Repair instructions for glass-ceramic slabs - advice from experienced craftsmen

The hob has long become an integral part of any kitchen. It takes up much less space than a stove, but is equipped with a large number of convenient functions and options. But any, even the most reliable and high-quality equipment, can sooner or later fail. For example, an Lg or Bosch hob does not turn on. If this happens during the warranty period, you must call a technician from the service center or take the equipment yourself for repair. If a malfunction is detected after this period, you can try to restore it yourself before contacting qualified specialists, whose repair services will be very expensive.

Slab design

An electric stove is a complex household appliance with a simple design. All the necessary working elements of the equipment are located in a heat-resistant stainless steel housing. Operating principle: electric current passes through heating elements (heating elements) and heats them to specified temperatures.

The hob surface of the stove consists of several burners (from two to 6, but the standard is 4). But the structure of the burners is different. Standard stoves have an enameled hob and an internal heating element. More modern ones look like a solid ceramic plane with built-in heaters of different power.

A glass-ceramic stove is a type of electric stove. It has a smooth mirror surface on which electric burners are placed - regular or double-circuit. At the latter, the heating level is controlled. For example, a wider surface is intended for bulky dishes, and a smaller one for small ones. For dishes of non-standard shape, you can set the uniform heating mode of a certain configuration.

All glass-ceramic plates are made of durable ceran. This material will even withstand the fall of heavy objects. At the same time, halogen burners with heat-emitting lamps are built into the stoves, which are heated by a special alloy ribbon in the form of a snake.

Operating principle: when the heating element operates, heat distribution begins in the desired direction. The peculiarity of such plates is that they cool instantly. After a few minutes of switching off, you can touch the surface with your hands.

Main causes of failure

Malfunctions and their causes:

1. A burning smell appears when plugged in. In this case, you must first check the slab visually.
   To do this, turn it off from the power supply and inspect the burners. If the reason is accumulated and burnt food residues, remove them and rinse the surface well. If the stoves are clean, but a burning smell still emanates from the equipment, then the problem may be a faulty wiring. You need to call a technician or try to repair it yourself.
2. The heating element stops heating. The cause was the connecting wires or the burner. First, check the control parts, which often lose contact. If this does not help, you need to completely replace the heating element with a working one.
3. Due to a broken switch, it is not possible to set the required heating temperature for the burner . The reason is the displacement of contacts, their disconnection.
4. Problems with the coil are detected when the burner heats up poorly or is absent. The spiral may be damaged due to overheating, rupture, or moisture ingress.
5. The oven may heat unevenly or may not reach the desired temperature. In this case, it's a matter of heating elements. Repair or replacement is necessary.

Important
You can repair glass-ceramic stoves yourself if you carefully study the operating instructions and know the structure of the electric stove. Otherwise, you need to call a specialist to your home.

The burner turns off

In some cases, a breakdown of the control unit causes a malfunction when the burner turns off when heating. This can happen either a very short time after turning on the burner, or during long-term operation. In almost all cases of such a problem, the burner turns on again after it has completely cooled down.

You can understand and correctly diagnose the malfunction on a working and disconnected stove, with a diagnostic multimeter or computer, as well as by examining the circuit from the power unit to the incandescent coil itself under load and without.

How to troubleshoot?

Burners

To repair the burner, you must follow the following algorithm:

1. 
   You must first remove the grounding. To do this you need to unscrew the nut.

2. If the technological conditions specify a complicated structural device, then, in addition to the nut, you will have to remove a special ring or bracket. These parts press the nut tightly to the base.
3. The burner can be attached with a threaded connection or attached through a special hole. In the first option, you need to lubricate the thread with sunflower oil and unscrew it from the body. For the second case, you need to stock up on a screwdriver and remove the burner.
4. With the old model, it is better to immediately remove the burners and throw them away. In their place, put more modern and economical models that will fit in size.
5. The burners are serviceable, but have a heating defect due to a problem in the control unit. Mechanical regulators pass high-power current through themselves. Even reliable contacts after such an influence can form carbon deposits on their surface. It can be cleaned with ordinary sandpaper.

Switches

Whether to repair or replace the switch with a new one depends on the extent of its malfunction. If you turn the regulator and do not hear characteristic clicks, this indicates a minor breakdown of the part. To carry out an original check of the status of the heating switch, place it in the middle position and apply voltage to the stove. At this moment, the automatic protection should work. Typically, switching on and off occurs every 30 seconds.

Before removing the handles, you need to study the instructions. For some models (Gefest, Kaiser) they are non-separable. If the handles are removable, then first the regulating ones are removed from the outside, and only then the front panel is unscrewed.

To get to the broken regulator, you need to remove the strip installed under the stove. If a click is not heard when the relay is turned on, then check for the presence of a signal. If it is not there, then the problem is in the microprocessor or output stage.

Attention

To repair an electronic unit, you will need to study the diagram of its structure and be able to understand the complexities and technical components of the plate.

Touch sensors

To replace a faulty touch sensor, you need to turn off the electricity and turn the knob from the off position to the minimum heat. You should hear a click, indicating that the thermostat is operating. In the absence of this signal, it is clear that the regulator is faulty.

To carry out a final check and make sure that the touch sensor is broken, the thermostat is unscrewed to the middle position, and then the power is turned on. When the sensor is working properly, the power is turned on/off every 30 seconds.

When starting to repair a glass-ceramic electric stove with your own hands, you need to prepare:

• multimeter;
• a set of Phillips and flat screwdrivers;
• pliers;
• wire cutters

To work, you need a heat shrink tube with a mounting knife and fine-grained sandpaper. Before work you need to take:

• voltage probe;
• set of wrenches;
• flashlight;
• tweezers;
• hammer.

Hob

Hob repair depends on the cause of the malfunction. The following cases are relevant:

• 
  There is no signal to turn on the hob due to a lack of voltage in the socket or a malfunction of its parts. A multimeter is used to check the functionality of the outlet and the current signal emanating from it. If the test is negative, the fuse is checked, which may blow due to broken contacts, chafing or squeezing of the cord, or due to breakdowns of the heating element.

• One or two hob burners may fail to operate due to broken heater contacts. They just need to be soldered. And the burnt-out heating element is replaced with a new one. The control unit switch must be repaired or replaced with a new one.
  Advice

  Poor heating effect is associated with poor signal transmission to the equipment through the heating element. This may damage the thermostat and thermostat. The thermostat must be replaced, but other parts can be repaired yourself.

• Problems with fuse overheating or sensor inoperative condition. Use a multimeter to determine the cause and location of the break. The control unit is cleaned with saline solution to bring it into working condition.

Gas hob repair

In a gas hob, you can only repair the electric ignition and gas control system yourself. In principle, the main problems arise with them. Since a gas hob with electric ignition is also connected to electricity, in case of general problems with the electrical part (piezo ignition does not work at all), first check the presence of power in the outlet and inspect the integrity of the wire. If everything is fine here, you can go deeper.

You can repair your gas hob yourself

The electric ignition button does not work (no spark)

Electric ignition is a convenient thing, but periodically the spark stops “jumping” and the fire on some burner does not ignite. You can light it by pressing the button of another burner. They are connected in parallel and when you press one, there is a spark on all burners. But this situation is abnormal and the spark must be restored. Repairing the hob in this case is not very difficult. There are several reasons:

What else can be done is to check the contacts and soldering. If necessary, tighten the contacts or clean them from dirt, solder them, if cold ones are found, re-solder them. How to determine if a solder is cold? If you pry the tin with something hard (the end of a multimeter probe, for example), it moves or flies off, and there may be cracks in it. In this case, heat up the soldering iron and melt the solder again.

After ignition, the flame on the burner goes out

Many modern gas stoves or hobs have a gas control function. Near each burner there is a sensor that monitors the presence of a flame. If there is no flame, the gas supply stops. The function is useful, but sometimes problems arise - after ignition, when you release the power handle, the flame goes out. The fact is that the sensor - thermocouple - is dirty or faulty and “does not see” the flame.

Where is the thermocouple located in a gas stove?

First you need to try cleaning all the sensors. During use, they quickly become overgrown with grease, so they require periodic cleaning. First, turn off the power, remove the burners, remove the handles, and unscrew the front panel. We find a thermocouple on a non-working burner. This is a small metal pin located close to the gas burner. In some models of gas hobs it can simply be inserted, in others there is a lock. You need to remove the sensor from its socket and clean it of dirt. Use regular kitchen dishwashing chemicals or something stronger. It is important to achieve results. We wash the sensors, dry them, and put them in place. You can check your work.

Sometimes it happens that even after cleaning some burners do not work. This means that the thermocouple has failed. In this case, repairing a gas-powered hob involves replacing the thermocouple. You already know how to get to it, but it can be turned off simply: you need to remove the corresponding wires from the block. We take out the old sensor and install a new one. Reinstall the cover and check the operation. That's all, actually.

One important point: if your equipment is under warranty, you should not repair it yourself, otherwise you will be denied warranty repairs.

Source

Price from the masters

You can submit a request to the service center for repair of a glass-ceramic electric stove remotely. Before work, damage is always diagnosed. It is used to estimate the amount of repair costs and guide the approximate amount that needs to be paid.

The cost consists of the required price of spare parts and the cost of the master’s work itself. Sometimes this includes an additional charge for urgent repairs. Diagnostics are not included here, since service centers carry it out free of charge.

The price of spare parts depends on the specific manufacturer of kitchen appliances. The approximate cost of spare parts is from 10 thousand 19 thousand rubles. The amount paid to the specialist depends on the complexity. Repair work of average complexity is estimated at approximately 2–2.5 thousand rubles, more complex work can reach up to 4 thousand.

The cost of replacing a glass ceramic hob will be approximately 50-60% of the cost of a new hob. If we talk about repairing minor problems, it will be 20–40% of the price of new equipment.

Other materials about slab failure and repair:

• Frequent causes of breakdowns of induction, cooking and gas stoves and do-it-yourself repair of the device.
• How to repair the timer, glass and oven door?
• Signs and causes of gas oven malfunction and do-it-yourself repairs.

Reviews and advice from experts

It is important to remember when replacing or repairing a glass-ceramic stove yourself:

1. If there is voltage on at least one contact of the terminal box, there is no need to check the voltage in the power cord and socket. This fact indicates the serviceability of these parts and a malfunction in the built-in elements themselves.
2. Sometimes a regulator breaks down and an identical replacement can be found. In some models it is located on the same board along with the radiator. When the stove burner is in working order and turned on to maximum, the heating control cannot be changed. This means that the regulator broke down for an unknown reason. Finding out is long and expensive. You need to immediately replace it with a new one.
3. Temperature control devices in electric stoves break down only for two reasons: due to oxidation and malfunction of the contacts or due to breakage/deformation of the plates. If, after restoring reliable contact at the terminals, the functionality of these units is not restored, then they must be replaced.
4. Any breakdowns of glass-ceramic slabs can be prevented by careful handling. To do this, study the operating instructions and strictly follow them. Another common cause is a voltage drop. In this case, breakdowns associated with overheating and deformation of wires are considered complex. You need to contact the master.

You can repair glass-ceramic hobs yourself or invite a specialist. In the first case, you need to have knowledge in the design of slabs, and the second is suitable for difficult situations when it is not possible to find the cause and fix it.

What is required for repair work

First of all, a person who undertakes the repair of household appliances must have at least minimal knowledge in the field of electrical engineering. Without this, it is simply impossible to carry out repairs correctly. In addition, before starting work, you must comply with all safety rules.

Important: in order to bring equipment back to life on your own at home, it is not enough to correctly find the cause of the breakdown, but also to carry out special repair measures that will bring the equipment back to life.

For these purposes, it is important to have the necessary tools. If you need to dismantle the hob, you will definitely need a set of screwdrivers. These should include:

• cruciform;
• flat.

In addition, you should make sure that they are all of different thicknesses, since each model of glass-ceramic hob from different manufacturers has different fastenings.

Also, to dismantle the panel and its further repair, you should prepare the following tool:

• open-end and ring wrenches;
• pliers;
• wire cutters;
• soldering iron;
• side cutters;
• insulating tape.

You will also definitely need special equipment that is designed to measure voltage and resistance.

Repair equipment