Why does my stove burner go to maximum heat on low?
Stove heating elements fail on to maximum heat regardless of the low setting because of a broken infinite switch. This malfunction makes it impossible to simmer food or control cooking temperatures properly, forcing owners to either replace the switch or buy a new stove entirely.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Replace the infinite switch yourself
- 2Clean or refurbish the carbon deposits on the switch contacts with sandpaper or an emery board
- 3Buy a refurbished stove or replacement part
- 4Call a professional appliance service technician
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Does anyone know why the heating element goes full heat on low settings ?”source ↗
“Had this happen to my glasstop Samsung... twice! Same burner. I hate that it fails ON to MAX.”source ↗
“This literally just happened to my whirlpool stove (which looks the same as yours according to the picture) and I bought a refurbished one instead. Glass top. That one is doing the same thing on two burners.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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