--- title: "Burner will not light" description: "La Cornue burner will not light — one burner dead while the others work is a different problem from a whole top that will not light, and the two are" url: "https://la-cornuemiami.support/symptoms/burner-will-not-light/" date_modified: "2026-09-03" Appliance type: "Cooktops and rangetops, Ranges, Rangetops" --- # La Cornue burner will not light ### The two checks that cost nothing Count what is dead. If every burner has stopped, look first at whether the gas is on at all — a shut-off valve knocked during cleaning is a real and embarrassing cause — and then at whether the electrical supply is live, because on a spark-ignition range no power means no spark. If it is one burner, take the cap and the crown off and look at the ports and the electrode. A wet electrode after a cleaning is the single most common finding on this call, and it dries out. ### 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** — Mechanical valves and a spark electrode per burner. A dead single burner is a local problem and reachable from the front. - **All-induction Château and CornuFé induction** — There are no gas burners to light. If a zone is dead, that is the induction page, not this one. - **CornuFé 90 and 110 dual fuel** — Five gas burners on a factory-built manifold. The parts are more standardised than a Château's, which usually means a shorter wait. ### Why moisture matters more here than the age of the range A brass burner assembly comes apart for cleaning, which is one of the pleasures of owning one, and it goes back together wet. In a kitchen at eighty per cent humidity a spark electrode that has been splashed can take a day to dry, and in the meantime the burner clicks and does nothing. This is why we ask on the phone whether anything was cleaned recently — it is the difference between a visit and a conversation. ### What we bring, and what we do not Electrodes, ceramics, burner caps and crowns for the current line are stocked, and a single dead burner is normally a one-visit job. What is not stocked is a made-to-order enamelled drip tray or a valve specific to one configuration, and if the diagnosis lands there we say so with a lead time rather than leaving the range in pieces. A wet or dirty electrode Water from cleaning, or cooking residue bridging the gap. It arcs to the wrong place or not at all. Blocked burner ports The flame cannot travel around the crown to reach the spark. Cleared properly rather than poked at. A cracked ceramic insulator The electrode leaks its spark to the burner body. Visible once it is out, invisible while it is in. The ignition module or its supply The cause when every burner has stopped sparking at once, and only then. A gas valve that no longer opens The knob turns, the spark is there, and nothing arrives. Safety-critical, and it comes out. Count the dead burners One, or all of them. This single answer decides everything that follows and it takes ten seconds. Check the gas is on At the appliance shut-off. Worth ruling out before a technician rules it out for you. Look at the electrode Dry, intact, and pointing where it should. A cracked ceramic is the problem you can see. Do not keep clicking Every unlit attempt is gas into the room. Two tries, then stop and book it. No flame, and no obvious reason What it usually means One burner out is that burner — not the module All of them out is ignition or supply, and it is quick to tell Never hold the knob in while it clicks The two checks that cost nothing Count what is dead. If every burner has stopped, look first at whether the gas is on at all — a shut-off valve knocked during cleaning is a real and embarrassing cause — and then at whether the electrical supply is live, because on a spark-ignition range no power means no spark. If it is one burner, take the cap and the crown off and look at the ports and the electrode. A wet electrode after a cleaning is the single most common finding on this call, and it dries out. 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 — Mechanical valves and a spark electrode per burner. A dead single burner is a local problem and reachable from the front. All-induction Château and CornuFé induction — There are no gas burners to light. If a zone is dead, that is the induction page, not this one. CornuFé 90 and 110 dual fuel — Five gas burners on a factory-built manifold. The parts are more standardised than a Château's, which usually means a shorter wait. Why moisture matters more here than the age of the range A brass burner assembly comes apart for cleaning, which is one of the pleasures of owning one, and it goes back together wet. In a kitchen at eighty per cent humidity a spark electrode that has been splashed can take a day to dry, and in the meantime the burner clicks and does nothing. This is why we ask on the phone whether anything was cleaned recently — it is the difference between a visit and a conversation. What we bring, and what we do not Electrodes, ceramics, burner caps and crowns for the current line are stocked, and a single dead burner is normally a one-visit job. What is not stocked is a made-to-order enamelled drip tray or a valve specific to one configuration, and if the diagnosis lands there we say so with a lead time rather than leaving the range in pieces. ### It lights with a match but not with the spark. Is that useful to know? Very. It tells us the gas train, the valve and the burner are all doing their jobs and the problem is purely in the ignition — the electrode, its lead, or the module. It also means the burner is usable in the meantime, though we would rather you lit it with a long match than leaned over it. Say that sentence when you book and it often decides which part comes with us. ### Is it worth cleaning the ports myself first? Cleaning the cap and crown with hot water and a soft brush is ordinary maintenance and it fixes a proportion of these calls, so yes. What we would ask you not to do is push wire or a pin into a port — an enlarged or deformed port changes the flame permanently and turns a free fix into a part. And let everything dry completely before you put it back, or you will have created the problem this page is about. --- **[Read full article: Burner will not light](https://la-cornuemiami.support/symptoms/burner-will-not-light/)**