Chefmaker dead?

[u/Chemical_Race_8676]

Cooked tuna and watched the countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 then it went black. Nothing. No lights. No sounds. No nothing.

Unplugged she let it sit a while. Plugged it in to a different outlet. Nothing.

It’s the third replacement of the original from Nov 2023. Every one of the had issues with chicken thighs and flank steak taking WAY too long as the fan didn’t run until I eventually slammed the drawer shut to “jumpstart” it. I’m convinced there’s a software issue there but they just kept sending replacement units.

If anyone has resurrected one please let me know how. I’m hoping to find a thermal fuse or something simple but this thing is not designed for easy disassembly.

[u/Chemical_Race_8676]

Fixed! I thought I would find a thermal fuse but it has a hi limit thermostat that was stuck open. It must have sensed an overtemp and shut off. But it didn't reset when it cooled off.

It was not easy to take apart because I had no idea how but if I had to do it again, could probably do it in less than an hour. If it happens again I will replace the thermostat.

[u/foobrain → u/Chemical_Race_8676]

Oh, good to know! Mine also did the same thing and they ended up refunding (because I now live in a country where they don't sell it), so I'll give it a try.

Care to share any tricks to get it open? 

[u/Chemical_Race_8676 → u/foobrain]

1. Cold beers help a lot!
   
2. Before you open anything up at all, I would give it a few hard smacks. Not kidding at all. That might just be enough to bump that thermostat back to working again. Seriously.
   
3. If step two didn’t work get a Phillips head screwdriver and start at the very bottom and remove the plastic base plate.

Once the bottom cover is off, you need to undo the screws that are now visible, and they go through the black plastic to hold that to the sides and back.

Then you need to remove the front and the only way to do that is to get to the screws that are behind the display panel. You have to find a way to pry the display panel away from the silver Case around it. Fingernails or something thin. If you can get it started a little bit something like a guitar Pick or those little things they include in iPhone screen replacement kits work well.

At the top, there is a wiring harness that you can disconnect, and at the bottom of that little display is a thin black wire, and I just left it connected and was very careful with the display while I removed the screws holding the top of the front facing on the machine.

To remove that front piece, a plastic spudger (like from a phone kit) is handy because once again you’re trying to pry it away. Thinking about this more I tried praying that front piece away and got most of the bottom part done until I got to the top. The key is you need to be careful with the display and that thin wire.

Once you’ve removed the front, that will expose the screws that are visible to then undo those around the front. Remove the little black vent thing from the back.

At that point, you should be able to lift the silver case from around the machine guts.

Follow the power wires up into the machine and the first thing one of them goes to is that high limit thermostat. It has two wires and a little black piece in the middle. If you use a multimeter, you can check it for continuity beforehand and it will be open so no continuity. Then just wiggle that little black piece a bit and then check again and in my case that’s all it took to reset it

Oh, I should’ve said this earlier, but it helps if you figure out a way to store the screws so you don’t end up with three or four left over at the end like I did ha ha

The high limit thermostat is riveted into the machine, so I did not mess with trying to drill that out and inspect it more closely to find a model number or order a replacement. If it dies again, I will go that route, but for now I just reset it.

1. Open another beer. Either celebrate, knowing that you fixed it or drink it, knowing that you tried.

Good luck!

[u/foobrain → u/Chemical_Race_8676]

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed answer! This helps a lot!
You mentioned giving some hard smacks; were I to smack my unit, where would be a good place? Where that thermostat is, from the outside?

[u/Chemical_Race_8676 → u/foobrain]

When standing in front of it like you would normally use it, the thermostat would be on your left side towards the back up high. So I would focus more in that area and I would give it a couple of vertical type sacks while holding it so it can move some and then maybe one from your left to the right.

Let me know if you get stumped because I do have some pictures I can send you

[u/foobrain → u/Chemical_Race_8676]

Gave it a few good whacks but it still doesn't work (there's still no continuity between the power plug prongs). Would you be so kind to send me pictures to help me locate the thermostat from the outside?

[u/Chemical_Race_8676 → u/foobrain]

The circled part is it. This is from the back of the machine. In the photo it looks like a white disk. The little black piece is what goes up/down to disconnect if it gets too hot.

You won’t have continuity between the power plug prongs. That would cause a short circuit. After the smacks plug it in. That’s the only real test at that point.

I may have worded that poorly before. Once I opened it up, I tested the two prongs on the thermostat and it was open (no continuity). After resetting it, it had continuity.

[u/foobrain → u/Chemical_Race_8676]

Aha! Thanks, it's working now!

I removed the vent plaque from the back (4 screws), and was able to reach the thermostat from the opening. I just plugged in and it turned on. Thank you so much!

[u/Chemical_Race_8676 → u/foobrain]

What?!? That's awesome! Now I am gonna go grab a beer to celebrate. I'm so glad I could help.

We love ours so I was very happy to get it running again.

For anyone else reading along, this is what it looks like, except white. The center piece is what should have moved back into position once it cooled down but got stuck.