How to Replace A Glass Top on Your Electric Cooktop

While not all electric cooktops come with a glass covering, it is a convenient feature for many kitchens. As the entire range is covered by a pane of glass, it makes any spills easy to wipe away. There are no coils for food to burn onto and it is less of a burn hazard for those that use it. However, like anything made of glass, it always has the potential for damage that will need to be repaired.

Over years of use, the glass that covers your electric stove is likely to collect a few scratches from pans being taken on an off the heat. If a pan is accidentally dropped on there, it may even have cracked. While some scratches may be able to be buffed out, deep scratches and any cracks mean the glass needs to be replaced or those who use the stove are put at risk of electric shock each use until that is done.

Removing Small Scratches

If your glass pane is covered in relatively minor looking scratches, it may not mean you need to replace the glass pane altogether just yet. While you should avoid cleaners that are too abrasive, the minor scratches can sometimes be buffed out with slightly abrasive materials to return the glass to a better look.

Using a paste made of baking soda and water, try to buff out the scratches gently using a soft cloth and circular motion to buff it out. If you have buffed the area, but it does not appear like it is working, it is best to stop. What this means is that the scratch is too deep to buff out so using more elbow grease is not going to help. If you continue to try, you risk dulling the surface with the abrasive baking soda. This not only doesn’t look great, but it can affect the function of your electric cooktop in some cases, depending on where the scratch is.

Replacing the Glass Pane on Your Electric Cooktop

Before starting this repair, disconnect your cooktop from its electrical source. This can be done by unplugging the range from the outlet or shutting off the circuit breaker if it is hardwired to the house. While this repair doesn’t necessarily involve any electrical work, due to the conductivity of the glass, electrical shock is a possibility if the cooktop is left live. It is always best to take these steps for your own safety.

The process of removing the glass pane can vary between models, but for most, it is secured on with mounting screws. These can be accessed by opening the oven door and locating the screws that are beneath the front lip. Once removed, the glass can be lifted like the hood of a car. You will want to use something solid, but softer like a piece of wood to prop the glass up.

Now look for screws on each side of the cross braces that secure the burners to the underside of the glass. You will likely need a nut driver to remove these hex-head screws. After removing the screws on each side, carefully lower the burners and their braces down from the glass onto the stove.

Once this is done, you will need to lower the glass pane so you can pull it forward from the back panel of your stove. Trying to lift it straight up and out may result in breakage of the pane as it is secured down by inserted brackets in the back of the pane, and that damaged piece will need to be pried out of the alcoves before you can replace it with a new one. Once removed, you will find two brackets near the back that will also need to be removed with your nut driver.

With your approved replacement glass pane on hand, lay it face down and secure the brackets that you just removed from the old model. Now you can lift it over the cooktop and insert the rear brackets into their slots located beneath the control panel.

Place your piece of wood to hold the new glass in the open position, and secure the brackets and the burners to the glass pane of the cooktop. Once done, you can carefully lower the new glass onto the stove and secure it with the mounting screws to your electric cooktop.

The new glass may come with a plastic covering that will need to be removed from the top before use, you may also want to wipe it down to remove any other contaminants that came with it from storage or shipping. Be sure to test your new glass cooktop to make sure all burners are heating properly. If they are not, it could mean something is broken, but it may also be more likely that one or more burners were not secured correctly to the new glass and needs to be checked.

Preventing Problems

While replacing the glass pane on your electric cooktop isn’t difficult, it is not something you want to do every few months or even every few years. So if you are looking to keep that new glass looking great, consider some of these scratch and crack prevention tips.

• Avoid pans with colored bottoms as the paint can fuse onto the cooktop
• Choose aluminum, stainless steel, or cast iron pans with smooth bottoms or at least low texture
• Pick up pans when moving them rather than sliding
• Never use the glass as a cutting board
• Use caution when picking up cookware full of food to avoid dropping it
• Do not store heavy items over the glass that might pose a fall risk
• The more sugar a spill contains, the faster it needs to be cleaned. It can cause pitting in the glass
• Allow the cooktop to cool before cleaning spills
• Do not use abrasive cleaners or abrasive sponges like steel wool to clean the cooktop. Baking soda is about as abrasive as you want to get for those tough to remove food particles