How To Repair A Range That's Not Heating Properly
- Rated as EASY
- 1098 repair stories
- 3 step by step videos
Surface Burners
Depending on your appliance, you may have a coil burner, a solid burner, or a smooth-top range with a ribbon coil burner, but all burners are made of a heating wire that produces heat from electricity. No matter what type you have, start by unplugging the stove. And if the checks below don’t reveal the problem, try looking at the infinite switch. Coil Type Burner: Remove the non-functional burner element from the terminal block (or receptacle). Use a multi-meter to check for continuity. Check the end of the terminals to see if they’ve corroded or become damaged by the heat. If any of these conditions constitute your problem, replace the whole terminal block or receptacle at the same time as you replace the damaged coil. Solid Burners and Ribbon Coil Burners: Lift the main top to get access to the burner elements below. Remove the wires from the terminal of the non-functional burner, and make a visual check for damage as well as a multi-meter check for continuity.
Surface Burner Terminal Block & Receptacle
The coil elements on the top of your stove hook up to the inner wiring of the range via the terminal block or receptacle. So if your cooktop burners don’t get hot enough, or hot at all, the problem may lie under the cooktop at the terminal block or burner receptacle. Turn off the oven to raise the cooktop and find the receptacle, attached with 1 or 2 screws. Look for signs they’ve corroded, arced, or overheated. If you find evidence of damage, replace the burner element and the terminal block.
Surface Burner Switch & Infinite Switch
When no heat’s coming from a particular element on a modern oven, the problem may lie at the infinite switch, which is responsible for sending power to the surface elements. So if the element itself, and the terminal block and wires to that element are all good, unplug the stove and remove the back panel of the console to check the infinite switch at the control panel. Are there wires that have overheated? Or broken terminals to or from the infinite switch? Does a check with the multi-meter reveal that the contacts have continuity? If not, you can swap the infinite switch out for a new one. But if there’s nothing wrong with that infinite switch, you are entering the territory of the licensed electrician or repairperson: live voltage will be involved in testing the electricity level coming into the switch.
More Repair Parts
Still not sure which part is broken? We can offer you custom troubleshooting help if you search with your model number.