Maybe it's just the front-right burner. Maybe it's two of four, or you're down to a single working element while the rest sit dead. Either way, cooking around a broken burner gets old fast — and it's rarely the whole cooktop that's shot.
Across 214 real cooktop repairs in the SF Bay Area & Peninsula, 62 of those jobs were "won't start / burner won't turn on" calls. It's our second-most-common cooktop complaint, and in the large majority the problem is a single failed part on the affected burner — not a reason to replace the appliance.
How our customers describe it: "The front right cooktop is not functioning, while all other cooktops are operational."
"2 out of 4 stove burners on the cooktop are not working."
"Won't start. No lights. Breaker is not tripped."
If one of those is your kitchen right now, here's what's usually going on.
Why one (or half) your burners quit
When some burners work and others don't, the cooktop itself has power — so the fault is on the dead burner's own circuit. The most common causes we actually find:
- A failed infinite ("infinity") switch on electric cooktops. This is the knob-behind-the-scenes that controls heat to one element. A customer put it this way: "the right front burner stopped working; there was a POP when it died... the part it may need is called an infinity switch." That's often exactly right.
- A burnt-out burner element or coil. On electric and glass-top units, one element simply fails open and stops heating.
- A worn spark electrode or ignition switch on gas burners — the burner clicks but won't light, or won't respond at all. (If yours is clicking, see our clicking-but-won't-light page.)
- A damaged or spilled-on burner. Food and liquid spills are a repeat cause: "I had a food spill on the central dual burner and that burner is not working anymore." Same story with soy sauce and boil-overs shorting a burner out.
- A broken or stuck control knob / burner switch. Several of our calls turned out to be a cracked knob or a switch that no longer makes contact.
- A broken igniter wire — sometimes the burner died with an audible pop, pointing to a wire or connector.
When the entire cooktop is dead — no lights, no clicks, nothing — and the breaker isn't tripped, that's a different fault: usually a power-supply, main control board, or a tripped internal connection. We diagnose those too.
Common parts on these jobs include infinite/burner switches, heating elements, spark electrodes and ignition switches, and control knobs — the right one depends on your brand and model.
The usual fix
Because a working burner right next to a dead one proves the cooktop has power, diagnosis is fast: our tech isolates the dead burner's switch, element, and wiring to find the failed link, then replaces that specific part. On electric and glass tops it's frequently an infinite switch or a burner element; on gas it's usually a spark electrode, ignition switch, or a cleaned/replaced burner. We carry common switches and elements for the brands we see most, so many of these are first-visit repairs.
DIY vs. calling a pro
Worth a quick check yourself (free):
- Coil-element electric cooktop? Turn it off, let it cool, and reseat or swap the plug-in coil into a working socket. If the coil heats in a different spot, the coil is fine and the socket/switch is the issue — and vice versa. This one test tells you a lot.
- Glass top or gas? Confirm the breaker isn't tripped, clean any spill off the burner, and make sure the knob is fully seated.
Call a pro when:
- The burner still won't heat after those checks.
- The whole cooktop is dead with no tripped breaker ("no lights, breaker is not tripped" — that's a control or power fault).
- There was a pop, spark, or burning smell when the burner died.
- It's a gas burner that clicks but won't light, or a knob/switch is cracked, melted, or stuck.
Infinite switches and burner elements carry line voltage, and gas burners add a live flame to the mix — replacing the right part safely (and not the wrong part) is where a tech pays for itself.
What it costs
Our median cooktop repair is $325, and a single-burner switch or element replacement is often right around there — though your total depends on the exact part your cooktop needs. We don't quote blind prices, but the process is simple: you pay a diagnostic fee up front that gets credited toward the repair when you approve the work. You'll see and approve the full price before we start.
Get your burners back
Triton repairs gas, electric, and induction cooktops across the SF Bay Area & Peninsula — Palo Alto, San Mateo, Redwood City, Fremont, Burlingame, and beyond.
Book online or call (888) 993-5699. Same-week service, upfront pricing, and a tech who diagnoses the dead burner and fixes it — not your whole kitchen.
Related repairs:
- Cooktop Repair in the SF Bay Area & Peninsula — our full cooktop hub
- Gas Cooktop Clicks But Won't Light? — burner clicks, no flame
- GE, Profile & Monogram Cooktop Repair — our most-repaired cooktop brand
- Viking Cooktop Repair — brand-specific burner service
- Cooktop & Appliance Repair in Palo Alto
FAQ
Why is only one burner on my cooktop not working? When the other burners work, the cooktop has power, so the fault is on that one burner's circuit. On electric and glass tops it's usually a failed infinite switch or a burnt-out element; on gas it's typically a worn spark electrode, ignition switch, or a burner fouled by a spill. It's almost always a single-part fix, not a whole-cooktop problem.
Why are 2 of my 4 burners not working? Usually two separate but same-type failures — two worn switches or two failed elements/electrodes — or a shared connection feeding that pair. We isolate each dead burner during diagnosis and replace only the parts that failed. Two dead burners is one of our most common cooktop calls.
My whole cooktop won't turn on and no lights — what's wrong? If every burner is dead, there are no lights, and the breaker isn't tripped, the issue is upstream: a power-supply problem, a failed main control board, or a broken internal connection. That's different from a single dead burner and needs a tech to trace the power path safely.
Can I replace a cooktop burner element or switch myself? For a plug-in coil element you can safely test and swap the coil. Beyond that — infinite switches, glass-top elements, and gas spark electrodes — you're working with line voltage or live gas, so we recommend a pro. Using the wrong part (a common DIY mistake) can cost more than the original repair.
How much does cooktop burner repair cost in the Bay Area? Our median cooktop repair is $325, and a single burner switch or element is often around that range, depending on the part. You pay a diagnostic fee up front that we credit toward the repair, and you approve the full price before any work begins.
Do you repair gas, electric, and induction cooktops? Yes — all three. Across 214 cooktop jobs we've serviced gas, electric coil, glass/ceramic, and induction cooktops from GE, Viking, Samsung, Thermador, Wolf, Bosch, Bertazzoni, KitchenAid, Frigidaire, Dacor, Whirlpool, and more.