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I have a Viking oven (model VGIC3054BSS) that began shutting off during the preheating phase. The oven burner ignites and then after 30s to 3 minutes I can hear the gas valve close. I'm pretty sure the oven does not think it has reached temperature because the bake light stays illuminated instead of shutting off. The oven will try to reignite once before giving up.

I can run the broiler just fine. It will stay ignited for an extended period of time.

Any ideas on what mechanism is shutting off the gas?

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  • It might help to provide the specific model number of your oven.
    – FreeMan
    Jan 19, 2022 at 16:34
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    Thanks! I added it to the description (VGIC3054BSS).
    – Michael Schmitz
    Jan 19, 2022 at 17:23
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    Your oven has a spark ignitor and the parts list includes a "thermal valve". Read this under the spark ignition section to understand a little more. IDK if you have direct ignition, pilot ignition, but either way the valve, the sensors, or the control circuitry and timers may be failing. You'll need to read up on this and do some diagnostics to determine what part is failing. I'd start by looking for loose, dirty, or clogged parts before breaking out meters and sensors.
    – jay613
    Jan 19, 2022 at 17:48
  • Thanks for the pointers! I have direct ignition. The spark ignites the tubular burner directly. A fault in a thermal valve sounds like a good hypothesis!
    – Michael Schmitz
    Jan 19, 2022 at 17:59

2 Answers 2

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I have a Viking (2 ovens) range. I had to replace the igniters to get it to work right. There is a small oven with one igniter and the larger oven has 2. The stock igniters from Viking are junk. I found some better aftermarket igniters several year ago and haven't had an issue since. I wish I could remember the brand, but since product recommendations are considered off topic, it's probably best I can't remember the brand. Just don't get Viking brand replacement igniters.

OK....down to the details on how this works. The igniters are connected to the fuel valve, they need to draw enough current to "convince" the fuel valve they are operating correctly and will indeed be hot enough to ignite the gas when the gas valve opens. If the igniters don't draw enough current, the fuel valve either won't open or close if the current drops too low. The igniters on Vikings run contentiously when the burners are operating, so if they draw less current, the fuel valves may shut down.

I think it's a crummy design and would much rather see a flame sensor or ignition proving device like are in gas furnaces. Oh well, Viking didn't ask me first! Hope this post helps. If you want the brand of the replacement igniters, let me know and if I can find it, I'll post it in a comment.

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  • Thanks George. I've seen a few references to this and will probably try replacing the ignitor. I have an ignitor that connects with a single wire and clicks to light the flame (it's not a glow ignitor). But even if I unplug the ignitor, the oven will still try to light which makes me wonder whether this is the root cause. Given this extra information, do you think the ignitor might still be the culprit?
    – Michael Schmitz
    Jan 19, 2022 at 17:13
  • "The igniters on Vikings run contentiously". Wow, who do they have such a beef with?
    – FreeMan
    Jan 19, 2022 at 17:55
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    You may have a newer model than mine. To answer your question in the comment, "no" probably not. Since it's a spark (clicks) to light, that would imply you have a flame/ignition sensor . It may not be working properly. I'm not an appliance expert at all, just shared with what happened with my Viking. So take all I said with a grain of salt.
    – George Anderson
    Jan 19, 2022 at 20:33
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The spark ignitor also detects the flame, and it was positioned slightly too far from the burner so that it periodically detected no flame and shut off the gas. I bent the spark ignitor closer to the burner and now the oven stays lit. Thank you everyone for your help!

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