BUZZing GE JBP35 range burner

[slantsixdan]

Subject range, bought new in '09, makes 60Hz buzz with pot atop right front (large) burner. Thermostatic control is evidently by periodic line voltage to burner; every time power is sent to the burner it buzzes. Obviously it's a resonant rattle, but I can't tell if it's between burner and drip pan or between drip pan and range top. Moving either part (as with a screwdriver levered under burner or under rim of 1-piece drip pan) changes or temporarily eliminates the buzz. Burner is firmly plugged in and aligned correctly with slot in drip pan. Drip pan is aligned correctly, too. Have tried swapping components one at a time with the other large (left rear) burner—no change. Suggestions, please? Thanks.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Howdy, Slantsix, been a while. How you been?

Did you try swapping out the burner element with another one on the stove and see if the noise transfers? If it does, then I'd be getting a new element-- elements cab make weird noises like that just before they blow their guts.

[slantsixdan]

Howdy! It has been awhile. Things're good, thanks, and yerself?

I have indeed tried swapping burner elements; should've been more specific when I mentioned that I'd swapped "components one at a time" between left rear and right front. I meant the burner and the drip pan/rim, one at a time to see if I could isolate the problem. The pan swap seemed to help briefly, but nope, the problem still remains. I don't think it's a burner about to die for a couple of reasons: the range is nearly new and is not heavily used, the problem persists after swapping burners, and the burners all work very well — they heat up quickly and evenly. I'm also quite certain it's a resonant buzz, not an arc I'm hearing. One possibility that hadn't occurred to me until just now is that it could be resonance between the burner and the bottom of the cookpot, though this seems less likely to me than burner/drip pan or drip pan/range top resonance. And of those two, I think burner/drip pan is the most likely resonance point. I may try making a "snake" of rolled-up aluminum foil and fit it round the ledge of the drip pan where the burner sits, to see if cushioning the burner/drip pan junction stops the noise. If so, then comes the part wherein I try to figure out a less slapdash, more permanent fix. Suggestions welcome!

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Could you make a recording with your video camera and uploaded to YouTube so that we can see/hear what's going on? That might stimulate some other ideas of what could be happening. Upload to Youtube and post the link here.

[slantsixdan]

Foil "snakes" installed, and in so doing I believe I might've found the source of the buzz. I'll be doing some more spearmints (experiments) and if/when I am successful I'll post here with pics.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Be sure to post photos of your craftsmanship!

[RegUS_PatOff]

I'll be doing some more spearmints (experiments) and if/when I am successful I'll post here with pics.

yes, you'll have some 'splainin' to do

[slantsixdan]

Fixed it! Turns out the buzzing was caused by the outermost burner coil being pushed by cookpot weight into vibrating contact with the burner tripod frame at the one point where the coil is not anchored to the frame. This intentional lack of anchor appears deliberate, probably to allow expansion of the coil without warp. I made a simple multi-layer crush spacer out of a small strip of aluminum foil, rolled up like a snake to create the multiple layers then wrapped round the burner frame at the point of contact. Works perfectly; the only noise now coming from the stove is the normal tick-tick-tick of an expanding or contracting burner. The crush spacers are unobtrusive -- especially since I replaced the black burner bowls with chrome ones.* That said, if I needed a practically invisible solution (e.g., fixing someone else's stove) I could make the same kind of multi-layer crush spacer out of a neatly-trimmed strip of thin brass shim stock.

*I don't know that chrome burner bowls do anything useful in terms of heat reflection, as is sometimes claimed, but it can't possibly hurt.

Close-up photos, before and after:

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Outstanding! And domo for posting the photos, too!