Rangemaster [EA] fault codewhat it means and how to fix it

EA is the second Rangemaster code where the two published tables disagree, and this time the disagreement changes what you are allowed to do. The Eclipse 90 guide gives EA as a large coil saturation error, and the stated action is to switch off and on and continue to use the hob, calling a service agent only if it returns. The RMB60HPEIGL guide gives EA as a hardware fault, and lists four of them under the one code: the cooling element temperature sensor giving implausible values, wrong values in the stored EEPROM data, the microcontroller being defective, and gate voltage too low or too high with the note that the IGBT must not be activated because of the risk of destruction. The fault correction for all four is the same — replace the power unit. Those are not the same instruction as the Eclipse 90 table.

One says carry on; the other describes a component that must not be energised. If your guide is the second kind, resetting and carrying on is exactly the wrong response. The IGBT is the switching transistor that drives the induction coil, and it is the part doing the hardest work in the appliance. It is switched on and off many thousands of times a second, and the gate voltage is what controls that switching.

If the gate voltage is out of range, the transistor may not switch cleanly, and a transistor that does not switch cleanly dissipates enormous heat in a very small package. That is what Rangemaster mean by risk of destruction, and it is why their service table blocks activation rather than suggesting a retry. Coil saturation, the other meaning, is a milder condition. It describes the coil being driven beyond the point where it responds proportionally, which can be provoked by an unsuitable or badly matched pan as well as by an electronics fault — which is why the owner-facing guide is comfortable letting you reset it once and see. Practically: find your guide number. If you have the owner-facing table, one reset is sanctioned. If you have the service table, or you cannot tell, treat a recurring EA as a stop rather than something to reset repeatedly.

1. 1

   Find your guide number before deciding what to do. It determines whether a reset is sanctioned or whether the code means a component must not be energised.

2. 2

   If you have the owner-facing Eclipse 90 guide, switch the hob off and on once. That is Rangemaster’s published remedy for the saturation reading.

3. 3

   Take note of which pan was on the zone. An unsuitable pan can provoke the saturation reading, and trying a different one costs nothing.

4. 4

   Use the hob normally and see whether it comes back. Rangemaster gate the escalation on recurrence rather than on the first appearance.

5. 5

   If it returns, stop resetting it. Repeated resets on the hardware reading are asking a component to do something the manufacturer says it must not do.

6. 6

   Call an authorised service agent and tell them the guide number as well as the code.

   Do not keep cycling the power to get one more meal out of it. On the hardware reading Rangemaster describe a risk of destroying the switching transistor, which turns a repair into a power unit replacement.