JennAir gas cook top igniter and burner or control module repairs: this article explains the cause, diagnosis, and cure of cooktop or gas range igniter problems that cause continuous clicking, or failure to ignite gas burners or a gas oven properly.

We also discuss removal of glued-down JennAir gas cooktops from a countertop, JennAir burner disassembly for part replacement, and access to sealed JennAir gas burners.

How do I Replace the Gas Burner or Igniter on a Jenn-Air Cooktop?

2017/10/14 Rob said: Jenn-Air Cooktop, CVGX2423B has the clicking problem

Hi - My Jenn-Air Cooktop, CVGX2423B has the clicking problem - clicks after lighting for a few minutes.

I've replaced the module, and problem continues, so I purchased 4 igniters, seeing that some were covered in grease, on the part under the pan.

My Question Is - how to replace the igniter? There is no bracket, it is not threaded, it won't push out... not sure how to remove it - to replace it? Thanks.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Reply: Jenn-Air Cooktop, CVGX2423B igniter is held in place by the cast metal burner base

Rob:

Jenn-Air's instruction manual for this cooktop says that the burner base is "not removable" and they don't offer much in-manual detail, telling you to first call your installing or selling dealer for help or second, if (or we might say when) that doesn't work, call Maytag Appliances at 1-800-688-1100

Replacing the igniter on a Jenn-Air yourself means going beyond the instructions in their I&O Manual, working carefully, and accepting the risk that if you damage parts or install them incorrectly your cooktop could fail to work or could be unsafe.

With that warning in place, it's not difficult to remove and replace the igniter but there are some slip-ups to be avoided.

On the Jenn-Air Cooktop, CVGX2423B the igniter is held in place by the cast metal burner base.

My photo above shows the securing nut that holds the cast metal burner base in place on a typical Jenn-Air gas cooktop.

You can also see that securing nut marked in this Jenn-Air gas cooktop parts diagram (below).

[Click to enlarge any image]

Here's a tip for getting the old igniter out and the new igniter in:

On some of these range tops, "not removable" really means not normally removable, but you can, with care, unscrew a large central brass nut that holds the burner base in place.

Doing so will permit lifting the base up and off and then lifting out the igniter, unplugging it from its wire, and plugging in the new one.

Watch out: I have had horrible problems with this repair when the cast aluminum burner base threads strip against the brass retaining nut. Use Liquid Wrench or a similar product and work carefully, taking great care not to cross-thread parts when replacing the burner base and nut.

Otherwise you'll end up having to replace the whole burner base assembly - as we had to do.

Lift off the burner grate (#2)

Lift off the burner cap (#9)

After cleaning and then soaking the threads of the brass retainer nut (#19). This nut is what retains the whole assembly: burner base #9, igniter #18, and the burner base plate (#7) all in place.

Lift off the cast metal burner base (#9) whose extension is what holds the igniter in place

This should pull up or expose the ceramic igniter itself (#18 is an enlarged view, but the igniter will be retained by the protrusion in the burner base pointed to by arrow at #9 in the parts explosion above.

Watch out: Take care to note the position of the burner base plate (#7) and the hole through which the igniter and its wire pass, since there may be more than one apparently possible position for the plate during reassembly. Only one position - the original one - is correct.

You will see that you can pull up the igniter and the wire connected to its base. Carefully unplug the igniter, inspect the wire for damage, and assuming the wire is intact, plug it to the bottom of the new igniter and reverse the steps above to reassemble the unit.

If you do not have a copy of the installation and operation manual for your Jenn-Air gas cooktop, you can download it from the link I give below.

Photo above: the igniter module and other key parts inside a Jenn-Air countertop gas cooktop.

[Click to enlarge any image]

We replaced this item as well as the wiring and individual igniters to cure chronic gas burner ignition problems: endless clicking.

Details of that repair are found separately

at GAS COOKTOP or STOVE IGNITER REPAIR - live link given just below.

Also see these

JennAir Repair Guides

• GAS COOKTOP RANGE & OVEN REPAIR & MANUALS - download the manual for your gas cooktop, range, oven, or hob
• GAS COOKTOP or STOVE IGNITER REPAIR - using a JennAir cooktop as an example
• Jenn-Air DUAL FUEL RANGE SERVICE MANUAL [PDF] (2004) PRD3030* PRD3630* & other models, gas cooktop, electric oven
• Regency U39 Gas Heater SERVICE MANUAL [PDF]

 

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2021-12-11 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator - weak spark on JennAir gas cooktop

@James Koecher,

Thanks for a well-put question on gas burner igniter spark irregularities.

In my OPINION when the spark is weak (so we don't think it's a gas flow problem) AND if you're sure that the spark module is intact AND you're sure that the wires between module and igniter connector and all of the electrical connections are clean, dry, tight, sound,
THEN I figure there may be

• subtle damage to the igniter itself, such as a crack that's hard to see, causing a current leak
• electrical resistance that you are not seeing by the naked eye such as a bit of food or corrosion or oxidation on the igniter tip or on the spark-receiving surface
  

Keep in mind that something embarrassingly simple (as I've tripped over this) like a burner cap that is slightly askew or has water under it can prevent a good burner ignition spark.

On 2021-12-10 by James Koecher - Jennair gas cooktop burners slow to light

I have a high end Jennair gas cook top range with an uncommon igniter problem.

All igniters spark and will eventually light their respective burner but some burners are slow to light.

I have cleaned burner caps, all holes clear, igniter mount points are clean, good conductivity, wires are good no breaks in insulation and continuity check of wires is good.

Problem I believe has to do with the spark at the burner caps.

The spark should jump from the end of the igniter tip to to the burner cap base directly below the igniter tip which is right across the exit path of the gas orifice below the igniter. A spark jumping this gap will lite the burner quick.

What I am seeing is the spark does not always jump from the tip of the igniter to the burner cap base but instead will jump from the side of the igniter to different areas of the burner cap which are not in line with the gas orifice below the igniter tip so the burner will not lite until the flow of gas eventually moves into the area where the spark is occurring.

The spark does not look particularly strong either.

I have disassembled and inspected and everything is good clean with solid rust free connections.

What would cause the spark to take a different path than the one Jenn air intended?

How is the burner cap grounded as it must be grounded in order for the spark to jump from the igniter to the burner cap base?

I am stumped on this. Your help would be much appreciated.

On 2021-04-23 - by (mod) - how to change the igniter on a Jenn-Air with sealed burners

@JonL,

Thanks for the helpful suggestion on freeing-up stuck Jennair igniters.

I've had the same trouble with several brands including Jenn-Air igniters; sometimes brushing with a bit of solvent and a toothbrush helps soften the gunk - in particular we need to take care not to strip the threads on the brass burner nut or on the pot-metal burner.

Otherwise you'll end up having to replace those parts too.

On 2021-04-23 by JonL

I’ve figured out how to change the igniter on a Jenn-air model with sealed burners. Basically the burners corrode to the cook top and you have to gently break that seal.

After removing the brass nut of course using a 15/16th socket. I used a small screwdriver and a thin putty knife to do so.

On 2020-09-27 - by (mod) - all 4 JennAir burners stopped at once

Tim:

First let's check that the JennAir stove top has electrical power; is there clock? Is it "on" ?

If so then there's power to the appliance.

In that case I suspect either a lost-connection to the igniter control module or a failed control module itself.

IF you know how to do electrical testing you can check that but if not don't try it as you could be shocked or killed.

On 2020-09-27 by Tim

All of my JennAir stovetop ignitors stopped working at once, no clicking or response from any burner but have gas flow. Assume the individual ignitors function given they all were working one day, but not the next. Where is my issue?

On 2020-06-02 - by (mod) - Mis-wired hot vs neutral wires cause erratic clicking & shock Jenn-Air stovetop Users

Moderator reply to reader Raffi:

Watch out: in normal, proper electrical cord wiring, the "ribbed" side of the wire is the neutral side, not the hot side. For help identifying the "hot" or line or black wire vs the neutral wire by examining the wire insulation itself.

Never depend on which wire is on "left" or "right" side as that determination is not stable nor reliable.

See details at ELECTRICAL WALL PLUG WIRING ID & CONNECTIONS - Editor.

Watch out: reversing hot and neutral wires can cause trouble at some electrical devices including appliances.

When we reverse hot and neutral wires, for example by an error in wiring the line cord wall plug or by reversing polarity inside the electrical receptacle itself, we are leaving live power delivered to parts of an appliance that should be voltage-free when the appliance is off.

In that situation, simply touching part of an appliance that is thought to be OFF and also touching anything that provides an electrical path to ground, such as a water pipe, can cause a nasty or een fatal electric shock.

Details about the hazards of reversed polarity are

at REVERSED POLARITY ELECTRICAL DEVICES / CIRCUITS

Readers can download the manual for their gas appliance

at GAS COOKTOP RANGE & OVEN REPAIR & MANUALS - download the manual for your gas cooktop, range, oven, or hob

and for gas heating equipoment

at MANUALS & PARTS GUIDES - HVAC - download the manual for heating equipment including gas boilers, furnaces, or water heaters

On 2020-06-02 - by Raffi

I solved a sparking Jenn-Air CCG2520 (actually CCG2520W but the "W" just indicates that the cooktop is white). First off I would direct anyone with Jenn-Air gas cooktops to this manual which covers many models, not just mine

GAS COOKTOP RANGE & OVEN REPAIR & MANUALS - download the manual for your gas cooktop, range, oven, or hob (Ed.)

The story is this: it's an automatic re-igniter type, and since its installation in 2006 it's always clicked erratically after the burner is lit, and also touching any igniter while all the control knobs are turned OFF will cause you to get a nasty shock.

This diagram is from the manual but the same one is inside the cooktop.

On the spark module, when the stove is energized, the "NEUTRAL" connection,11, reads 120V to ground and the "LINE" connection, 15, reads 0V to ground.

Note on the top left, the "BK (RIBBED) and BK (SMOOTH) cables denoting NEUTRAL and LINE respectively.

In fact these cables are ribbed and smooth and inside the stove all connections were as described.

But outside the stove, the cables continue in a triplex horizontal arrangement (think indoor extension cord) with that distinctive ribbing and smoothness on the two outer cables, to the plug, where the ribbed cable is on the right and the smooth on the left- that is, the ribbed cable is connected to what should be the "hot", "line", smaller hole on the receptacle, and the smooth cable to what should be the neutral hole.

This is hard to explain because the cable appears integral to the stove, not a deal where the leads are bolted in place by the installer- yet I triple checked and it is so.

That's why the "line" lead to the spark module reads 0 volts to ground and the "neutral" reads 120 volts to ground- not because the receptacle itself is backwards, but because it is correct!

The solution for me was reversing the receptacle leads to compensate for this and the problem went away.

I encourage everyone with a Jenn-Air of about 15 years old vintage with sparking problems to check if their stove is a victim of this screw-up.

On 2020-01-16 by (mod) - can't get Jennair gas cooktop burner to come off

The center nut holds the burner; I don't recall any other screws. Could the burner base just be stuck to the top?

Check the parts explosion for the rangetop.

On 2020-01-16 by Lewis

The two that are giving me trouble with the nuts are the two larger ones, the back left and front right. I'm sure I'll get them in due time, so I'm not overly concerned about those nuts.

I'm more concerned about why I can't remove the burner base and base plate from the gas riser on the other two. I've attached a pic of that.

You can see how I was able to carve a recessed ring around the riser using an awl, and I have been soaking the area with PB Blaster every day for the last couple of days, and tonight switching back to WD-40.

When I try to lift up on the base plate, it pulls everything up, including the gas riser. I have tried lifting and at the same time, tapping down on the riser lightly with a hammer, but they just don't want to separate.

Any advice?

On 2020-01-15 by Lewis - JennAir cooktop retaining nuts stuck

I have what appears to be the same JennAir cooktop pictured in this article. When I try to disassemble, I get stuck. I have 2 retaining nuts removed and 2 still stuck.

On the two that are still stuck, I have been doing daily dosages with WD-40 (2-days) and PB Blaster (3 days), but they are still stuck.

Any advice? I'm afraid to turn the nuts with too much force, as I don't want to break/bend anything inside the cooktop.

On the two that have the retaining nuts removed, the burner base and base plate do not want to lift off.

Everything is pretty much stuck in place. I'm on day 2 of soaking with PB Blaster, but no progress is apparent. Any advice

• Regency U39 Gas Heater SERVICE MANUAL [PDF] here's the wiring diagram Beware that fooling with stove wiring could make your heater unsafe. [Click to enlarge any image]

On 2019-09-05 by (mod) - part numbers for Jenn Air cooktop gas burners

Darn

I tossed out the Jenn-Air manual and model ID information for that range top when we threw out the range top itself after repeated irritations with it.

I did find the part numbers for the igniters and burner mounting nuts that we used when ordering those parts from PartSelect.com years ago; in consult with PartsSelect.com you may be able to work backwards to the cooktop model and burner parts:

From that order sheet we have (location is probably specific to the parts supplier)

Location: 2L3110 Make: WPL Part Number: 71002724 Description: Igniter

Location: 2G2115 Make: WPL Part Number 71002746 Description: Nut-Mount

Location: 35403A Make: WPL Part Number 71002720 Description Holder W O

On 2019-09-05 by Keith

Could you provide the model and/or serial number for the Jenn Air cooktop in the photo used in this article?

We are trying to find burner grates for the cooktop, but we cannot access these numbers since the cooktop is fixed to the counter top. Many thanks!

On 2018-10-04 by (mod) - clicking on my Jenn-air JGS9900CDS downdraft range

Kurt, I agree that continuously-clicking igniters can drive one mad.

But please

Watch out: just disabling the ignitiion system (which is of course technically possible by removing power to the igniter module), is very dangerous.

Pilotless-ignition gas appliances use the igniter to assure that the gas fuel is ignited when the gas supply to a burner is opened.

If there is no igniter, there is no safety device to be sure that gas will ignite when someone accidentally bumps or turns on a gas burner control. The results include

- death by asphyxiation

- death by gas fire or explosion

So it's really far better to find and fix the trouble, even if that means dis-assembling the range, replacing wires, igniters, or the (expensive) control module.

Look for the easy, cheap fixes first, such as dirt, wet wires, damaged igniters, discussed in the

article GAS COOKTOP or STOVE IGNITER REPAIR.

Dont' give up and don't turn off the igniter system.

On 2018-10-03 by Kurt

The clicking on my Jenn-air JGS9900CDS downdraft range is making me insane. I don't mind lighting it with a welding flint or match, etc. Can I simply disable or disconnect the igniters, or maybe remove a fuse to just kill them once and for all?

On 2018-04-03 by (mod) - if replacing the JennAir igniter doesn't fix the problem check wires next

If replacing the igniter doesn't fix the trouble I usually suspect a shorted or bad wire between the control board and the igniter. Try swapping wires. If that doesn't work you will probably have to replace the control board.

On 2018-04-03 by Bob

I have a Jennair JGD3536 cooktop. One of the burners won't ignite. When I turn on the knob, gas flows and I can light it with a match. I replaced the igniter but that didn't help. I did some further troubleshooting and swapped igniters from working burners and when put in that position they don't work either.

EXCEPT, when I light a different burner, all the igniters fire perfectly, including the one that won't fire when I select it individually. Any ideas for me?
Thanks

On 2017/10/15 by (mod) - how to get out that Jenn-Air igniter

Rob

To remove an old Jenn-Air cooktop gas igniter to replace it with a new one, see both the JennAir repair article above on this very page, and

also see GAS COOKTOP or STOVE IGNITER REPAIR where we use a Jenn-Air gas cooktop igniter as an example.

On 2017-10-14 by Rob

Hi - My Jenn-Air Cooktop, CVGX2423B has the clicking problem - clicks after lighting for a few minutes.

I've replaced the module, and problem continues, so I purchased 4 igniters, seeing that some were covered in grease, on the part under the pan. My Question Is - how to replace the igniter? There is no bracket, it is not threaded, it won't push out... not sure how to remove it - to replace it? Thanks.

On 2017-04-03 by (mod) - JennAir some burners won't ignite

Cynthia,

If the non-working burners are operated by a separate control module that may have failed, but first I'd look for wet or shorted wires between the control module and the igniters, or for cracked, shorted igniters.

On 2017-04-03 1 by Cynthia

I have a Jenn-Air natural gas 4 burner cooktop/range that is having problems sparking/firing.

Two burners on right fire correctly and without issue; two burners on the left do not spark/ignite whatsoever however burners on right still spark (but do not ignite), and gas is released when attempting to light the left as per usual. basically all of the action is happening on the right side.

of note: the burners that are working are more static with removable caps; burners on left that are not working are park of a large removable block containing the entirety of both burner plates on the left side.

I have cleaned around the igniter with a soft toothbrush and slid out the large removable block (it's connected to the range by little more than two pins and a socket) however i have not taken apart the actual unit). Any ideas of what i might be able to try before contacting the pros?

 

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• GAS COOKTOP or STOVE IGNITER REPAIR
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• GAS COOKTOP REPAIR, SEARS KENMORE
• GAS COOKTOP INSTALLATION
• GAS COOK TOP & COUNTERTOP MEASUREMENTS
• GAS COOKTOP INSTALLATION DETAILS
• GAS COOKTOP RANGE & OVEN REPAIR & MANUALS - download the manual for your gas cooktop, range, oven, or hob
• GAS IGNITER DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR - home

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