aging story.
Burner Questions, Answered
Why does my gas stove keep clicking after a spill?
Liquid found its way under the burner cap into the igniter switch circuit, and electricity is finding paths it should not. Unplug the range, remove the caps and grates, and give everything a day to dry — most post-spill clicking cures itself. Clicking that survives a full dry-out means one igniter switch has corroded and needs replacing.
How do I clean the ports on a gas burner?
With the burner cool and the range unplugged, lift off the cap and clear each small opening with a straightened paper clip or a stiff brush — never a toothpick, which can snap off inside. Wash the cap in warm soapy water, dry it completely, and reseat it in its keyed position; a cap sitting crooked blocks the spark gap all by itself.
When is a burner problem an emergency?
The moment you smell gas without a flame burning. Stop diagnosing, avoid switches and open flames, ventilate the kitchen, and call your gas utility’s emergency line before any repair company. A burner that will not light is an inconvenience; escaping gas is a hazard, and the two deserve completely different responses.