In short
A gas burner that will not light, or an oven that will not reach temperature, is usually an ignition or a gas-delivery problem rather than a failed appliance. The checks an owner can safely make are limited but they resolve a good share of these. The line between owner work and qualified work is drawn clearly below, and it is worth respecting exactly. Read the list in order; the order is the point.
What you actually see
- A burner clicks repeatedly and never lights — Ignition is trying and either no gas is arriving or the spark is not reaching it.
- A burner lights and goes out when the knob is released — Flame supervision is not seeing the flame it is supposed to hold open for.
- A yellow, lazy or uneven flame — Air and gas are not mixing correctly, usually because a port or a burner head is fouled.
- NEAR MISS: nothing on the appliance works at all, including the clock — That is an electrical supply fault rather than a gas fault.
The causes in order of likelihood
- Burner ports or cap fouled by spillage — First, and first for a reason. It leads on these shared platforms because the burner hardware is common across the group and it fails in the same way on all of them. The most common cause of a burner that lights poorly or unevenly, and the one an owner can safely correct.
- Burner cap misaligned after cleaning — Second. A cap sitting a fraction out of position stops the flame crossing the ports and is the classic after-cleaning fault.
- Spark electrode wet, dirty or cracked — Third. A wet electrode after a spill or a wash clicks endlessly without lighting anything, and often dries out on its own.
- Flame supervision device not holding — Fourth. The sensor that proves a flame is present.
- Body: These are ordered for this brand and appliance rather than for the appliance class in general, and the ordering is qualitative.
The diagnostic order
- Check whether other gas appliances in the house work — It separates a supply problem from an appliance problem in one step.
- Check whether the fault affects one burner or all of them — One burner is hardware; all of them is supply, regulation or ignition power.
- Look at the burner cap and ports on the affected burner — Misalignment and blockage are visible and correctable.
- Body: The order below covers only what can be done safely without touching a gas connection. Anything beyond cleaning and reassembly is a gas-qualified job.
What you can do now
- Turn the burners off and let everything cool completely — Nothing on this list is done on a warm range.
- Dry the spark electrode and the area around it — A wet electrode clicks without lighting and frequently recovers once dry.
Tools: cloth
- Refit the burner parts in their correct positions and test each burner — A cap a fraction out of place will not light properly.
- STOP at anything involving a gas connection, a valve or a regulator — Gas work is qualified work everywhere and there is no owner-side version of it.
Safety first
Safety
If you smell gas, do not switch anything on or off, leave the building, and call the gas utility or the emergency number from outside; do not look for the leak yourself. Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel, and never attempt to adjust, disconnect or repair a gas connection, valve or regulator: that is qualified work in every jurisdiction.
When this becomes a service call
Call a qualified engineer for anything involving a valve, a regulator, a supervision device or a connection, and for an oven that preheats slowly or not at all. Call immediately, from outside the building, if you smell gas. Say which modes still work when you call; it usually identifies the part.
Pages of the same class
What this page does not cover
This page is written for the appliance class rather than for one Brown, Royal Rose, Summit, Imperial, Unique, Haier, Danby, Brentwood, Tappan, Crosley and Kodiak family or model line. Where a family- or model-specific page exists for your unit it is the more specific answer and should be preferred over this one; the brand and appliance hub linked below routes to everything more specific that exists today.
Links: - [Common Brown, Royal Rose, Summit, Imperial, Unique, Haier, Danby, Brentwood, Tappan, Crosley, Kodiak Gas Stove Problems](/blog/brown-royal-rose-summit-imperial-unique-haier-danby-brentwood-tappan-crosley-kodiak-gas-stove-problems)
Read next
- Common Brown, Royal Rose, Summit, Imperial, Unique, Haier, Danby, Brentwood, Tappan, Crosley, Kodiak Gas Stove Problems
- Brown, Royal Rose, Summit, Imperial, Unique, Haier, Danby, Brentwood, Tappan, Crosley, Kodiak Gas Stove: Abnormal Noise or Vibration
- SAMSUNG Gas Stove: Abnormal Noise or Vibration
- Whirlpool Gas Stove: Abnormal Noise or Vibration
- Bosch Gas Stove: Abnormal Noise or Vibration
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
