In detail: do-it-yourself ceramic plate repair from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.
The high manufacturability of hobs raises doubts about the possibility of repairing them with their own hands from users and home craftsmen. But, like all sophisticated electronic equipment, kitchen surfaces are composed of separate functional units that interact with each other.
Having understood the functionality and interaction of components, having studied the methods for determining common malfunctions, understanding what and thanks to what turns on, you can, without resorting to the services of masters, carry out a simple repair of the hob with your own hands.
All modern hobs work according to the same principle - the user acts on the control sensors, thereby turning on the power relays that switch large currents in the heating elements.
Therefore, first you need to localize the breakdown, that is, identify the defective node. It is assumed that the cable, connection terminals, fuse, voltage presence is checked, and command set errors are excluded.
Cooking surfaces (panels) are electric heating kitchen appliances (electric stoves) that have glass-ceramic outer cover. Glass-ceramic has great strength, allowing it to withstand a significant weight of the cookware, and has good thermal conductivity.
The attractive appearance, which some manufacturers (for example, Hansa) complement with artistic decorations, allows the stylish hob to successfully fit into the modern kitchen design.
Artistic hob design
Heating elements hidden under the glass-ceramic surface are of several types:
Spiral, working like conventional heating elements;
Corrugated tapes (modified filaments);
Halogen infrared lamps (HaloLight technology);
Induction coils that only heat the cookware material.
Video (click to play).
Various designs of thermoelectric burners
Burners of the first three types convert electric current into heat according to the Joule-Lenz law in the same way as an incandescent filament in a conventional light bulb or a spiral in a conventional electric heating element is heated. The principle of heating using induction is described in detail in the article on induction boilers. Do-it-yourself repair of induction hobs will be discussed below.
Thermoelectric heaters have a heat-releasing corrugation or spiral laid in a heat-resistant material, connection terminals, as well as heating sensors presented in the form of a bimetallic plate located on the line of the radius or diameter of the burner. Expanding, the bimetallic plate acts on the contacts, closing or opening them.
Hob burner device
Depending on the design of the hob, the temperature sensor contacts can be power contacts (acting like a thermostat), or signal contacts included in the electronic control circuit. Malfunctioning sensors (thermostats) are a common reason that the hob does not turn on.
In general, repairing hobs differs little from repairing electric stoves, which is described in detail in one of the articles of this resource. The main visual difference is the presence of a glass-ceramic surface and the type of heaters, the spirals of which are visible through the transparent surface. Also a characteristic distinguishing feature is sensory electronic unit and the complete absence of the usual control levers.
Hob touch control unit
Therefore, the greatest difficulty in the repair of electric hobs is the electronic touch control unit, which is also a display. To repair it with your own hands, you will need knowledge in radio engineering and special equipment.
But otherwise, the hob is not much different from an electric stove - the heating elements are switched on by power relays, controlled by an electronic control board, which receives signals from the sensor.
But at first, even without disassembling the hob case, you can determine the malfunction of the touch display and the electronic control unit. As a rule, the receipt of a command from the user is accompanied by a sound signal and is displayed on the display. If there is no reaction to touch, then it becomes clear that there is a breakdown in the sensor.
Indication of a properly working hob
The sensitivity of the sensor may deteriorate due to severe surface contamination. It should be remembered that the entire glass-ceramic surface of the hob requires careful maintenance and cleaning, otherwise cracks may form from the accumulation of limescale and burning.
Operating a stove with cracked glass ceramics will lead to its further destruction and breakdown, therefore, timely care and cleaning of the hobs is needed, as shown in the video:
If cleaning the surface above the sensor does not bring any results, you should disconnect the hob from the mains, first disconnect the line, disassemble the case and remove the electronic board with sensors.
Electronic board with display elements and control sensors
As you can see from the figure, the electronic board of the control unit has many small parts, including microcircuits, so repairing such a module with your own hands requires deep knowledge of radio engineering. If the malfunction of the sensor control unit is reliably established, then it is better to take this board to a specialized repair shop.
If surface diagnostics have not yielded results (the command turns on, but heating does not occur), you should look for a malfunction in the power switching unit. Some models of hobs can independently diagnose some malfunctions, signaling them using the error codes that appear on the display. You should carefully study the user manual and these codes - this will save time when troubleshooting.
Error codes for some hobs
The power control unit (switching) of the hob consists of relay groupscontrolled by an electronic sensor unit. When the operating mode is selected, one or more relays are energized, supplying power to the respective heating elements.
Arrows indicate power relays
Even for a novice master, it will be easy to disassemble the panel case with his own hands in order to independently determine the malfunction of a heating element or power relay. For this purpose, you will need a multimeter and skills to work with it. You will also need to determine the type of heating element itself in order to check it correctly (for example, the resistance of the induction coil is close to zero).
More experienced craftsmen often use a different method - they check the voltage supply to the main nodes, moving from the power terminals through the power relays to the heating elements. The power relay contacts may burn due to frequent switching on, and checking the presence of voltage at the input terminals of the burner will determine if the relay has been activated.
Measuring the supply voltage of a cooking zone
It should be remembered that many elements inside the enclosure carry life-threatening voltages. Working under stress requires focus, mindfulness and sober thinking.
If the terminals of the hotplate are normal supply voltage, you can check the performance of the heating element visually - the filament should be warmed up.But, if the burner turns on, but does not heat up to the required temperature, you need to measure the flowing current. The easiest way to do this without breaking the circuit is with a multimeter equipped with a clamp meter.
The use of a clamp meter to check the current in the power circuits of the hob
Knowing the maximum power of the burner and the supply voltage, you can calculate the rated current according to Ohm's law. In the case of heating elements that work like a heating element, a decrease in the current and heating temperature may be associated with malfunctions in the electronic control unit, thermostatic elements or in the power relays.
If the halogen burner does not heat well, then an internal chemical change in the composition of the gas in the heating element or degeneration of the spiral is possible. In this case, if all other possible malfunctions have been ruled out, the HaloLight Heater should be removed and replaced.
The appearance of the hob burners without glass-ceramic coating
It happens that the burner turns on, but after working for some time, it turns off ahead of time. Improper operation of the heating element may be due to a malfunction temperature sensorinstalled on the hotplate. In order not to change the entire expensive burner, you need to disassemble the sensor with your own hands, clean or bend its contacts, as shown in the video: