Constant clicking is the igniter trying and failing to confirm a flame. It is usually moisture or misalignment — but never ignore a gas smell.
Your gas cooktop's spark igniter is supposed to click a few times, light the burner, and stop. When it keeps clicking after the flame is up — or clicks with the burners off — something is telling the control that ignition has not happened.
Safety first
If you smell gas at any point, turn off the burners, do not operate switches, ventilate the room, leave, and call your gas utility. Everything below assumes there is no gas odour.
The common causes
- Moisture: a spill or a recent cleaning leaves water under the burner cap, and the spark keeps misfiring until it dries.
- A misaligned burner cap — lift each one off and set it back down squarely.
- Food debris bridging the igniter electrode and the burner.
- A cracked ceramic electrode, which sparks to the wrong place.
- A failing spark module, which fires all burners at once.
What to try
Turn off all burners at the knobs. Remove the grates and caps and dry everything thoroughly — a hair dryer on low helps. Clean around each electrode with a soft toothbrush, reseat the caps, and try again. If clicking continues with every knob off, unplug the range and book service; the module or a switch is stuck closed.
“Clicking with all knobs off is not a quirk to live with. That is a fault, and gas appliances get the benefit of the doubt.”