Kenmore Range Burner Problem

diy1618

I have a Kenmore electric range with glasstop and 4 burners. One of the burner would not turn on. How do I fix it?

hardwareman

first you have to fugure out is it the switch or the burner itself. Do you own a multimeter and can you use it?

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diy1618

Yes I have a multimeter. Which part should I open to do the measurement?

hardwareman

the easiest (and safest) would to to gain access to the burner and take a voltage reading there. Lift the glass top, turn the burner switch on high and check for 220 volts to the burner.

__________________
................."I want a house that has gotten over all its troubles. I dont' want to spend the rest of life bringing up a young and inexperienced house"...........

diy1618

Any trick to lift the glass top? Or just simply lift it?

notmrjohn

Do you have an owner's manual with a parts diagram? The manual may tell you how to open it or you might figure out how from diagram. Using model number you can find diagram on line, either at sears site or googling Kenmore model number parts. hope for a pdf owners manual from sears, some of their diagrams on parts pages are kinda blurry.

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hardwareman

most glass tops have 2 or 3 screws on the underside of the glass frame, remove the screws and lift up

__________________
................."I want a house that has gotten over all its troubles. I dont' want to spend the rest of life bringing up a young and inexperienced house"...........

diy1618

Got it open, thank you.

Now a different question: the glass top in the middle of the burners became whitish (it was black), not sure if it's because I used Comex to soak it too much, is there a way to turn it back to black?

Is it possible to change the glass top, is it worth it?

notmrjohn

if it "became whitish" and is not a stain, no way turn it back to black. Sometimes just heat affects flat top ranges, not so much glass ones though. Did you say
" Comet"? That's what did it, and it is not "too much" it is any at all. Do not use abrasives on glass tops, scratches um all up. Glass cleaner, white vinegar, baking soda for "Scrubbin" and nylon scrubbers , there are non-abrasive cleaners, or at least less abrasive, Bar Keepers Friend, Zuds, do they still make Bon-Ami?. but be careful with them too. Products specifically for glass tops, which don't work any better than any other commercial or homade glass cleaner.
You can buy a new top, now that you know how to open it, even change color. is it worth it? Up to you, how much does whitish bother you? I dunno price of new top, but if you have to order new element or control, you might save on shipping.
Be careful pokin around in there with that meter, 240 volts. Turn the breaker off.. You check the elements with ohm meter with power off, and pwer leads disconnected, not with voltage meter and power on! Jeeze! It'll grab hold of you and if it lets go it'll throw you across the room. If element was good and getting power you wouldn't need to check it for voltage. if ohm meter reads infinity, element is shot. You can check the control with ohm meter, disconnect its leads, mite wanta make drawing or take picture if more than two wires, maybe even if just two. Connect meter turn knob to diff settings. Now you can check voltage. I like to use alligator clips. No, that's as far as I wanna go. I bet the element is burned through any way. I don't want you messin with 240 volts uness we got too. I don'tlike messin with it unless I got to. I was once struck by lightning , in the right big toe, s'truth, so help me. So I am extra careful around lectrical stuff.

hardwareman

get the proper cook top cleaner and scrub it, with a little elbow grease it will look like new again. As far as the price to change the top, they usually run around $300.00, so best to just fix your element problem

__________________
................."I want a house that has gotten over all its troubles. I dont' want to spend the rest of life bringing up a young and inexperienced house"...........