A rice cooker is a must-have gadget in your kitchen and is perfect for those who want an easy way to cook rice without a mess.
If you’re like me and always have trouble cooking rice, a rice cooker will ensure you get it perfect every time. A common problem with rice cookers is they can malfunction and not heat up.
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How To Repair Your Rice Cooker That’s Not Heating?
There are five main parts to a rice cooker which are the fuses, switch, thermostat, heating element, and control board. If you have one of these malfunctionings, it can affect the machine’s heating ability. That’s right! Sometimes rice cookers will malfunction and not heat as they should. All these are easy to fix with a few basic tools and tips.
My Rice Is Not Cooking Properly
If your rice has finished cooking, but it isn’t fluffy and light, it isn’t cooked properly. You can remove the inner pots so you can access the hot pads.
Check out the area for flaws or dents. If someone has dropped the plate and caused a dent, then the pot isn’t going to sit correctly on the heating pad.
Sometimes just debris or water that has spilled onto the heater plate might interfere with the heating.
If this is the case, the heating should go back to normal with a good wipe down.
Checking The Batteries
If the display on your rice cooker shows all zeros, it can indicate that the lithium battery is dead.
This means the functions are not going to work properly, including the heating element. If this is the issue, simply getting a new battery will fix the problem.
Following The Instructions Correctly
If you try to use the keep warm function on your machine and it fails, there is a problem.
Once the water has evaporated, this will cause the machine to go to the keep warm function automatically.
If it doesn’t it isn’t always the heating element, but it can be caused by cooking too much rice or not enough.
The temperature will lower if you have a small amount of rice which might have you thinking the heating element is not working properly.
Put the correct amount of rice in along with water and see if that fixes the heating problem. Sometimes when we are busy, we just throw some rice and water in and not actually measure anything.
Sometimes this pays off, and you create a great dish othertimes, it can cause the machine to malfunction.
Check The Power Cord
Look over your power cord if you have a heating problem. If the cord is hot or damaged, it can cause problems for the machine.
I had my rice cooker cord sitting against the slow cooker and it melted and damaged the cord, which caused my rice cooker to not work as it should.
If the cord is melted in places or you find kinks or damages, do not plug it in. The item needs to be discarded right away.
Rice Cooker Still Not Working? Let’s Check The Mechanical Side
Thermostat
The thermostat’s job is to regulate the core temperature of the cooker. The thermostat works alongside the center temperature of the machine and is able to establish how much liquid is in the cooker.
It will then either maintain the core temperature or change it.
The information gets transferred from the cooker’s thermostat to the main circuit board then transfers the information to the cooker’s warming component.
If your thermostat is defective, you are going to get ongoing temperature changes due to the unregulated temps.
This means the rice cooker can be too hot or not heating at all because there is no sense of temperature to regulate any changes.
The thermostat can be found on top of the warming element. It needs to sit here so it can sense and regulate any heat changes.
If the thermostat is the problem changing it over to a new one should fix the issue.
The Heating Element itself
The heating component is the main source of heat for the cooker.
This works similar to your stove with a heating plate located below the inside pot. If your heating element is faulty, then you are not going to get any heat.
It can be quite complex to change the thermostat over, so follow a guide if you don’t know how to or take it to your local repair shop.
Faulty Fuses
In your rice cooker, you will find two fuses.
One is the thermal fuse which works to avoid a thermal spike, and the other is a fuse that is needed in case of an electrical surge.
If you have a faulty rice cooker fuse, you will not get any heat from your rice cooker.
Fuses are easy to change and can be found online or from your local hardware store.
The Control And Switch Board
The control board is the part that the button is located on. The main function is to control everything, whereas the knob is just there for the owner to use as a command point for the control part.
If you have a faulty on/off button or dial or the control panel has a problem, there is no communication going to the thermal plates. Unfortunately, because of this, you are not going to get any heat.
Conclusion
Many issues can cause a rice cooker to not create any heat.
Sometimes the cooker can heat up too much and burn the rice.
The problems that occur can be easily fixed, but sometimes you might have to order parts and find someone to install them for you.
If you use it often, have a spare on hand as sometimes it can take a while for parts to come in and for someone to fix it.
There are great resources online with step-by-step guides and tutorial videos that will guide you on fixing your rice cooker’s heating problem
Frequently Asked Questions about Rice Cooker
When Should I Buy A New Rice Cooker?
You should buy a new rice cooker when you have tried several tips and tricks, but none of them work. Most likely, the rice cooker has had it beyond repair.
Why Is My Rice Cooker Not Getting Hot?
A problem with the thermal fuse and the heating system coil can cause malfunctions and lead to a heating problem within the cooker. Even a damaged cord or fuse can also affect the heating of the rice cooker.