ILVE cooktops sold in the US
ILVE sells built-in gas cooktops here in 30, 36 and 48 inch widths. They carry five or six sealed burners. Some have a griddle on one side. The cooktops come in the Nostalgie II and Professional Plus II styles. ILVE also makes a 48 inch gas rangetop with a griddle. The cooking top on a Majestic range uses the same burner parts. So if you searched for Majestic cooktop repair, this page fits your range top too.
The burners are solid brass. ILVE coats many of them in a black non-stick finish it calls Total Black. The pan grates are cast iron. The spark ignition is built into the knobs.
The flame goes out when you let go of the knob
This is the fault ILVE owners ask about most. Each burner has a safety probe called a thermocouple. It sits in the flame. When it gets hot, it tells the valve to stay open. If the flame blows out, the probe cools and the gas shuts off.
So you must hold the knob in for 5 to 10 seconds after the burner lights. That gives the probe time to heat. If the flame still drops after that, the probe is the suspect. It may be coated in burnt food. It may be bent away from the flame. Or it may be worn out. Less often, the magnet in the gas valve has failed.
Clicking, weak sparks and dead burners
- Clicks all the time. Water got under a knob and into the ignition switch.
- One burner will not spark. Its spark plug is cracked or caked with grease.
- No burner sparks. The spark module has failed or lost power.
- Spark is there but no flame. The burner ports are blocked, or the cap is off center.
- Flame is yellow and sooty. The brass ring is seated wrong, or the air mix is off.
- Knob is stiff or spins free. The valve stem is worn or the knob insert has split.
- Griddle heats on one end only. The burner tube under it is partly clogged.
Cleaning that helps and cleaning that hurts
After a boil-over, turn off the gas and let the top cool. Lift the grates, caps and brass rings. Wash the ILVE brass in warm water with dish soap, then dry each piece well. Clear each port with a wooden pick. Do not use a metal pin, since it can widen the hole. Do not soak the black coated burners in harsh oven cleaner. Wipe the white spark plug and the thin probe beside it with a dry cloth. Then set each ring back so its tabs drop into place. A ring that rocks is a ring that will not light right.
Pricing and the visit
An ILVE cooktop diagnostic is $79 at a home. When we do the cooktop repair, that fee is not charged. Your tech lights each burner, times how long the flame holds and checks the spark. Next comes a set cooktop price with labor and parts counted in. Work starts only after you say yes. ILVE parts often come from Italy. When a part must be ordered, we book the second trip before we go. Ours is an independent company, and ILVE burner work leaves with a warranty.
Should you repair an ILVE cooktop
Yes, in nearly every case. Probes, spark plugs, switches and valves are small parts. The brass burners last for decades. These tops are made by hand in Italy, and a new one can take months to arrive. The only hard cases are a cracked top plate or a part ILVE has stopped making. We will check supply and tell you straight.
Service areas for ILVE owners
ILVE cooktop calls are common around Chicago, and our Illinois service page names the towns. Brass burner jobs also take us to Northern Virginia, to Houston, to Los Angeles and to D.C. See our ILVE Majestic repair page for the full line. If your top is part of a range, read ILVE range repair. For the hood above it, see ILVE range hood repair. Before you call, run a slow count of ten on each burner. Write down which ones fail. We will load the right probes for those burners.