RC8640XBB4 Whirlpool Cooktop

This was a countertop mounted cooktop. The hardest part of the repair was getting the cooktop out of the hole and separating the glass top from the burner box. It is highly recomended that you have two people to seperate the top from the burner box. Be sure you turn off the breaker to the cooktop first before you do any work. One time sav ... Read more er is once you have the top sperated from the box use 2- 10"-12" pieces of 1x2 or 2x4 to prop the top open. This will eleminate the need to disconnect the power leads (be sure the breaker is OFF). If you are not electrically inclined mark the color of the wires to the corrosponding terminals on the new element BEFORE you remove them from the old element. The element that I replaced was the dual heat element. I ended up having to change 2 of the terminal ends on the wiring harness becacuse they were too small for the new element. Carefully remove the wires from the old elenent using needle nose pliers and remove the old element by removing the 2 screws that hold the element to the hold down clips, then loosen the clip mounting screws & remove the element. Change terminals if needed & reassmble in reverse order. Once I got it reassembled with a couple of the top mounting screws in, I turned on the breaker and tested for proper operation. Breaker OFF, finish reassembly and remount. You may want to consider replacing foam gasket before remounting. Good luck... R. Moore

Opened the Cooktop. Hardest part was removing the cooktop.
The heating element was broken, very hard to see.

Remove 2 clips and install in new element. Great oppurtunity to clean the unit.

This is a slide-in range, so I:
1. Turned off the circuit breaker for the range. The range is hard-wired, so can't just be unplugged. I determined the clock on the range went off.
2. Removed 4 screws holding the front control panel to the cooktop. Removed 2 screws from each side panel into the cooktop. Removed 4 screws from the ... Read more rear panel holding the cooktop.
3. With my assistant (my wife) lifted the cooktop and tilted it so that I could access the underside.
4. Used an iPad to take photos from several angles of the wire connections from each burner control. Printed the one showing the connections on the dual burner control.
5. Removed the 4 screws holding the sheet metal support for the dual burner and one of the other burners. Released the spring steel retainers holding the dual burner. Removed the burner.
6. Used the iPad again to take photos of the connections to the dual burner, and printed it.
7. Removed all the wire connections to the burner. Checked continuity from the center (common) terminal to each of the other terminals. Determined that in fact the inside coil was open (burned out).
8. Removed the two screws holding the spring clip retainers on the old burner. Matched the old and new burners to determine where the spring clips should go. Drilled 2 small holes in the base of the new burner and screwed the clips from the old burner on the new one.
9. Now the tricky part: The new burner didn't have the exact same limiter and heat sensor probe as the old one. After several false starts, we were able to barely make out the terminal letter/number designations on the control and match them to the same letter/numbers on the new burner. It required a magnifier and a strong flashlight to read these engraved markings.
10. Made the connections on the burner. I used a pair of long-nosed pliers to carefully pull the connections off the spade terminals, and attch them on the new burner.
11. Mounted the burner to the sheet metal support using the spring clips previously installed.
12. Re-attached the 4 screws holding the burner support to the cooktop.
13. Carefully replaced the cooktop onto the range, paying special attention to not pinching any of the wires, and making sure all the wires, from all the burners were still connected.
14. Replaced all 12 screws holding the cooktop to the range.
15. Turned on the power, and checked all burners, including the new one, to see if they were opetating properly. YAY! They all worked!

It must be noted that we had to call a repairman to troubleshoot our installation the first time. We had reversed two of the wires to the new burner, because of the difference between the old and the new limiter connections. The engraved markings in the porcelain were very difficult to see. The instructions that came with the new burner never addressed this issue, and instead had very confusing (and worthless) instructions about replacing the limiter from the old burner to the new on. (This was not possible, anyway).

After the repairman left, we discovered the front burner that had been working, no longer was. With our newfound experience, we repeated the previous steps to take the range apart and discovered one of the wires had become disconnected from that burner. We re-connected it, re-attached the cooktop, and everything worked.

One telltale indicator that we had mixed up the connections on the burner, was the red "hot' warning light on the range top came on as soon as we restored power, even though no burners had been on. I should mention that the dual burner "worked" a couple of times even with the reversed connections, but then failed to work any more.