Thanks, too, to the reader who suggested controlled testing of the burner, which I have done ... down to using a pointy-thermometer and stopwatch! Frigidaire will NOT stand behind this product, no matter how much evidence I give them. I am totally flummoxed.

I've looked into buying a new cooktop of a different brand, but many say they have power-problems. I'd hate to shell out $1500-2000 and have the same problem. I fear that is what will happen.

As much as anything, I hate doing my homework (Pre and post putting the cooktop in) and having ZERO accountability from Frigidaire. Even more, I hate the idea that there may not be a good alternative out there.

People seem to generally be happy with the Miele, Bosch and Wolf cooktops. I’m looking at those three right now. Miele has been doing induction for a long time so I tend to be leaning towards them.

@realdeal77005: "That said, I wonder WHY anyone would design a stove where all four burners can't be used at once."

These induction cooktops do not work the way you expect. Look at page 19 of the Miele Operating Instructions. Notice that the Max. Possible Output is 7700 watts. As the sum of the output of the four burners cannot exceed 7700 watts, you will not be able to run all four burners even at their "Normal" outputs at the same time. Using any Booster will reduce the potential output of the other burners.

Induction cooktops simply do not work the same way a other types of cooktops do. Maybe you should buy a radiant cooktop such as the GE JP5030SJSS.

Thanks! I do have trouble with the large burner by itself, but it IS worse when using the adjacent small burner. Somehow, I think consumers have a right to expect all four burners should a) work, and b) work at the same time. As to radiant cooktops, the primary value of the induction to me is the safety -- plus how responsive it is.

" That said, I wonder WHY anyone would design a stove where all four burners can't be used at once. "

All four hobs can be used at once. Just not power boosted. The specs say this, by way of a total of 7200 watts for the unit, confirmed by 240v * 30 amps. As soon as you boost a hob, another has to be reduced by the boosted amount. This is called "power sharing" and is common to most induction cooktops. Are there any that don't power share? Yes, and you can tell by their power specs and amperage requirements.

Just because two hobs share the same controller doesn't mean they both have the same power.

I don't have a cooktop - I have a full range - Electrolux which is a Frigidaire brand. Just adding that I have had no problem with any hobs being under powered at any time. I don't know that I've ever used all four at the same time (I rarely use the smallest one) but I've used the other three at the same time with two on PB - no problem. Very sorry you are having this problem - something that would be hard to discover before purchasing. I suppose attempting to escalate the issue at Frigidaire would be pointless if it's performing to spec. I know Frigidaire is one of the less expensive brands - I wonder if this "design" is one that is lower cost to manufacture - or if it is just plain bad.

The issue with anything sold is what price point will sell and what performance is needed for enough people to desire it. With sufficient cooling and higher capacity electronics, any of the existing induction cooktops could have been designed to operate at power boost simultaneously. Cost would at least double, the volume under the counter might double, the requirements on air flow into and out of the cabinet underneath would likely become more stringent, a much higher capacity electrical feed would be needed, etc.

Frigidaire is owned by Electrolux, which last I read (on this forum years ago) was an early provider of induction cooking in Europe.

We have a 36-inch Frigidaire induction cooktop, and so far we haven't needed the full power limit of the unit, but that may be only us. The cooktop has three generators and the large hob is on one by itself; this might be a better design for the OP.

Anyway, when shifting to another brand or size, two interfaces must be suitable or adaptable: the counter cutout and the current rating of the power feed.

Thanks. I think for now, I will stick with this one and stop whining. I am not willing to spend the $2000 needed to get a higher quality cooktop. I thought I was getting a "Ford" not a "Lexus;" little did I know my "car" came with three and a half wheels! Caveat emptor.

Make sure your pot is absolutely flat on the bottom it can only work well if the whole bottom touches the burner.

Patricia: The electro-magnetic field from an unoccupied burner is toroidal with a sectional diameter of half the overall burner/hob/coil diameter (centered on the coil). This means that the effect of spacing the pot above the Ceran top is slight for small displacements. The Ceran itself is at least 0.25 inches thick, and the coil is below that under a thermal insulator. I have demonstrated to myself on my Frigidaire Gallery that good performance can still be had from a pot sitting on a hot pad, although normally I use silicon pads cut from thin sheet.

If there is too much gap to function well, the sufficient-inductance test of the coil circuit may fail and the hob won't power up until the gap is smaller.

Thanks. I'm not sure what all that means, but I'm grateful that you do! I do that. In addition, "Stainless steel" labeled pots that DO NOT hold a magnet will not work. Increasingly, I'm convinced stainless steel is aa "color" not the composition of aa pot! There might be a "touch" of SS" in it, but that's about all!

"Stainless steel" is actually a sales phrase. Industrially, the name is "corrosion resisting steel" (CRES) and it comes in many varieties with varying amounts of iron, chromium, nickel, and other additives to achieve different properties. The 300 series steels keep a nice looking surface, but are not magnetic. The 400 series is magnetic but can show some discoloring. The layered bottoms of deliberately induction-ready pans include 400 series usually, while cast iron is naturally inductive, but not CRES. It is the nickel and chromium that provides the corrosion resistance. See the Wikipedia article on the topic.

I'm on my 2nd induction cooktop. Currently i have a kitchen aid 36" and the middle burner also seems underpowered, and doesn't really heat up closer to the edges of the ring. The bridge element is silly and unusable. The Kenmore I had first was the best. Great power on all the burners.

@edwina 1330 Page 6 of theinstructions for the Kitchenaid 36" cooktop explains that if a pan used on the center, dual-size burner is not the correct size, the burner will be inefficient and "heat" slowly.

thanks wdccruise! it seems that a larger fry pan is just not the right size for any of the burners. and when i've got the canner on it, it still seems less powered than my old cooktop.

For what it is worth, if the pan is flat bottomed, is on the burner, and holds a magnet, the %^&*()(*& burner should heat it. Now, I can understand that less power will go to a tiny pan, but anything else is quibbling ... and deflection about poor design.

Based on the instructions, I would expect a large fry pan to work well IF it covers the outer ring of the center burner.

I’m with cpartist. Bosch all day long. Sorry for your frustration.

cpartist which Bosch do you have? I just bought the Miele wall oven and CSO as today is the last day of their promotion. But I held off on the induction cooktop because of this discussion and also because the salesperson was so confused trying to show me how the live cooktop works that I thought I might be better to stick with turning a knob on the gas. I was just asking her which hobs I would use to boil a large pot of water and sauté in a frypan at the same time and how to use the timer. She had to get the manager. If it was that hard to use for a dedicated salesperson then will it be too hard for me to learn?

Lot of good comments in here - and some not so.... We worked in an appliance store for many years. The price difference between shared burners and not is nearly double. Viking had a wonderful induction with knobs that was very powerful. If the notes indicate that you can't keep everything on high for very long - it is sharing resources. On the topic of pans - the store we were in had a promotion once with Rachel Ray cookware with the orange handles. Those pans do not have much ferrous metal, so they were slower on induction than on anything! Made people think their new induction was broke. We tested several in the store - and yes, they work on induction, but painfully slow. Try different pans before tossing your top out.

is anyone interested in a class-action suit against Frigidaire / Electrolux for knowingly selling an induction oven that does not work properly? I thought I purchased a four-element stove and only received a stove with three working elements. This is unnaceptible.

@Marty Black

Did you read any of the above thread? The units are designed to operate in this manner. Power sharing prevents the operation of all four hobs at high power simultaneously. This is pointed out in the owners manual as well. This is not just Frigidare, many manufactures use the same design. A class-action suit will do nothing to change this.

Not in my owner's manual. The element in question does not operate properly even when used alone, hence, power-sharing is not a factor in my range. In any event, if you can't use an appliance that was advertised as a four-element range, then it should not be advertised as a four-element range. All my previous electric ranges delivered as advertised. This is a design defect to save production costs, they are producing an underpowered range, The ads are misleading since there should be a distinctive caveat included and let the consumer make the choice. What if a refrigerator had a maximum food limit in order to maintain the temperature?

Better analogy: What if a refrigerator freshly loaded up with warm liquids couldn't cool them to 38F in 15 minutes? Answer: You would have a realistic residential refrigerator because the rate of heat removal for an affordable, and space-acceptable refrigeration system would not be fast enough.

@kevinande: The answer to your question is obviously 'no.'

@realdeal77005. I have a Frigidaire induction range and have the same problem. I don't think the problem with the large burner stems from sharing power with another burner. A couple of weeks ago I tried to cook pasta on the large burner and it would NOT come to a boil after 10 minutes. So, I decided to do some research and found your post.

Today, I tested boiling 4 cups of water on the large burner with no other burners on. After 25 minutes, it still had not come to a boil. It plateaued at 207 degrees. I looked up boiling point of water and it said it was 211 degrees. When I use the same pan (my large saucepan) on other burners it only takes a couple of minutes to boil- so the problem is not the cookware.

Since I am short, it is hard for me to use the back burners. So, I have found myself using jut the one burner and then switching the pans between the front burners while cooking. This really is not working for me, so I plan on getting it looked at under warranty since we have only had it for 6 months. I am going to keep having someone come back out until they fix it or refund the purchase price, If that does not work, I will take videos to demonstrate, post them on social media, and also take them to small claims court.

@jlcorp: "I tested boiling 4 cups of water on the large burner with no other burners on. After 25 minutes, it still had not come to a boil."

Immediately after turning on the burner, did you put it into Power Boost mode (for the first 10 minutes)? Did "P" appeared in the burner's display? Was the pan you used within the range of allowable pan sizes marked on the burner?

@wdccruise. I used the power setting "P" to try to boil the water. I think the "P" went off after about 10 minutes and it switched automatically to the high setting- "H". I used my largest saucepan, so yes it was within the pan size markings of the large burner.

If I use my largest two-handle pot which totally covers all the circles and after ten minutes I stick my finger in it , it is not hot at all and certainly not hot enough to burn my finger.

@jlcorpuswhat brand/model of pans are you using which are slow heating? If a magnet does not stick strongly to the pan bottom it may not have sufficient ferrous metal in it to work efficiently on induction. The other important factor on the largest burner to get maximum heat is that the pan needs to be large enough to cover both inner and outer rings essentially completely. Some stainless steel pans, even expensive ones if made of 18/10 stainless will not work if they do not have a layer of more ferrous 18/8 steel. I know this from my own experience with expensive French made copper/stainless sandwich bottom pans but unfortunately no 18/8 in the bottom so magnet sticks weakly and they did not work on my induction,. Ok rereading your post I would say your pan with 4cups of water which boiled quickly on your smaller burner but not on the largest burner might be not quite wide enough to switch on the outer ring of of that burner which normally is used with wide pans. As to your largest two handle pot which tatally covers the large burner not heating quickly to prove the pot is not the issue boil the same amount of water with that pot on your left front burner, the second largest, and compare. This should prove that there must be a defect with your large burner-either the sensor for the outer ring or the outer induction ring itself is defective/non functional.

I’m having similar issue with our freestanding 30” range. Can’t even get Frigidaire service to answer the phone. Called three times on different days and go through their menu 47 questions long and get a “we‘re to busy to answer the phone” and it hangs up. What kind of customer service is that? Our oven seems to take forever to preheat as well.

Happy to read this forum. I have a Frigidaire Induction stove purchased June '20. My front burners heat only one side of the pan. You can see the fat or water bubbling on the back half of the pan but not the front. If i move the pan toward the back of the stove, the contents of the whole pan start bubbling. A service call has been made but it's been over a week ago and the service rep has not come yet. I am not experiencing any of the heating problems as described above. I am just wondering if any other owners have the problem I am experiencing. Thanks in advance for any help.

Perhaps the coils for those hobs were mispositioned at the factory and need to be moved to align with the indication marks.

^^ I've seen pics of cooktop elements askew in relation to the gridmarks on the surface but always assumed those were intended as humor .... apparently not.

Anyone having luck getting service to respond? I’ve called three times and get the “we are too busy please call back.” Sent an online request which I got a message they would respond in 3 business days and it’s been 10. Guess I’ll try to call again? My local store where I purchased these says they can’t do anything - I have to keep trying to call them. Meanwhile my factory warranty is due to expire soon.

That local store apparently isn't an authorized repair service for Frigidaire products that they sell. Check with other independent appliance repair services if there are any in your area.

They are but said I have to go through Frigidaire directly. I’m going to call them again tomorrow

I've had only one appliance serviced under warranty, in 2008. I bought it via eBay on closeout from a dealer 1,700 miles distance so I contacted Maytag (no trouble, scheduling or otherwise, with A&E doing the job). I could have DIYed the repair but it was under warranty, less than a year.

Back in the day when I worked for a local authorized WP dealer, customers contacted the store for warranty service, not WP. The service tech submitted a warranty claim form and WP reimbursed the store. Maybe the industry has changed in that respect.

Thank you for responses. We are hoping it is *as simple* as the hobs being misplaced. Hope the repairman will come out to confirm. Obviously since it is under warrantee, we don't want to investigate. I was wondering if anyone else had the same problem. Other than that, the stove has performed quite well. Best wishes to all.

@lghopkins, another thing to be aware of is that Frigidaire has changed their burner hob markings, Ar least on some models, from a logical easily seen double ring circle to a smaller plus + sign which makes exact placement of the plan difficult, your pan middle needs to be directly over the middle of the plus sign, which of course you can't see when you are placing your pan, what were they thinking? I hope the solution is what you discovered that you need to pull pan more forward and nothing is wrong except Frigidaire letting the designer/stylist change hob. markings to something not helpful for a person actually usung the cooktop/stove. I think there is another thread here where someone had had a similar problem with rear burners, the markings are illogical and difficult to see for exact pan placement.

We are facing a very similar problem to @lghopkins.

Our 36" Frigidaire Gallery induction cooktop has two defective burners. It is less than a month since I purchased from Amazon. Reading this thread I'll likely return it.

The primary, center burner only heats the left half of the pan. If I slide the pan to the upper right corner, the burner shuts off. If I slide it upper left, off center, the burner continues to heat the pan.

Interestingly, the small back right burner also does not work. None of my cookware is detected so it just shuts down. I believe there was a position well off center, to the left, where the burner may have worked. I'll have to check again. It's's's interesting that both problems are in a similar quadrant of the cooktop.

Sounds like I won't hold my breathe with frigidaire warranty repair. I'll let Amazon try and return or replace the item. Sadly, the first two they shipped us were damaged badly in shipping (destroyed glass, unusable).

@jlcorpus I'm wondering if you have an update to your dilemma regarding your center burner. I just had this same 30" Frigidaire induction cooktop installed a few days ago, and CLEARLY have the same underpowering problem with the larger center hob. Pans work great on other burners, but center burner cannot boil water. I'm wondering what to do now! Is there really a fix, or is this a serious design flaw that there is no fix for? Please help!!!

I have a new 30" Frigidaire induction range that replaces a 2011 model which died. Induction on the old one worked very well. The new one has problems. I am pretty sure the issue is with the induction coils Frigidaire is putting in the new models. Try putting a large pan with an inch or so of water on the large hob, put it on power boost, and watch how it comes to a boil. If it's like my new range you will see only the center boiling. This appears to be because Frigidaire is putting 5 1/2 inch induction coils beneath all four hobs. If you can find the Frigidaire partslist on line it shows that there should be 5 1/2 inch coils and 8 1/4 inch coils. For whatever reason, to me it looks like they are only installing the smaller ones. Makes it really bad for cooking on the largest hob, and even not ideal on the two medium ones if you watch them close. I cannot brown meat on the large hob- it browns the center but not the edges unless I shift the pan around to apply heat to different areas in turn. Or trying to gently simmer a large pot- it simmers the center but leaves the sides cold.

Frigidaire sent a repair man out from A&E. He had no experience with these ranges, but agreed it looks like a design or construction flaw, but since it 'works' he could do nothing.

If Frigidaire are putting in a smaller coil because the larger size is 'back-ordered,' Frigidaire management must have joined the idiocrasy. If you can test that the coil has the same power (time to boil the same quantity of water) but the instruction manual and/or on-line literature asserts that the power is supposed to be higher, you have a manufacturing defect and should be able to return the unit. You may also want to report this to some relevant consumer protection agency.

Frigidaire is a brand of Electrolux, and their Frigidaire and Kenmore units have (in my experience) the same cut-out dimensions. So if this is still true you could try one of the other E'lux brands without the high cost of modifying the counter.

My present unit is a Frigidaire Gallery 36-inch (2013 model I think from literature copyright date but bought 2015-ish) replacing a 2008 Kenmore Electrolux Icon clone. Operation is as expected.

@kaseki Tried boiling one quart of water from 70 degrees in my largest pot- 11" bottom on both large and medium hobs. Comes to a boil almost twice as fast on the large hob. But looking down into the pot the active boil area is same 5 to 6 inch diameter on both hobs (and I know its not an issue with the pot). So it seems more energy is going into the same size coil on larger hob. Frigidaire is strange. I read a review of Bosch induction recently that sounded like the owner might have a similar issue-- was talking about hot and cold spots.

A follow up to my previous post. The hobs did not seem to be centered. We had a repairman out who moved them and they are working quite nicely now. I am OK with the unit now. I often wish i had gas but that is not an option where i am, so this works. Easy clean up for sure.

@mjzman77 What does the user manual claim about the coil diameters, if it has a listing?

@kaseki User manual and any other user documents says nothing about the coil. Only talks about minimum pan size. I found out about coil sizes by doing a search on parts for that model. Have been putting it off but I need to call customer service again and specifically ask them about coil sizes. My last experiece with Frigidaire customer service though was that they could only read to me what was in the user manual that came with my range.

Per what @lghopkins said- the coils on mine are also not centered with the markings on the glass top.

I saw one review on youtube that showed the hubs were not secured in place as received. They moved the hubs to the proper location and secured in proper place.

Cooks great after fixing shifted induction coils

As reported on other cooktops, mine arrived with shifted components that made even cooking impossible. This is primarily due to the fact that the induction coils under the glass are not secured to the metal frame underneath the glass. The construction relies on two tabs bent up from the frame that slip through the feet of the induction coil units to keep them fixed under the ring outlines on the glass cooktop. It is a relatively simple fix to remove the glass and reposition the induction coils but this should not be necessary. A more robust method for securing the induction coils necessary to eliminate the dissatisfaction of new customers having to make repairs or call for warranty service on a brand new appliance. Additionally, several of the rubber "feet" raising and cushioning the induction coils had to be located amongst the electronics and repositioned. If I could give separate ratings I would give construction one star and cooking 5 stars.

We have one of these Frigidaire induction ranges, and thought something was wrong with the front right burner (largest). After two appliance calls, the company finally sent a very experienced tech who took the time to explain a) how induction worked (which we were already pretty familiar with) and b) much more important, that the larger burner was deliberately made to provide less power for long slow simmering. I'm the main cook in our house and I've found this to be true - and in general, a real life saver if I'm cooking something that needs a very low heat while the rest of my dishes are being made.

that being said, I do wish they'd put the "long slow burner" in the back instead of front right, where it's consistently in the way when a pot is on it. Even the front left would have been better (since most of the world is right-handed) and less intrusive.

hope this helps!

We have one of these Frigidaire induction ranges, and thought something was wrong with the front right burner (largest). After two appliance calls, the company finally sent a very experienced tech who took the time to explain a) how induction worked (which we were already pretty familiar with) and b) much more important, that the larger burner was deliberately made to provide less power for long slow simmering. I'm the main cook in our house and I've found this to be true - and in general, a real life saver if I'm cooking something that needs a very low heat while the rest of my dishes are being made.

that being said, I do wish they'd put the "long slow burner" in the back instead of front right, where it's consistently in the way when a pot is on it. Even the front left would have been better (since most of the world is right-handed) and less intrusive.

hope this helps!