Ignition parts are cheap one at a time and expensive as a story: batteries, then a ceramic, then a module, then a “universal” kit that does not fit the rail. This page is the stop rule.
Control test
- Lid open. Tank on. New spark parts installed.
- Click the igniter and listen/look for spark at a port.
- Then use a long stick lighter at the ports (not at the hose).
- Read the flame, not the click:
- Stick lights a strong, even flame. Gas train is fine. Remaining problem is spark placement: gap, ground, unseated lead, or a rusty rail. One more electrode or a small bracket is rational. A fourth module is not.
- Stick lights a weak flame on every burner. You never had an igniter problem as the main issue. Regulator reset, then ports, then hose.
- Stick will not light, or whooshes from the venturi. Shut the knob. Flashback or no gas. Tubes off the orifices, a nest, or a valve. Not an igniter SKU.
- No gas smell, no flame, tank is heavy. Valve or manifold. On a box-store cart this is often replace-the-grill territory.
When the rail is the part
- Ceramics need a solid mount and a ground path.
- If the firebox tab is gone, a new electrode hangs in space.
- Zip-tying a ceramic to a heat plate is not a repair. The plate expands, the gap walks, the tie melts.
- If the box cannot provide metal, you need a new box or a new grill.
Pellet exception
- After a new hot rod, failed ignition is usually pot, pellets, fan, or board — not a fifth rod. See hot rod.
- Burned controller plus a rusted pot: replace conversation.
- A single rod on a sound Pro 575-class grill: repair.
Stack rule
- Two ignition SKUs and a stick still cannot light a healthy flame → stop the igniter aisle.
- Two ignition SKUs, stick can light, but the rail is rust → stop and make the box decision.
- Purchased nothing yet → start with batteries and the brand procedure: Spirit, Genesis, Q, Char-Broil, Nexgrill.
- Add current search totals on paper. When they approach a new cart of the same class, browse a replacement (BBQGuys for specialty, Amazon for commodity carts). No invented prices.
- Match-lighting a sound grill forever is valid if the gas train is healthy. It is not valid if you are match-lighting because the tube is off the orifice.
Use the replacement-grill search above if you decided the cart is done.