Gas Cock Sparker Keeps Ticking (Sparking)
The spark module that creates the high voltage arc is turned on and off by small switches mounted on the gas cocks. These are rotation sensitive switches and all are in parallel. Any one will turn on the module.
Typically, these fragile switches get damaged by a spill and short out. A short will keep the module ticking. Water runs down the gas cock shaft. Sometimes they dry out and the problem goes away. A hair dryer can also be effective in drying out a switch. Customers seldom realize that they can light a burner with a match and shut up the irritating sparker by unpluging the cooktop. This technique will not help much on a range because the oven will not work with out power.
Switches are not usually interchangeable. They are both position and model specific. Determining which switch is at fault is done eactly like tracing a bad infinite switch on an electric cooktop. Disconnect one switch at a time until the ticking stops.
Some spark modules monitor the presence of a flame by measuring its resistance. Once a flame is detected sparking stops. This is fine until the monitoring mechanism fails and the ticking continues long after the flame is lit. Only a new module will fix this.