Is It Safe to Use a Cracked Induction Hob?

Induction hobs are fantastic bits of kits, but they are bit fragile, particularly when compared to traditional gas hobs.

Dropping a cup, saucepan or perhaps a knife on an induction hob can crack it. In fact, an induction hob can crack if it’s installed incorrectly.

If your induction hob has cracked, this article should help you.

Can you use an induction hob that’s cracked? Or is your induction hob now extremely dangerous? I answer these questions about induction hobs and more below!

 

Why Did My Induction Hob Crack?

There are several reasons why induction hobs crack.

It’s very unlikely that a ceramic or glass hob will crack on its own. Typically, a glass top stove will crack because of improper use.

Now, this may not mean that your glass top hob cracked because you left something on it for too long, but that can be the case.

In fact, there are many examples of people leaving pots of water boiling on the hob for too long, the water evaporating, leaving an extremely hot pan, which can crack a hob.

However, chances are, if your hob is cracked, it usually means that something has fallen on it.

Let’s take a ceramic hob as an example here. A ceramic hob is made from ceramic-glass. Ceramic is strong, but it is also brittle, and there’s no way that you can harden ceramic like you can metal. So, your ceramic hob will be nice and strong when used correctly, but drop something on it, and it can crack.

A good ceramic hob will survive a pan that is dropped on it where the base lands first, in most cases. However, if the corner of something lands first, the chances of a crack are high.

So, if you have noticed a crack in your glass top hob, it probably didn’t happen on its own!

Is It Safe to Use a Cracked Induction Hob?

No is the short answer. Using an induction hob with a crack can lead to electrocution. So, it’s very dangerous to use a cracked glass cooktop.

Turn your induction hob off at the mains and begin looking at other options (more on these below).

Now, if your induction hob has cracked over one ring, for example, you still shouldn’t use it. Many people think they’ll get away with using an induction hob that has cracked by using another ring and ignoring the cracked one, I wouldn’t. You see, while there may not be any metal in contact with that ring, the electricity is still live and may come in contact with water, for example.

I know that not being able to use your induction hob because of a small crack is an inconvenience, but death is a lot more inconvenient if you ask me! I know that your family needs food, but they also need you. Please don’t risk using an induction hob if it is cracked. We all think this sort of thing won’t happen to us, but induction hobs are dangerous when they aren’t used correctly!

 

Can You Repair a Cracked Induction Cooktop?

You can repair a cracked induction cooktop, yes. However, the repair of an induction cooktop is not as simple as say repairing a cracked windscreen. In other words, an engineer can’t come round and pop some stuff in the crack and fill it. Instead, your induction cooktop will need to be replaced.

As you might imagine, replacing a glass cooktop on an induction hob, or even a ceramic cooktop, isn’t the cheapest of things, but it will cost you around a third of buying a new induction hob (prices, of course, vary depending on the model of induction hob and labour costs).

It’s up to whether you replace the cooktop or buy a new induction hob. If the hob is old, it might be worth investing in a new one with newer technology.

If you have a chip in your induction cooktop, I’m afraid that the only option is replacing the cooktop, once again.

However, a chipped induction hob may still be usable. Now, I wouldn’t go and use a ring close to the chip, but the other rings may be fine. As long as the chip doesn’t go through to where the elements are, and there is no way that water can get to these, using your hob should be fine. It may require a replacement top at some point soon, though.

Can I Use My Oven If the Glass Cooktop Is Cracked?

Yes, you can typically use your oven if your glass cooktop is cracked. However, as I cannot see your oven and whether or not there is any damage to that, I would use caution too.

However, the chances of a crack in your glass cooktop doing any damage to the oven are really slim. So, unless a sledgehammer happened to hit the top of your glass cooktop, it should be perfectly fine to use your oven. However, use your common sense; if using your oven feels unsafe, don’t use it.

 

Conclusion

I hope this article about glass cooktop cracks has been useful. As I said, induction hobs with small chips in them can still be safe to use, but use your common sense.

Please do not use an induction hob with a crack, though, it isn’t worth risking your life, no matter how good that stew may taste!

Replacement induction hob tops are available. It’s best to speak with the manufacturer of your induction hob for prices.

If you believe that your induction hob was installed incorrectly, speak with the person who installed it.

Please be safe, induction hobs are excellent pieces of kit, but can be dangerous if used incorrectly!