Rather annoying, but, tonight my Tappan 36″ gas cooktop decided that the RF burner igniter ought to just keep sparking off every 3-4 seconds.
Stops when the unit is unplugged, so it may not be a humidity/water problem.
Cooktop predates my buying the house ten years ago, have not been tough enough to go looking for data plates yet, but, that’s next.
Really not a good time to need a new igniter for what is likely a 20 y/o cooktop; or for likely needing to find a tech up to speed on Frigidaire–looks like a FGC36C4AW i nthe current line.
Ideas, wild guesses, corny jokes?
Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Replies
It forgot the words?
Try twisting the knob hard to and fro a few times. It thinks it's on start, when it should be on run. Some kinda wiper or something on the rheostat is dirty or shorting.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
PROUD MEMBER OF THE " I ROCKED WITH REZ" CLUB
Clean all terminals.
It sounds like it is sensing that the knob is in the "on" position.
Stripped all down and cleaned. While pans & grates are drying in d/w (seemed an apt time, what with the hood up and all) I'll see if I can give a slight "over crank" using some round nose pliars (gently) on the knobless stems.
Removed, cleaned (and dried) wire connection to igniter.
Frigidaire site links a person back to ElectroLux manuals in pdf--the "what gives with my appliance" sites all find moisture to be anathema to these.
Vexing thing is that the one that was sparking was the one not used today (or in some time, for that matter).
Off to putter some more.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Ok, knobs are twisted all the way from on to off and snubbed down.
Stinkin' right-hand igniter goes off every thirty seconds. Better than before, when it was about every two/three seconds.
Parts house listing shows that, if it's the igniter under the knob, that's $20; if it's the Eaton module that's $57--not including $65 for the service call.
Not that I happen to have any of those amounts lying about at the present.
Bummer.
Makes a person wonder what it will do to let the thing just tick away (yeah, right, like I'd un-OCD enough to let that happen).
Did find a listing for a brand-new FGC36C4AW for only $189, with $35 for shipping, and 8.5% TX sales tax is $243.04 out of Round Rock . . . hmmm Grumble grumble grumble, dang it, now I have to go check the appliace guys up the street.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Just try operating the gas valve about 100 times.
A strong nation, like a strong person, can afford to be gentle, firm, thoughtful, and restrained. It can afford to extend a helping hand to others. It's a weak nation, like a weak person, that must behave with bluster and boasting and rashness and other signs of insecurity. --Jimmy Carter
Well, welcome to the club! ;-)
I had the same problem recently and did a bunch of research on spark igniters. I gotta say I learned more than I wanted to know about spark igniters, lemme tell ya!
Turns out, they work much differently than I expected. I always thought that there was some sort of flame sensor that would shut off the spark coil once the flame got started, but not so. The electronics send a continous, tho' pulsed, spark current. The reason the sparking stops is that flame is ionized, so it conducts electricity, shorting out the spark circuit, which stops the sparking. Continuous sparking is usually caused by a failure in the ionized path between the igniter and the burner body through the flame.
My problem was due to a faulty spark electrode, the igniter, on one of the burners. A piece of it had rusted away which lowered its ability to short out in the flame. I fixed the problem by simply replacing the igniter. Per my research, you might also be able to cure this nagging problem by cleaning the igniter & the burner, which may have a build-up of crud that's interfering with the electrical path. In my case, doing some wire brushing acutally helped a lot, even without the new part. It can also be caused by a dislocation of the parts, making the spark path too long to short out, or not passing through the flame. A cracked igniter can muck up the program as well.
Have fun, and if you have to replace the igniter, don't do what I did. While disassembling the burner for repair, I unknowingly lost a tiny part (one of the burner's two gas orifices) that left me with a blowtorch instead of a burner until a fellow Breaktimer clued me in on what to look for. ;-)
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PS: Re-read your post. Are you saying the thing is sparking all the time, even when the burner is not turned on? If so, look for a faulty switch in the valve, energizing the circuit all the time instead of just when the gas is on.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Everything fits, until you put glue on it.
Edited 11/20/2009 7:49 am ET by MikeHennessy
Time for pointy sticks an marshmallows I'd say.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
PROUD MEMBER OF THE " I ROCKED WITH REZ" CLUB
Don't think that wasn't suggested!
Me, I wuz thinkin' "wok".
Either that or a torch-down roof on the kitchen ceiling. ;-(Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
This is a Y-shaped yoke that splits to the left and right pair of burners. There are only the two HV spark igniters.
Because the previous "renovators" put a 36" c/t in a 30" space, so that it extends part way into a corner, the right had side does not get a lot of work.
Boiled some water for tea yesterday afternoon. No big deal; was on the LR burner. made some hash later and noticed a clicking/ticking sound. ticked over every 2-3 seconds (had hash cooking, which is distracting from other precision time measurements). Got my supper made and then went searching. Found the spark and went for the fastest answer, just unplugged the c/t.
After supper and quick spin round the interwebs, went and engaged in cleaning.
Here's a reference, for those really needingto know: http://www.frigidaire.com/products/kitchen-appliances/cooktops-stovetops/fgc36c4aw
Now, after a good, if superficial (no parts disassembly) ckeaning, repowering the c/t got me a click every 30 seconds (about ±0 too).
Which means I'll have to watch a bit while cooking tonight (unless I cook tomorrow night--whole nuther kettle of fish there)--reading suggests that the ignition module responds to gas flow.
Appliance guy price is $65 to come to the door and diagnose. Then, it's $45 the hour for labor plus parts at their markup--all fair, they are in business after all. But, we are getting hard up against replacement price, which is vexing.
And, while I'm find with gas plumbing, it's like brake work--I do not do my own.
Oh well, ain't life goofy?Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)