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Repair guide · Lake Oswego

Thermador Burner Keeps Clicking? What to Check in Lake Oswego

Updated 10/28/2026

A Thermador burner that keeps clicking is most often wet or out of place. A boil-over or a fresh cleaning leaves water around the igniter or under the burner cap, and the spark fires until it dries. Thermador names a cap that is not seated properly and an igniter that is wet or dirty as the usual causes.

Some clicking is normal. On a burner set to ExtraLow, the flame turns itself off and on to hold a very low simmer, and Thermador says a click about every 60 seconds as it relights is expected. Clicking with every knob off is not normal.

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  • If you smell gas, do not light anything and do not touch a switch. Leave the home and call your gas utility or 911 from outside.
  • Turn every knob off and let the burners cool before you touch the caps or the igniters.
  • Do not take the cooktop apart or remove the top. A home check ends at the grates, the caps, the burner heads and the knobs.
  • If the clicking will not stop with every knob off, switch off the circuit breaker of the cooktop and leave it off until it is repaired.

Lake Oswego homes on natural gas get it from NW Natural. Clicking is not a gas leak in itself, but a burner that clicks without lighting lets gas out while its knob is on. Turn the knob off before you look for the cause.

If you smell gas, NW Natural's advice is to leave the home even if the smell seems mild, and to call from outside: NW Natural at 800-882-3377, around the clock, or 911. Do not switch lights on or off on the way out. On propane, call your propane supplier.

Let it dry

After a boil-over or a cleaning, lift off the grate, the cap and the burner head of the clicking burner and let them and the igniter air dry. A fan speeds it up. Moisture can stay under the cooktop for hours even when the surface looks dry.

Seat the cap

Put the burner head and the cap back so they sit flat and centered. A cap that was moved during cleaning is one of the causes Thermador lists first.

Clear the ports

With the cooktop off and cool, clear burner ports clogged with food with a thin wire or a straightened paper clip, as Thermador's troubleshooting describes.

Clean the igniter

Once it has cooled, wipe the igniter with a cotton swab dampened with water and remove soil gently with a toothpick. Use very little water: a damp igniter will not light. Take off any lint the swab leaves.

Every knob fully off

Turn each knob to the off position firmly. A knob that stops just short of off can keep its switch calling for a spark.

Is it ExtraLow

If the burner clicks only on its lowest settings, about once a minute, with a flame that comes and goes, that is the ExtraLow cycle working as designed.

This is the most common case, and it usually stops once everything is dry and the cap is back in place. Give it a few hours before you decide it is a fault.

Water or a spill has reached a burner switch, or a switch or the spark module has failed. Dry the cooktop and wait. If the clicking goes on, switch off its breaker and call for a repair.

Outside the ExtraLow settings, a burner that keeps sparking with a steady flame has a cap out of place, a dirty igniter, or a problem with the cooktop's ground or the polarity of the outlet. Thermador sends that last one to an electrician; we check the cooktop side first.

  • Igniter: cracked, so the spark jumps to the wrong place, or fouled with burned-on food.
  • Burner switch on the valve: worn or wet, it keeps calling for a spark.
  • Spark module: it fires when no switch asks it to.
  • Wiring, grounding or outlet polarity: constant sparking with a flame on.
  • Burner base: cracked or warped, so the cap never sits right.
  • Clicking with every knob off, after the cooktop has dried for a day.
  • A burner sparks but will not light, with the ports clear.
  • A burner goes out at a normal setting and will not stay lit.
  • The igniter is cracked.
  • Any smell of gas: leave, and call from outside before anything else.

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  • Book online: choose the appliance, describe the problem and pick up to three times that suit you.
  • We confirm one of your times by phone or text. You are not booked until we do.
  • We come to your home, test the cooktop and find the cause.
  • You get the price before any repair begins. We repair it with your approval; if a part has to be ordered, we come back to fit it.

The diagnostic visit costs $89. If you go ahead with the repair, the $89 is applied toward it; if you decide not to repair, the $89 covers the diagnosis.

Our work and the parts we install carry a 90-day warranty. The terms are printed on your invoice.

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Mend My Appliance is an independent appliance repair company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Thermador. The Thermador name belongs to its owner, and we use it only to say which appliances we repair. We do not do warranty repairs on Thermador's behalf.

We repair cooktops and rangetops at home in Lake Oswego and across the Portland metro area. Enter your ZIP code when you book and the form checks it right away.

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The facts on this page come from these sources, checked when the page was written.

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