Induction is arriving fast in Santa Clara Valley kitchens — new construction goes electric, remodels follow, and Cupertino-to-Campbell we now service as many induction complaints as coil-top ones. The technology is genuinely different (the cooktop is a transmitter; your pan is the heating element), so its failures confuse instincts trained on glowing coils. Here's the sorting guide.
"It won't detect my pan": pan first, physics second
Induction only couples with magnetic cookware — the fridge-magnet test on the pan's base settles it instantly. All-clad aluminum, pure copper and some stainless fail the test honestly. Also real: pans smaller than the zone's minimum diameter (espresso pots on a big burner), warped bases that hover, and off-center placement. If the magnet sticks, the size fits, and the zone still beeps refusal — now it's the machine's turn.
One dead zone vs. a dead half vs. a dead top
Induction cooktops are usually built as two or more generator boards, each driving a pair of zones. One zone dead, its twin fine: often that zone's coil or its connection. Two zones on the same side dead together: their shared generator board — the classic induction failure, and a plug-in module replacement on most brands. Everything dead or the display scrambled: the main control/filter board or incoming power — and note that induction units are sensitive to their 240V supply; a half-tripped breaker produces wonderfully strange symptoms.
The fan, the heat, and the E-codes
Those boards live under the glass with cooling fans, and a failed fan triggers thermal shutdowns that masquerade as random dying — typically mid-canning-session when the unit works hardest. Error codes are your friend here: induction brands publish meaningful code tables, so photograph the code before resetting and tell us when you book; it routinely means the right board rides along on the first visit.
What's DIY and what isn't
Yours: the magnet test, a full power-cycle at the breaker, keeping the vents under the unit unblocked (a drawer stuffed with baking sheets against the intake is a real find). Ours: anything under the glass — these are high-current resonant circuits with capacitors that hold a charge, and the glass itself doesn't forgive improvisation. Fixed quote after diagnosis, brand service data on the tablet, and the pan boiling water in that eerie silent induction way before we leave.
