How to Fix Keep Warm Function Problems in Your Rice Cooker
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Rice cookers are a godsent item for people who eat rice every day, making the perfect pot every time with us barely having to lift a finger to cook it. However, while they work perfectly most of the time, appliances that are used regularly will surely encounter some problems in their lifespan. Usually, this begins with the cooking and warming functions.
More often than not, people will encounter this problem at some point, with the rice cooker failing to heat up even when we press the right switches. But before you toss your current rice cooker aside in favor of a new one, try out these tips to fix your problems and avoid spending more money when an easy solution might just be at your fingertips.
Reasons and Solutions for Rice Cooker Problems
Damaged Relay
Many machines rely on relays, which use an internal electromagnet to turn on and off the flow of electricity. This component is responsible for detecting when your rice is ready by sensing the temperature inside the pot and switching the appliance to the “Keep Warm” mode when it detects the rice has been evenly cooked.
When this function fails, its temperature detection abilities won’t work as required which can cause the cooking cycle to end early and switch to warm mode before the rice is fully cooked. The reason for this is that the spring beneath the relay can expand over time, making the component less sensitive to heat and harder for it to communicate with other internal components in the rice cooker.
In order to solve this problem, all you’ll have to do is carefully unplug your unit and let it cool down before removing any water or rice in the pot. Then, turn the rice cooker upside and undo the screws at the bottom with a screwdriver. After removing the outer plastic panel, locate the relay or the circle in the middle of the pot. Carefully detach it from the rice cooker’s body and remove the spring underneath it. Press the spring down to its original length of 5mm. By pressing it down to its original length, temperature detection should be improved.
Malfunctioning Switch
If your relay is fine, the problem might be in the switch itself. When this part doesn’t work properly, it could be triggering false alarms and causing your rice cooker to turn to warm mode prematurely.
To solve this yourself, simply open your rice cooker and access its internal components. You should be able to find the controlling switch right behind the external dial knob. Once you gain access to this part, you can use a multimeter to test it for continuity. If the meter reads anything above “0,” this means that the switch is fine. However, if no readings come up, then this means your switch is dead and will require replacing.
Damaged Power Cord
If you don’t spot anything wrong with the internal components of your rice cooker, the problem may lay in its power cord. Storing it away improperly, keeping it tangled or pressed against an object at a strange angle, or pulling it out by the wire, are more than enough to damage it over time. Depending on how bad the damage is on the wire, it could be supplying intermittent power to your rice cooker and causing it to switch to warm mode prematurely.
If this is the problem, unplug your appliance immediately as a partially broken cable could cause short-circuiting and severely damage the rice cooker’s circuit board. Luckily, the solution for this is simple: all you need to do is replace the cable with a new one, and your appliance should function normally again.
Final Note
Rice cookers are incredibly easy and hassle-free to cook with but, as with most things, regular usage can cause some level of wear-and-tear. Luckily, there are easy solutions to certain problems we might be encountering, so hold off on buying a completely new unit and try out these simple tricks to fix your rice cooker.
Now that your rice cooker is all up and running, try cooking this red beans and rice recipe.
