Amana Stove Repair

Some calls about an Amana glass-top stove turn out to be normal behavior. A radiant zone set below high will glow, go dark and glow again as its switch cycles power on and off, and that is how it holds a lower temperature. A zone that stays dark at every setting is a different story. This page covers the top of the stove, the burners and elements; the oven below has its own set of faults.

Amana stoves come with three kinds of top. Sealed gas burners use spark igniters and keep spills out of the burner box. Coil models use plug-in elements sitting in removable drip bowls, each run by an infinite switch. Smooth glass tops cover radiant elements controlled by the same type of switch. All three are simple Whirlpool designs, which keeps most surface repairs short and the parts easy to find.

Coil stoves tend to fail at the connection. A burner that does not sit firmly in its receptacle arcs, the terminals scorch, and the next burner you plug into that socket will be damaged by the same burned contact. Infinite switches can weld shut so a coil only runs on high. Lining drip bowls with foil traps heat and adds to the problem. When we replace a burner, a scorched receptacle gets replaced with it.

On gas tops, spills that reach the igniter make it click endlessly or fail to spark, and clogged ports produce a ragged or partial flame. Once the burners are cool, lift off the caps and bases, wash them in warm water, and let them dry completely before reseating. A cracked glass top should not be used at all, since spills can reach the elements and wiring and the crack can spread with each heat cycle.

We test the spark module and each igniter, check gas flow at every burner, and measure switches, receptacles and elements. Most surface repairs are quick and inexpensive on an Amana. A cracked glass top on an older basic stove is the exception, since the glass can approach the price of a new range, and we will tell you when that is the case so the decision is yours.