Model #JEC9530ADS, this right front burner on this five burner glass cook top no longer would heat for the customer. The element itself was a duel burner meaning it could operate as a small or large sized element. Initially the element would heat intermittently or would only turn on one portion of the element, but now it is completely inoperative.



Most cook tops or stove tops will use an infinite switch to control current to the element. These switches use an internal heater and bi-metal switch to control the temperature of the element by cycling the current on and off depending on the temperature selected. The longer we have voltage to the element, the hotter it will get. When diagnosing a failure of these circuits, it's usually just a matter of verifying voltage to the infinite switch and then seeing where it is missing. This can be easily accomplished using a multi-meter and checking the appropriate terminal connections. If the element is not heating, but there is voltage present, the element must be the failure. Or if there is voltage into the infinite switch but nothing coming out, then it must be the failure. It is important to remember when checking these circuits that we are dealing with 240vac that is made up of two 120vac circuits. All electrical measurements should be made across the component in question and not in reference to ground. Without a complete circuit, nothing is going to work.

On this cook top it wasn't really a matter of checking the components for voltage, but more identifying the board that had an obvious burn mark. The right front element on this cook top uses an electronic infinite switch which simply means, a microprocessor turns the current to the element on and off. This allows for a much more precise temperature control, but it's more expense with it fails. Because of the burn marks, I checked for any loose connections but everything was in it's place. So I then proceeded to replace the electronic infinite switch with a new component. With everything back together, and the power back on, I tested each burner and found they all now work. The customer has a working cook top once again, and I have one more post to share.