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I have an induction hob, which is over an oven (both around 10 years old). Recently I have had a problem, whereby if I have the oven on for a while at the same time as the hob, the hob cuts out. It still has power, but acts as if there is no pan on there. My guess is that it is overheating, but as it never used to be a problem I am thinking that either there is some kind of heat shield that has worn away (?) on either the oven or the hob, or possibly there’s a thermostat on the hob that is playing up (it seems to take longer than previously for the hob to report it has cooled down). I am wondering if anyone who knows about these things can suggest where the problem is so I can look into getting it looked at / replacing it.

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    Are they one integrated appliance or separate units that happen to be one above the other? And if you get the oven hot, then turn it off, does the hob work then?
    – Chris H
    Commented Apr 21 at 13:05
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    Two separate units, one above the other. So far when it’s happened it’s normally near the end of the cooking time so the oven turns off anyway. But it does appear that letting the oven cool down does eventually help.
    – IGGt
    Commented Apr 21 at 22:08

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Every induction cooktop (called a hob in some places) I've ever seen has at least one cooling fan, this keeps the electronics from overheating. I suspect that either your fan has stopped working, or there is dust or other debris blocking the fan or the vents.

You need to pull the unit out and flip it over so you can see the underside, and vacuum all the dust and other crud out of the fan and vent ports. That alone may solve your problem, but you should test it before you re-install it. The hob doesn't need to be installed to work, so flip it so it's right side up again and prop it up using some books, wood blocks or other materials, high enough so you can see the underside of it. Put a pot with a bit of water on and turn it on maximum heat, then observe the fan. If the fan works then you are good to go, if not then it may need to be replaced or you may have to replace the entire unit.

Before you reinstall the cooktop have a good look in and around the space it goes into, make sure there's nothing blocking the airflow. Also, give it a good vacuum, if your fan was blocked chances are there's still lots of gunk back and if you leave it you'll just get the same problem.

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In the end it turned out that it was just getting old, and the main circuit board was failing. After a few more days it started failing even when the oven hadn't been on, and within a week, it simply refused to acknowledge the presence of any pans at all.

Unfortunately it was also quite old, so was unable to source a replacement board, so I've now replaced it with a nice new one.

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  • I suspect we’ll get more stories like this as they’re more complex electronically than old resistive stoves. Do you know how old it was, so we can be aware of how much life might be typical for one?
    – Joe
    Commented May 15 at 17:21
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    this one was around 9 years old.
    – IGGt
    Commented May 16 at 7:28

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