How to crack open a Smev 3-burner hob?

[John Russell]

We have a Smev 8063 3-burner hob. As the ignition no longer works, and contact cleaner in the switch doesn't help, I decided to open it up to check the switch and ignitor.

It's a clamshell design and removing the four corner screws allows the two halves to start to separate, but they still seem to be held by the gas supply and waste pipe.

The burner knobs pull off but the shafts are are firmly bolted to the upper part of the housing.

I disconnected the gas, waste and electrical connections and was able to lift the unit out.

It looks like the gas inlet pipe is holding it together...

There's some movement between the two halves, especially at the back, but the front is still closely connected.

I've probably missed something obvious, so before I make any mistakes does anyone know how to open it up?

 

[jongood]

We have a Smev 8063 3-burner hob. As the ignition no longer works, and contact cleaner in the switch doesn't help, I decided to open it up to check the switch and ignitor.

View attachment 542346

It's a clamshell design and removing the four corner screws allows the two halves to start to separate, but they still seem to be held by the gas supply and waste pipe.

The burner knobs pull off but the shafts are are firmly bolted to the upper part of the housing.
View attachment 542347

I disconnected the gas, waste and electrical connections and was able to lift the unit out.

It looks like the gas inlet pipe is holding it together...
View attachment 542348

There's some movement between the two halves, especially at the back, but the front is still closely connected.

I've probably missed something obvious, so before I make any mistakes does anyone know how to open it up?

Hi John

Is the question - should this joint come apart? Its a GOK union and should come apart like a regular compression fitting, just give it a twist., but try not to damage the compression ring.

 

[MisterB]

the two halves might be pressed together, in which case they are not supposed to separate. can you access the back of the ignitor switch so you could remove it and asses the wiring to the the ignitors - if none of the ignitors are working then is there a power supply (battery or 12v) that has failed or a wire that is loose?

 

[funflair]

Hi John

I took our switch apart and the rocker bit inside had slipped so only worked intermittently to never eventually, I put it all back together and it worked fine re the gas fitting as Jon says above.

 

[Clarky]

The ignition on our Smev hob (different model to yours) stopped working two or three years ago.
No apparent reason so we resorted to using a gas lighter for a while.
I kept trying the switch, it looks the same switch as in your photo, and suddenly it started working again.
It's worked perfectly ever since!
I think a bit of muck or oxidisation got onto the switch contacts.

So, before you completely bu&&er the hob just keep operating the switch to see if it clears itself.

Richard.

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[Shrimp]

Our original hob gave up the ghost a few years back, was getting worse at lighting and I think one stopped working altogether also the screws in the black tops rusted and broke when we tried to replace them. I had enough and bought a replacement, it doesn’t have the drain hole and isn’t a ‘clam‘ construction which means the hob gets white warm when the oven is on, but otherwise looks the same.

 

[Manic]

Doesn’t the black grommet come out and then the back she’ll will go over the pipe

 

[Gaston aires]

I think I would just use an igniter.
Phil

 

[tonyidle]

The joint will separate but they can be pretty stiff. You have undone the only nut you need to undo so wiggle and pull (!!). The igniter is a plastic unit with a 12v supply from the switch and three output wires - none to each burner. The switch might repair with a squirt of switch cleaner & a few on/off operations as it doesn't work hard electrically but obviously is positioned to pick up dirt and grease.

 

[2657]

Another vote for a gas lighter

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[John Russell]

Just to clarify, I have three boxes of matches and a hand held ignitor, but being fussy I thought I'd like to fix it.

I tested power first, and it's getting 12V.

I sprayed contact cleaner on the switch without effect and I tried but couldn't get the switch out from the front, as there is very limited clearance below the switch and I couldn't get a tool small enough to depress the bottom clip and free it.

I doubt this held Martin up, but I tried what I had to hand and didn't succeed.

There's no access to the ignitor or back of the switch until the two halves of the clamshell are separated, hence the question.

After undoing the gas compression fitting I separated the hob from the supply. It took a bit of wiggling to free the supply pipe.

I think Manic is on the right track so I'll have a go at the grommet/bung. Maybe a bit of WD40. Logically that should release it...

 

[John Russell]

Progress report

The bung on the gas inlet pipe is a two-piece plastic clamp which I didn't notice til it fell apart.

Once that's off, and only the compression nut and olive from the hob on the inlet pipe, the base can be wiggled off.

The ignitor is riveted to the back of the hob, lower tray. Some of the wires are tight.

I got the switch out using a set of feeler gauges to depress the inaccessible clips.

Testing showed the switch is fine, and the ignitor.

There's a lot of rust in the lower half of the hob, water ingress from cleaning or cooking.

The two power supply spade connectors to the ignitor were heavily corroded, the one from the switch had completely rotted away and the wiring had detached.

The other smaller connectors were shiny so some problem with the connector material.

Straightforward to rewire it, only tricky bit will be to find the components. I'll replace some tatty wiring.

 

[John Russell]

Here are some pictures of my collection of bits.

The bung slides out:

Once the bung is off, the lower half of the hob can be removed:

Rusty lower half:

Wiring to ignitor. The unconnected spade takes the black return from the switch. The switch input which goes back to the blue on the feed; I presume -ve.

Ignitor:

Underside of the hob:

Contacts on ignitor. 1,2 and 3 go to the burners (red wires in the previous picture). 4 goes to the shell. The bottom two badly corroded terminals are the power connectors (red +ve to the upper one, black from the switch to the lower one):

 

[jollyrodger]

Got the same unit with the same problem

Simple solution :

Valiant USB Rechargeable Arc Lighter - Machine Mart - Machine Mart

www.machinemart.co.uk

 

[John Russell]

So here are the instructions for opening up this Smev hob, straightforward with hindsight, but it caused me a few difficulties along the way.

Hopefully these will help anyone else on the same mission, and save them from my missteps. It's under an hour if you have the tools to hand.

1. Turn off the gas
2. Lift up the caps on the four corners and loosen the screws a couple of turns (If you remove them now you're in danger of dropping the clamps in an inconvenient place as I did)
3. Undo the screw holding the drain cover in place, and remove it
4. Go underneath the hob and
5. Mark a line across the compression nut nearest the hob on the gas inlet, and central male-to-male connector so that you know how far to tighten it when you reassemble
6. Undo the compression nut nearest the hob - 14mm and 17mm spanners in my case
7. At each corner push the little leg which prevents the hob from lifting out, out of the way. If they don't move freely, loosen the screws some more.
8. Undo the power supply cable from the terminal block - care not to let it short
9. Remove the pan supports and lift the hob out
10. Remove the corner screws and probably the corner pieces will drop out. They can also fall apart so take a good look first.
11. Slide out the plastic bung which is holding the inlet pipe, it's two-piece so split it and remove. Bear in mind this could get messy as the hob is probably full of rusty debris.
12. Pull the back of the hob open a couple of inches and take a picture of the wiring to the ignitor before disconnecting
13. Now is a good time to wiggle the spades out of the ignitor, at least those on shorter leads
14. Wiggle the upper and lower halves of the hob to get the lower half over the inlet pipe but watch out if leads are still connected as there may not be much room for manoeuvre
15. Now you have access to the inside and can test, repair or replace as necessary

Give yourself a pat on the back, a cup of tea and a hob-nob if it went smoothly. If not, settle for something stronger as I did.

If you need to replace the ignitor, held by two rivets, M4 x 8mm button head or panhead look about right (yes, I drilled them out, 4.5mm hss ).

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