Faulty Induction Hob?

juraj.kecso

Hi All,
We've been living in  our house for nearly three years now. Previous owners left us an induction hob bosch pue611bf1b. I have never used induction before, only used gas.
It's a 4 ring setup.
When I run 1 ring at full power, everything is OK. When I add another ring at full power or even half-power, there is a visible reduction of heat as whatever was boiling before stopped or boils for a few seconds, then stops and then starts again. I can also hear a constant clicking noise and the hob makes a constant sound as if it was turning rings on and off. 
I have noticed that recently this has been happening a lot (even at lower power settings). I also tried turning all 4 rings on half power, nothing would cook at all!
What is the point of having 4 rings when you can barely use 2? I miss my gas cooker. Our friend's cheapo electric cooker never had this problem.

Paula_Smith

Clicking noise tends to happen on ours when it is not making proper contact with the pan - try cleaning the hob and pan so you get better contact. Also note that not all "induction compatible" pans work.
Boiling, then not boiling, then boiling again every few seconds is quite normal on our hob - if a pan is on heat 6 it will boil constantly, but take it down to 5 and it will stop and start - I think that is just how they work.

ka7e

It's a plug-in hob which is restricted by the amount of power it can use. A hard-wired hob should be able to operate 2+ zones without reduction of power.

ic

A plug in hob is restricted to 13 amps delivering 3kW - the same as a kettle.  A hard-wired would likely go on a 40 amp circuit, and as you can imagine you'd probably only see the sort of stuff you're seeing if you tried to run all four rings at high/full power - which is unlikely.

The specs from the hob state: 

• Cooking zones: 1 x Ø 180 mm, 1.8 KW (max. Power levels 3 KW) Induction; 1 x Ø 180 mm, 1.8 KW (max. Power levels 3 KW) Induction; 1 x Ø 145 mm, 1.4 KW (max. Power levels 2.2 KW) Induction;1 x Ø 210 mm, 2.2 KW (max. Power levels 3 KW) Induction

As you can see, you've a max 3kW to share between the rings.  So you can run a two or three at once on a medium power - but the full power will make it struggle.  This kind of hob is ideal for a DIY self install, as no electrician is required, just cut a hole in the worktop and plug it in.

I'm afraid to say the specs also state that if you want more power, select another hob and get a qualified electrician to install it.

juraj.kecso

Sure, so if I wanted a hob that can run comfortably at least 2 rings on full power + maybe a third or fourth at least on medium, what sort of hob would I need to get?

DiddyDavies

juraj.kecso said:

Sure, so if I wanted a hob that can run comfortably at least 2 rings on full power + maybe a third or fourth at least on medium, what sort of hob would I need to get?

Something that is at least 6kW and preferably higher provided that you have a dedicated 40A circuit for this.
I currently have an AEG hob which from memory is about 7 1/4 kW and if I wanted to, I could easily have all 4 cooking zones on full output without any problems.

Homer_home

juraj.kecso said:

Sure, so if I wanted a hob that can run comfortably at least 2 rings on full power + maybe a third or fourth at least on medium, what sort of hob would I need to get?

A gas one?

FreeBear

I have a cheap Cooke & Lewis one from B&Q (got it half price in a sale) - Will quite happily run at full power on all four "rings". Whilst not the best hob on the market, for its price, I think it good value (currently £145 at Screwfix, or £175 at B&Q). You will need a dedicated 32A circuit for one though.