62942869 Kenmore Cooktop - Instructions

I removed the cover plate for the burner switches and verified the wiring on the other switches. I had removed the bad switch a few years ago and I needed to make sure that the wiring was correct. I did not keep the original screws that hold the switch in place, because I destroyed them when I first removed the old switch. The were corroded from years of cleaning solution. I made new screws from longer wall socket screws by shortening them with a hacksaw. The entire process took about 30 minutes to do, and the results were good. The new switch is smoother than the others, but functions exactly the same.

used drill to remove old screw

Shut off power at breaker box. Removed top burner unit. Removed old receptacle (Mounting screw was rusty so I drilld out the old one.) Cut wires from old unit. Stripped wires back on old unit. Attached old and new wire with ceramic wire nut. Attached new unit. Reinserted top unit. Reconnected power and "voila". Wife was smiling again.

Well, I had to search a bit deeper in the internet to find out that the problem was not with the surface burner (which did look a bit burned out anyway) but rather with the surface burner switch (Part Number: PS336885) which must have ben damaged by the heat of the closest burner. If this problem would have been better documented (or if I would have searched more carefully) I would have saved over $40 with parts (Surface Burner Receptacle Kit) that I didn't quite need. Repairing the switch was very easy, thanks also to the available video , even though the stove used on this video (front panel) didn't quite match mine (top-back panel).

The repair itself is really quite easy. Cut the wires, strip the ends and attach the new receptacle with wire nuts. The hard part was getting to it. My cooktop is about 30 years old, so I had to wade through piles of nasty built up grease. Some of the sheet metal screws were unworkable, so I had to cut them off with a Dremel tool. Not a pretty picture, but that's how repair work is on old stuff.

I was unable to remove the screw which held the electrical element.. so I took the new surface burner receptacle and removed the metal part, and used the old one and put in the new one in the old metal part and rewired, and it is like new.. now I need to do another one.

Used a multimeter to determine that power was going to the surface burner infinite switch. Then determined that power was not going from the output side of the switch to the burner element. Turned power to range off at the breaker box. Removed eight screws total on range top, four on the cartridge side, two located on back of control plate where the downdraft vent is located and two on the double fixed burner side. Raised the range top to gain access to the infinite switch assemblies. Removed to torx head screws retaining the infinite switch and then disconnected the five wires on the bottom one at a time, making sure to replace in the exact location on the new switch. Installed torx screws in the new switch and installed all screws back into range top. Reinstalled cartridge and burners and turned power back on. Tested rear burner and all functioned properly.