How to Fix a Rice Cooker

Rice cookers are handy appliances and can save you lots of time and effort in the kitchen. Like other electrical devices, however, their circuitry tends to wear down over the years, sometimes until the cooker no longer works. When this is the case, follow these relatively simple steps to repair your ailing appliance.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• One multimeter
• Electrical contact cleaner

1. Unplug the rice cooker from the wall. Pull the power cord out of the cooker, if it's detachable.
2. Remove the cooker's covering dish and inner pot.
3. Flip your cooker over and remove the fasteners that hold the base in place.
4. Test the cooker's heating element first. Start by disconnecting the heating wire from one of its terminals.
5. Adjust your multimeter's scale to Resistance Times 1 (RX1).
6. Touch the two terminals with the multimeter's tester probes. If the multimeter gives a readout of nearly 0 Ohms, then the heating element is fine.
7. Test your rice cooker's resistor next. Again, the multimeter's scale should be set to Resistance Times 1 (RX1).
8. Disconnect the lead to the heating element, then touch the two terminals with the multimeter's testing probes. The resistor is OK if the multimeter registers about 20 Ohms.
9. Make sure that each of the switch contacts makes contact when you depress the lever arm. If one of them doesn't touch, use a small file to file it down until it does.
10. Clean the switch contacts with small applications of electrical contact cleaner.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't tamper with the rice cooker's electrical wiring if it's plugged into the wall.

Who Can Help:

• Find Appliance Repair Services Here. Compare Up to 4 Quotes, Free Service & No Obligation.
• Find Appliance Services Here. Compare Up to 4 Quotes, Free Service & No Obligation.
• Find Contractors Here. Compare Up to 4 Quotes, Free Service & No Obligation.