--- title: "Cooktops" description: "Whirlpool cooktops: the three kinds of Whirlpool cooktop are documented completely differently, and the gap is the most useful thing to know before you call…" url: "https://whirlpoolmiami.support/appliances/cooktop/" date_modified: "2026-09-06" Appliance type: "Cooktops" --- # Whirlpool cooktops ### Three appliances under one word A radiant electric cooktop heats a coil under ceramic glass. An induction cooktop puts a magnetic field into the pan itself and heats nothing else. A gas cooktop burns gas under an open grate. They share a countertop cutout and very little else, and Whirlpool’s own documentation reflects that: 123 code pages across the two electric types, and none at all for gas. ### What the codes are worth, and what they are not On the electric radiant cooktop the codes are genuinely diagnostic, and the FC position codes are the best example — a control that names the left front element has done half the work already. On the induction cooktop it is more mixed. Whirlpool publishes forty code pages, but the remedy printed on most of them is to disconnect the cooktop from the power supply, wait a few seconds, reconnect it, and if the problem persists, call service and quote the code that appears on the display. That is honest documentation rather than a diagnosis, and we treat it that way: the code tells us which board is complaining, and the measurement tells us why. Induction generators, radiant elements and glass tops are all available as OEM parts against the model number, and a cracked glass top is the one repair we will always quote before doing, because it is the expensive part on this appliance. Exact cost is confirmed after the on-site diagnostic. Electric radiant · induction · gas — and only two of the three publish codes Cooktop repair Electric radiant, induction, and gas — 230 published support pages between them 83 code pages on electric, 40 on induction, and none whatsoever on gas FC LF, FC RF, FC LR and FC RR name the element by its position on the cooktop Three appliances under one word A radiant electric cooktop heats a coil under ceramic glass. An induction cooktop puts a magnetic field into the pan itself and heats nothing else. A gas cooktop burns gas under an open grate. They share a countertop cutout and very little else, and Whirlpool’s own documentation reflects that: 123 code pages across the two electric types, and none at all for gas. What the codes are worth, and what they are not On the electric radiant cooktop the codes are genuinely diagnostic, and the FC position codes are the best example — a control that names the left front element has done half the work already. On the induction cooktop it is more mixed. Whirlpool publishes forty code pages, but the remedy printed on most of them is to disconnect the cooktop from the power supply, wait a few seconds, reconnect it, and if the problem persists, call service and quote the code that appears on the display. That is honest documentation rather than a diagnosis, and we treat it that way: the code tells us which board is complaining, and the measurement tells us why. Induction generators, radiant elements and glass tops are all available as OEM parts against the model number, and a cracked glass top is the one repair we will always quote before doing, because it is the expensive part on this appliance. Exact cost is confirmed after the on-site diagnostic. ### My induction cooktop shows U or a U-shaped symbol and switches the zone off. That one Whirlpool explains in its own words, and it is not a failure. The symbol appears if the pot is not suitable for induction cooking, is not positioned correctly, or is not an appropriate size for the cooking zone selected — and if no pot is detected within thirty seconds of making the selection, the zone switches itself off. Test the pan with a magnet: if a fridge magnet does not stick firmly to the base, induction cannot heat it. Centering the pan and matching it to the zone diameter solves most of the rest. ### One element on the electric cooktop stopped working. Whirlpool publishes codes here that most makes do not, and they are unusually helpful: FC LF, FC RF, FC LR and FC RR name the element by where it sits — left front, right front, left rear, right rear. If your control shows one of those, you already know which circuit is being reported. Behind the glass, a single dead element is normally the radiant element itself, its switch, or a connector that has cooked at the terminal block. A cooktop where everything is dead is supply or control instead, and one where half is dead is often one leg of the 240-volt feed. ### The gas cooktop clicks and clicks after a spill. That is the most common gas cooktop call and there is no code to look up, because this appliance publishes none. A spark switch that got wet keeps firing until it dries, and clicking on all burners at once after a boil-over is usually exactly that. Turn everything off, dry the burner caps and heads thoroughly, take them off and let the area under them dry, and give it a few hours. If it is still clicking a day later with everything dry, the spark module or a switch has failed and it is a part rather than patience. --- **[Read full article: Cooktops](https://whirlpoolmiami.support/appliances/cooktop/)**