Kenmore Elite 36" induction stove blues

When did you purchase the cooktop?

Let us know, Jbrebeuf, what the tech has to say.  I hope you are able to get it fixed, today, but keep us posted, either way!

I purchased it from Sears contract sales.  I am a property supervisor and buyer and I got this induction stove for personal use.

The tech called a senior tech who supposedly called the manufacturer about the difference between the power output of the burners on the same cooktop with the set at the same power settings.

The field tech acknowledged that there was a significant and palpable difference in the power/heat output among the burners.  But the senior tech claimed that the manufacturers consider a "10% difference in power output as acceptable industry standard."

Neither the tech nor the Sears service office has produced any formal documentation from the unnamed manufacturer of such a standard.  The test the tech was told to perform did not seem to be scientific or accurate and is therefore highly questionable.

We were not told who the manufacturer of the Sears Kenmore Elite cooktop was but only that it was not Sears.

It leave us consumers without anyway to verify the claim of such a standard tolerances nor the findings.

Meanwhile, the cooktop is not working as it did when I purchased it and this cooktoop is not cheap.    This will probably affect my future purchases for the high rise apartment complexes I managed vis-a-vis Sears.

Can anybody help?

What is the long model number of your machine?

The first three numbers will indicate who the OEM is.

Hold on to your hat, because you've begged many questions.

First, my original question: When did you purchase this appliance?

How was the power output measured? Was it done with an infrared thermometer or was it done with a multimeter?

Do you still have the manual for the stove? If not, it's available on managemyhome.com, and it will probably list the wattages of the burners.

Documentation of industry standards isn't carried around. There are literally thousands of industry tolerance/performance/energy standards, and the technicians call for that information because carrying it all around is cumbersome, and it's faster and easier to have a central source of information and instruction for specialized situations than to make every technician personally responsible for knowing or locating all of that information.

As AdamO asked, what is the full model number of this appliance?

Let's stipulate that you had been given the documentation of the tolerances, and the results of the test. Is that something you'd be able to corroborate independently on your own? Or is it more a case of being confused as to what the issue is, and feeling like because you don't know fully what's going on, that some sort of critical information is being withheld? That is a common feeling, but it's generally not substantiated, and most often the information would be of little use or significance to the layperson. It wouldn't make much sense without a significant understanding of electricity, to the point that calling a technician probably wouldn't have been necessary.

If you provide the model number, we can provide the manufacturer, and if you want to contact that manufacturer with questions about your appliance, that may help allay some of your reservations.

The one year warranty just ran out about a week after the second tech came.  But I bought the three year extended warranty from Sears. So it is still covered.

Please point out the many questions I begged.

What I thought I did was simply report what was done and what was not provided to me that I think would be helpful for me to research or to get help on.  And then I reported my feelings about them.

Matters that I cannot understand or process, which as you say a lay person might not see as significant or meaningful, I can get help on.  Available to most anyone are independent experts.  One can even follow up with other Sears representatives who are willing to provide understandable explanations.  Even though I am not a tech or engineer or have understanding on your level, I can find people who will help me.

And if Sears expects me to accept that my cooktop works correctly because it follows industry tolerances and therefore no more service will be performed on a product that worked much better before when I bought it, then Sears should have the courtesy of providing me the customer a better explanation and documentation.  And precisely because Sears and you see us as lay persons without the expertise,  efforts should be made to digest the highly technical, esoteric, complicated stuff that is beyond most customers.  Don't you guys want us to feel comfortable about continuing to be Sears customers.

Despite all the discussion, the cooktop is not working as it did, and now the tech says that there is nothing that can be done.  It is clear to me and my wife, the people who have using this cooktop for a year now that it is not working as well as originally.

I am not only holding on to my hat but I guess when it comes to Sears, I am also "left with the bag."

I'll get that serial number to you as soon as I can.

"Begging the question" means giving just enough information to need to ask more questions to get at the core of the issue. Or, starting the story in the middle and leaving out the beginning, when the beginning provides the context by which the rest of the story makes sense.

Testing the burner elements for resistance, and inductance would be a good start.

Lenz's law can be a useful tool.

Assuming your definition of begging the question is correct, Mr. Blue, you still have not provided me the specific, concrete, and detailed instances of your claim that many questions were begged.

Your responses, it seems to me, do not really address a simple customer's need to have his Sear's product properly repaired.  You have not helped me shake off my induction stove blues.  

I am new here.  Mr. Blue do you work for Sears? If not, thank you for your analysis but I need Sears to work on my cooktop until it works as it did originally.  If you have any suggestions on how Sears could be persuaded to do this, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you worldweary2.  Your suggestions are very helpful and it seems I would have to get an expert third party to perform these tests and then submit them to Sears for consideration.  Should I hire an electrician or an appliance tech to perform these tests?

To Jbrebeuf,

First, allow me to apologize for the delay in responding to this post. I am sorry to hear about these issues with your cooktop. I wanted to address some things here and offer the assistance of my team in helping resolve your concerns. BlueCrewguy does work for Sears and is very knowledgeable about things just like this and I believe he is simply asking for some specific information so that he may be able to get some answers for you. As for the service, there are times when it is difficult to isolate an issue, but we will do what is necessary to resolve this and please don't be concerned that we will not provide service because we cannot find the problem. We can and will help. My name is Brian and I'm part of the Sears Cares Escalations team and we can help. At your convenience, please contact my office via email at searscares@searshc.com so you don't have to continue to be frustrated. In the email, please provide a contact phone number and the phone number the cooktop was purchased under (if different than the contact phone number) and we will call you directly. Also, please provide the screen name (Jbrebeuf) used to post here for reference to your issue, and we do look forward to talking to you soon.

Thank you,

Brian J.

Senior Case Manager

"How to prevent equipment damage and sub-par performance brought on by poor voltage quality"

Lurking in the shadows of even the most unsuspecting operations is a condition known as poor voltage quality, a hidden expense that typically goes undetected and undiagnosed until costly failures occur. Voltage events interrupt sensitive processes, shorten the useful life of equipment, and cause computer and communications problems. Oftentimes, these disturbances trigger needless expenses in the form of implemented solutions to misdiagnosed problems. Unless the source of the problem is correctly identified and its cause found and repaired, the costs and time required to solve the problem add up quickly.

So, there may not be anything wrong with your cooktop--it may be your electrical system. The techs may be right. Read more at http://ecmweb.com/power_quality/electric_inside_voltage_quality/index.html

Simple induction physics:
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/induct.html#c1 

And, no one at Sears can help you with details, without that long model number to refer to.