Hi, is there any one here who can help a newbie with a problem?
I bought a house with a recently installed kitchen four years ago. The
induction hob was a well-known make (De Dietrich) and the people
installing the kitchen, reputable. I've cooked on it most days since,
and it's not been bad, though not my favourite cooking method. Now the
hob has suddenly broken - that is, half the rings no longer work.
Looking online it would seem that repairing induction hobs is both a
tricky and expensive process. I'm not sure what to do - being not
necessarily in favour of repair if it's too costly. I'm also pretty
shocked - I have never owned any form of cooker in the past that
actually BROKE- they've all been retired due to extreme old age. My
questions are, if anyone knows:
What is the life expectancy of an induction hob?
Why did mine just stop working?
Are there things I can check myself?
What are their specific benefits over other hobs to justify the price
(apart from toys-for-boys status)?
Any help most gratefully accepted!

On 17 Apr 2006 02:45:26 -0700, wrote:

[...]

- I have never owned any form of cooker in the past that
actually BROKE-

For the last 4 replacements I haven't had a built in oven (electric =
gas) that has lasted as long as 4 years.

they've all been retired due to extreme old age. My
questions are, if anyone knows:
What is the life expectancy of an induction hob?

It is high power electronics built down to a price. OTOH microwave
cookers seem to last OK.

Why did mine just stop working?

Probably failure of a component.

Are there things I can check myself?

Probably not unless there are fuses you can identify and check.

What are their specific benefits over other hobs to justify the price
(apart from toys-for-boys status)?

Food doesn't burn onto them (much)

Any help most gratefully accepted!

I had one and the controls were most perplexing it had a continuously
variable "power" control and also power cycling (duty ratio) control.
Nothing to see, no real way to determine the rate of application of
heat.

It got cracked and I didn't replace it.

Plenty of cheap hob places on t' internet, such as :

http://www.keek-kitchen-appliances.co.uk/acatalog/Baumatic_Electric_Hobs.html#a822

DG

What are their specific benefits over other hobs to justify the price
(apart from toys-for-boys status)?

Controllability of gas. Cleanability of ceramic. Plus the other
advantages/disadvantages of electric vs gas.

Christian.

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
...
What are their specific benefits over other hobs to justify the price
(apart from toys-for-boys status)?

Controllability of gas. Cleanability of ceramic. Plus the other
advantages/disadvantages of electric vs gas.

Christian.


EH what's does "Controllability of gas" have to do with the benefit of
having an induction hob

Christian McArdle wrote:

Controllability of gas. Cleanability of ceramic. Plus the other
advantages/disadvantages of electric vs gas.

Do these induction hobs work at 50 Hz, or is there some kind of inverter
involved, producing power at a higher frequency?

--
Andy

In article
Mr Fixit wrote:

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
...
What are their specific benefits over other hobs to justify the price
(apart from toys-for-boys status)?

Controllability of gas. Cleanability of ceramic. Plus the other
advantages/disadvantages of electric vs gas.

Christian.


EH what's does "Controllability of gas" have to do with the benefit of
having an induction hob


It cools down the moment you reduce the power, unlike an electric ring
which will sit under the pan being hot for a while.

EH what's does "Controllability of gas" have to do with the benefit of
having an induction hob

An induction hob responds instantly like a gas hob. Other forms of electric
cooker (i.e. sealed plate, ring, ceramic and halogen) have a response time
of ten seconds or longer.

Christian.

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article
Mr Fixit wrote:

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
...
What are their specific benefits over other hobs to justify the price
(apart from toys-for-boys status)?

Controllability of gas. Cleanability of ceramic. Plus the other
advantages/disadvantages of electric vs gas.

Christian.


EH what's does "Controllability of gas" have to do with the benefit of
having an induction hob


It cools down the moment you reduce the power, unlike an electric ring
which will sit under the pan being hot for a while.
I understand that but the OP question was not the benefit of "not" have an
induction hob but what was the benefits of an induction hob

In article
Mr Fixit wrote:

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article
Mr Fixit wrote:

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
...
What are their specific benefits over other hobs to justify the price
(apart from toys-for-boys status)?

Controllability of gas. Cleanability of ceramic. Plus the other
advantages/disadvantages of electric vs gas.

Christian.


EH what's does "Controllability of gas" have to do with the benefit of
having an induction hob


It cools down the moment you reduce the power, unlike an electric ring
which will sit under the pan being hot for a while.
I understand that but the OP question was not the benefit of "not" have an
induction hob but what was the benefits of an induction hob

I'm talking about an induction hob. Maybe I should have phrased it more
carefully and instead of "electric ring" used something like "resistive
element hob" to distinguish it from an inductive one.

In article ,
Andy Wade wrote:

Do these induction hobs work at 50 Hz, or is there some kind of
inverter involved, producing power at a higher frequency?

It's an inverter plus tuned tank coil generating a high
frequency magnetic field that induces eddy current and
hysteresis losses in the iron pot/pan, which then gets
hot. Note the need for iron, not aluminium.

The advantage is that the heat is concentrated only in
the iron pot/pan, the rest of the stove stays cool.

The disadvantages are the extra complexity of the inverter
and the associated extra cost and probable unreliability.

--
Tony Williams.

Tony Williams wrote:

It's an inverter plus tuned tank coil generating a high
frequency magnetic field that induces eddy current and
hysteresis losses in the iron pot/pan, which then gets
hot. Note the need for iron, not aluminium.

The advantage is that the heat is concentrated only in
the iron pot/pan, the rest of the stove stays cool.

Thanks for that. I was familiar with the principle, but not the
frequency of operation. Most web site descriptions seem to be at the
"magic force field" level of explanation! Some sort-of imply mains
frequency operation, but I could never quite see that working with such
a large air gap in the magnetic circuit.

So by "high frequency" you mean what - the low kHz range, perhaps?

--
Andy

In article ,
Andy Wade wrote:

So by "high frequency" you mean what - the low kHz range, perhaps?

Yes. Only about 30KHz or so.

--
Tony Williams.

Tony Williams wrote:

So by "high frequency" you mean what - the low kHz range, perhaps?

Yes. Only about 30KHz or so.

Thanks.

--
Andy