- “Clicking after ignition is usually a wet or dirty electrode”
- “Clicking on every burner at once points at the module”
- “It is a small part and a same-visit job in most cases”
Symptom
La Cornue burner clicks but will not ignite
Continuous clicking with no flame — or clicking that carries on after a burner has lit — is one of the two or three most common calls on any gas range, and on this one it has a short list of causes. It is also the symptom people live with longest, and it should not be: every click is unlit gas.
- From $95 diagnostic, credited to the repair
- 59 cities and neighborhoods covered
- OEM parts available on order
- In writing the price, before anything is opened
Five ordinary causes
What this usually turns out to be
Cheapest and commonest first, which is also the order we check them in. They sit hundreds of dollars apart, and only the unit settles which one is yours.
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Moisture on the electrode
The commonest of all, and it clears on its own once dry. After that it is a part.
Surface burner and igniter service from $155 -
Cooking residue bridging the gap
Spilled sugar or fat carbonises and conducts. The spark goes somewhere useless.
Surface burner and igniter service from $155 -
A cracked electrode ceramic
It arcs to the burner body instead of across the gap. Replaced, not cleaned.
Surface burner and igniter service from $155 -
Ports blocked near the electrode
The gas never reaches the spark even though both are working.
Surface burner and igniter service from $155 -
The ignition module
Only when every burner clicks continuously, and it is the least likely of the five.
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In five minutes
Before you call anybody
None of it needs tools, and all of it makes the visit shorter.
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01
Which burners click
All of them, or one. That answer is most of the diagnosis.
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02
Does it stop once lit
Clicking that continues after a steady flame is a sensing problem at that electrode.
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03
Was anything cleaned recently
Water in the wrong place is the leading cause of this call in this climate.
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04
Look for residue
Around the electrode tip and the nearest ports. Carbonised spill is visible and it conducts.
How it shows up
What people describe when they call
A shortcut
Narrow it down before anybody arrives
A description of the behaviour leaves a few possible causes. A code names the subsystem before anybody opens anything, which is why it is worth photographing before it clears.
In more detail
About La Cornue burner clicks but will not ignite
The check that decides it
Light the other burners. If every one of them clicks continuously, even the ones that light, the problem is in the module or its supply. If only one clicks, that burner's electrode is wet, dirty or cracked. And if the clicking continues after a burner has settled into a steady flame, the module is not being told that ignition happened — which is the electrode again, not the module.
What it usually means, by the kind of La Cornue appliance
La Cornue sells one appliance in several forms, and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A built-in side-by-side and an integrated column are not the same service situation, and a dual-fuel range and an induction range fail in different halves.
- Château gas and dual-fuel — One electrode per burner and a shared module. Which burners click tells you which of the two is the problem.
- CornuFé 90 and 110 dual fuel — Same architecture, more standardised parts.
- All-induction — No spark ignition at all. Clicking on an induction top is a relay in the control and a different problem.
Why continuous clicking is not something to put up with
On a range with mechanical valves, holding the knob in while it clicks means gas is flowing whether or not it lights. A few seconds is how a burner is lit; thirty seconds is a quantity of unlit gas in a kitchen that may have a hood running at low speed and a window shut. There is no scenario where persisting is the right answer. Two attempts, then off, then book it.
What a technician actually does with this
The electrode comes out, the ceramic is inspected in daylight, the gap is measured against specification and the ports are cleared and seated. Where the module is suspected it is tested rather than swapped, because a module is a considerably more expensive part than an electrode and it is rarely the answer. The burner is then lit cold and again with the range hot, because a problem that only appears at temperature is missed by a single test.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards
Before you book
Questions about La Cornue burner clicks but will not ignite
It clicks and lights fine. Do I still need someone?
If it clicks and then stops once the flame is steady, that is normal ignition and nothing is wrong. If it keeps clicking with a good flame burning, then the electrode is not sensing the flame it just lit, and that is worth fixing — not because the burner will fail, but because the module is being asked to spark permanently and because the problem that causes it is the same one that will eventually stop the burner lighting at all.
Can I use the burner while I wait for the visit?
If it lights within a couple of seconds and burns cleanly, yes. If it takes repeated attempts, no — use another burner. And if you can smell gas at any point, turn the appliance off at its shut-off valve, ventilate the room and treat it as the gas-smell page rather than this one.
Where we do it
Across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach
Same terms everywhere we go: an on-site diagnostic first, the price agreed in writing, and the exact figure confirmed once we have seen the unit.
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