How to Fix Your Electric Stove Burner

"Oh, great." Your electric stove burner is out. You were going to pan-fry a delicious dinner for yourself, but your lack of mechanical prowess has thrown a wrench in your evening plans. What should you do? Call the landlord? Call a repairman? Do anything except try to fix it yourself? If you're cautious and have a little knowledge of mechanical safety, you can actually try to fix your own electric stove. Here's how.

First, there are two types of burners on electric stoves: plug burners and direct-wired burners. Let's look at each specific type.

Plug Burners

Your first goal in fixing your stove will be to determine where the problem is. The power cord that comes with a plug burner can actually help with this diagnosis, since you can try to change your power source. Try plugging in your electrical cord to a different outlet to see if you're able to get power from there. If not, there's a good chance that your problem comes with your cord or burner itself.

With the power off, make sure to examine the stove and see where anything might be going wrong. If you can see run-down pieces of equipment or other breakage, make a note of which part you'll need to replace.

Direct-Wired Burners

With problem diagnosis as your first priority, you're going to want to find out where the error is. With direct-wired burners, you'll probably want to open the two insulator clips. Again, make sure the power is off and disconnected from an electrical source when you do anything serious with electricity. If you're in doubt about your abilities, simply contact a professional, or at least someone who knows more about electric stoves than you do.

When you open these clips, you gain access to the wires feeding your burner - you might want to test this with another stove to see if it's working properly. If the other stove won't work with these wires, then you have an idea of where the problem is.

Remember to be extremely careful when working with electrical wiring, and that you have no contact with electrical parts that are connected and powered on. If necessary, simply turn power back on when you need to see if another stove will turn on, and do so only when you're safely distant.

Although you could learn something from exploring the inner workings of your stove, don't go digging in your electric stove burner when it's broken if you have no experience with it. If you're in an apartment, you'll want to contact a landlord. You can also try contacting a repairman if you live in a private home.

Photo Credits: Travelin' Librarian

Originally posted 2009-08-25 03:45:14.

This post involves:

electric stove, electric stoves, electrical cord, electrical source, electricity, good chance, insulator, landlord, mechanical safety, power cord, power source, prowess, stove burner

... and focuses on:

Handyman, How to Fix, kitchen, Stove

Posted by Fix Handyman on October 29, 2011 in Handyman, How to Fix, kitchen, Stove. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.