GE WB2X9998 Flat Oven Ignitor

General Electric WB2X9998 Flat Oven Ignitor is common to gas ranges and ovens made by GE and other brands. This is a genuine GE factory part and comes with GE's 1 year warranty.

Product Description

This gas oven ignitor (bake ignitor) will replace most rectangular ignitors including the 12400035 Maytag ignitor and the GR412 Gemline number.

Product Review

When my GE oven would not turn on this past Sunday night, I needed a quick replacement. I knew nothing about ovens, but I dreaded calling for a technician. A little internet research showed that my ignitor was likely the culprit. After identifying my original ignitor as a Norton 501A, I found this product on Amazon. As others have mentioned, this is an genuine Norton 501A GE replacement part. After replacing the ignitor, the oven worked perfectly and the flames came on within a minute. I had everything up and working by Tuesday. It was a very simple repair and only requires a screwdriver (to unmount/mount the ignitor) and a set of pliers (to cut, strip and splice the wires). Here's a few notes for others who may have never had experience with this type of repair.

- You may notice that no gas flows and believe it's an issue with gas and not an issue with the ignitor. But the gas valve is connected in series with the ignitor. If the current through the ignitor is not sufficient, the gas valve will not turn on. This is a safety feature that prevents gas build-up without an ignition source. This means that if your ignitor does not glow or only glows dimly, the current will not be sufficient to release gas.
- You can measure the current if you have a current clamp or if you can insert an ammeter in series with your circuit. But do this only if you absolutely know what you are doing, as it requires a live current and, remember, you are working in an oven! A working ignitor will draw around 3.2 amps. If you don't have one, don't worry. Just replace the ignitor anyway as it's the most likely point of failure in many cases and is cheap to replace.
- Flat/square ignitors (like this one, with the metal rectangular cage) are generally not compatible with the round ignitors. They draw different currents. Make sure to get the right type. Brands generally don't matter, as most square ignitors draw the same current, but my vary slightly in size. This happens to be the cheapest one I could find.

- Your old ignitor may have come with a plastic plug at the end. This model (GE WB2X9998) is a bare wire at the end and comes with 2 ceramic wire nuts. The easiest way to use this is to cut the plug off the old ignitor and splice it onto the new ignitor. Wire polarity is not an issue. If you are not comfortable with this, you may want to look into GE WB13K21, which has a plug.
- The current photo doesn't show it, but there are mounting tabs (for the two screws that will hold the ignitor in place) coming from both sides. Just bend down the side you don't need.
- When you remove your old ignitor, don't throw away the screws. This does not come with screws.