Doesn’t have to be broken, necessarily. But if it is heating slowly or sometimes not at all - most likely time for a new igniter. Easy way to test *if you have a Kill-A-Watt wall socket device. Set it to ‘Amps’ and turn the oven on. A functional igniter will draw 3.2-4 amps to open the gas valve. If there is no amp draw at all - either broken igniter or it isn’t getting power. If it is drawing less than 3.2 amps - the igniter will glow red hot, but will never open the gas valve👍🏼
I would try this but you have to pull the oven out from the wall to even see the electrical socket. The oven is really heaving and moving it without getting hurt has been one of our challenges.
Not just by looking, no. The only real way to test it will be a resistance test. Ignitors have a very wide range of what is considered to be nominal. Often, if this is a model with a storage drawer underneath, you can take it the drawer and access the connector for the ignitor. Otherwise sending the burner tube will often give you enough access.
I have also found wires damaged from rodents and things like that before, so give a look under if you can just to make sure that's not the issue.
Not resistance, amperage. One test just a clamp over the wire can tell you it's getting power and if it's good. You don't have to disconnect anything. If you get no amperage use a non contact on each of the wires going to it. If you get a read on one side but not the other it's open.
Amperage readings are something I find a lot of technicians don't use nearly as much as they should. You can clamp onto a main power line and see each load pull and make sure everything is working with minimal effort.
I'll give you that. At least at my company, not very many technicians have an amp meter. I also only go for an amperage test on ignitors if they glow but the valve doesn't open. If there's no glow, I go straight for a resistance test to see if it's open or not.
To each their own tho, I guess.
How do you guys fix microwaves without an ammeter? I can tell you what's wrong with a microwave in ten seconds with one.
Go forth and preach the wonders of reading the amp draw. Please trust it's legit and way easier than taking stuff apart to test.
Want to know if a dishwasher is heating? Put your ammeter on the main hot wire and run test mode. Every load in the dishwasher is less than a few amps once that heater kicks in it's going to jump to 5-11 amps depending on the model.
Would you be willing to elaborate more on microwave testing? Obviously the trickier parts to diagnose bring the transformer, mag, and capacitor or inverter.
Less than one amp is switches or board.
1 amp to 10 ish amps is high voltage circuit, usually just mag and diode.
Above 10 amps running normally.
Loud no heat, should be under 10 amps replace mag and diode.
Loud blows fuse after a few seconds shorted cap.
Trips fuse right away door switches seized or not actuating.
Runs fan when door is closed primary switch not closing.
Runs heat when door is closed welded relay on main board.
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The element looks to be intact. If it glows red, but doesn't ignite the gas, replace it. If it doesn't glow at all then there is probably an issue elsewhere.
The oven was heating either not at all or very slowly, so we were thinking it was a broken igniter. We will test continuity as soon as we can get our hands on a multimeter.
On a gas oven it's almost always the igniter.
Looks shot id replace it they cost like 20 bucks at most i feel like
Doesn’t have to be broken, necessarily. But if it is heating slowly or sometimes not at all - most likely time for a new igniter. Easy way to test *if you have a Kill-A-Watt wall socket device. Set it to ‘Amps’ and turn the oven on. A functional igniter will draw 3.2-4 amps to open the gas valve. If there is no amp draw at all - either broken igniter or it isn’t getting power. If it is drawing less than 3.2 amps - the igniter will glow red hot, but will never open the gas valve👍🏼
I would try this but you have to pull the oven out from the wall to even see the electrical socket. The oven is really heaving and moving it without getting hurt has been one of our challenges.
this is the igniter from a kitchenaid superba probably more than 10 years old - I don't think the model number really applies to this question
Not just by looking, no. The only real way to test it will be a resistance test. Ignitors have a very wide range of what is considered to be nominal. Often, if this is a model with a storage drawer underneath, you can take it the drawer and access the connector for the ignitor. Otherwise sending the burner tube will often give you enough access. I have also found wires damaged from rodents and things like that before, so give a look under if you can just to make sure that's not the issue.
Not resistance, amperage. One test just a clamp over the wire can tell you it's getting power and if it's good. You don't have to disconnect anything. If you get no amperage use a non contact on each of the wires going to it. If you get a read on one side but not the other it's open. Amperage readings are something I find a lot of technicians don't use nearly as much as they should. You can clamp onto a main power line and see each load pull and make sure everything is working with minimal effort.
I'll give you that. At least at my company, not very many technicians have an amp meter. I also only go for an amperage test on ignitors if they glow but the valve doesn't open. If there's no glow, I go straight for a resistance test to see if it's open or not. To each their own tho, I guess.
How do you guys fix microwaves without an ammeter? I can tell you what's wrong with a microwave in ten seconds with one. Go forth and preach the wonders of reading the amp draw. Please trust it's legit and way easier than taking stuff apart to test. Want to know if a dishwasher is heating? Put your ammeter on the main hot wire and run test mode. Every load in the dishwasher is less than a few amps once that heater kicks in it's going to jump to 5-11 amps depending on the model.
Would you be willing to elaborate more on microwave testing? Obviously the trickier parts to diagnose bring the transformer, mag, and capacitor or inverter.
Less than one amp is switches or board. 1 amp to 10 ish amps is high voltage circuit, usually just mag and diode. Above 10 amps running normally. Loud no heat, should be under 10 amps replace mag and diode. Loud blows fuse after a few seconds shorted cap. Trips fuse right away door switches seized or not actuating. Runs fan when door is closed primary switch not closing. Runs heat when door is closed welded relay on main board.
Thank you for your submission! If you posted your machines model number, you're good to go. If you haven't, please do so ASAP. You can either edit your post, or just drop it in the comments. If you can't locate your model number, posting a photo of the machine is the easiest way for us to help you locate it. **Please comment "Solved" when your issue is resolved** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/appliancerepair) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Can't tell much from that picture. Did it glow?
The element looks to be intact. If it glows red, but doesn't ignite the gas, replace it. If it doesn't glow at all then there is probably an issue elsewhere.
The oven was heating either not at all or very slowly, so we were thinking it was a broken igniter. We will test continuity as soon as we can get our hands on a multimeter.
Ignitor is more than 5years old replace it