--- title: "Cooktops and rangetops" description: "Miele cooktops and rangetops: the one place this make writes something other than F and a number: the induction tops write FE, and a bare F with nothing…" url: "https://mielemiami.support/appliances/cooktop/" date_modified: "2026-08-22" --- # Miele cooktops and rangetops ### Three surfaces under one word Induction, gas and radiant electric, plus the KMR rangetops which are a different appliance again. Induction reports the most and is the most often misread; gas reports almost nothing and is diagnosed from behavior; radiant sits between them. ### What actually goes wrong - **Overheating protection** on induction — usually ventilation, pan or oil, and usually not a part. - **The sensor controls**, locked out by liquid or a lid, or genuinely failed. - **The induction generator**, which is the one condition on these tops the maker hands to a technician. - **Ignition and flame sensing** on the gas tops. - **The glass**, which is model-specific and worth confirming availability on before a decision. ### Ventilation under an island Worth its own paragraph because it is a South Florida pattern. An induction top dropped into a shallow island cabinet with a drawer immediately underneath and no gap for air will trip its overheating protection under normal cooking. It reads as a failing cooktop and it is an installation that can be corrected. ### What to have ready when you call The model number from underneath or from the paperwork, which zone or burner is affected, and whether the top is induction, gas or radiant. KM induction · KM gas · KM electric · KMR rangetops · 24" to 48" Cooktop repair A zone that switches itself off part-way through cooking Controls that stop responding to touch A gas burner that lights and drops out Three surfaces under one word Induction, gas and radiant electric, plus the KMR rangetops which are a different appliance again. Induction reports the most and is the most often misread; gas reports almost nothing and is diagnosed from behavior; radiant sits between them. What actually goes wrong Overheating protection on induction — usually ventilation, pan or oil, and usually not a part. The sensor controls, locked out by liquid or a lid, or genuinely failed. The induction generator, which is the one condition on these tops the maker hands to a technician. Ignition and flame sensing on the gas tops. The glass, which is model-specific and worth confirming availability on before a decision. Ventilation under an island Worth its own paragraph because it is a South Florida pattern. An induction top dropped into a shallow island cabinet with a drawer immediately underneath and no gap for air will trip its overheating protection under normal cooking. It reads as a failing cooktop and it is an installation that can be corrected. What to have ready when you call The model number from underneath or from the paperwork, which zone or burner is affected, and whether the top is induction, gas or radiant. ### A zone keeps switching itself off. That is usually the overheating protection doing its job rather than a failure. The coils and the electronics share a heat sink, and the protection steps in before either gets too hot — an empty pan, oil on a high setting, or, most often in a South Florida island, not enough air getting to the underside of the cooktop. The last one is an installation problem with a real fix and it is not a broken appliance. ### The controls have stopped responding. Clear the surface completely, including a cloth, and dry it. A sensor control reads a wet spot or a pan lid as a finger held down, and the top locks itself out. If it is clean, dry and cool and still will not answer, that is the touch board and it is a visit. ### Only one pan does not work on the induction top. Then the top is fine. A magnet has to stick firmly to the base for induction to see the pan, and a base that is too small for the zone or slightly domed will be ignored as well. It costs nothing to test with a fridge magnet before booking anything. ### What is the difference between a cooktop and a rangetop? A cooktop drops into the counter and is operated from the glass. A rangetop — the KMR models — is a professional-style gas top that sits in a cutout with its own knob fascia and no oven under it. Different appliance, different access, same page. --- **[Read full article: Cooktops and rangetops](https://mielemiami.support/appliances/cooktop/)**