How to Replace the Glass on a Glass-Top Stove

Glass-top stoves are fantastic for cooking. The glass conducts heat excellently and looks amazing in your kitchen. But the one thing that makes glass-top stoves truly great is that they are easy to clean. Because the heating elements are located underneath the glass, you can scrub the entire stove surface without worrying about scrubbing individual burners, drip pans, or the risk of getting soapy crumbs onto the oven insulation below.

However, glass cooktops are not indestructible. If a serious impact hits your stove and the glass cracks, or if a crack develops over time, or if the enamel on top is badly damaged, you have an available solution. Believe it or not, changing out the glass cooktop of your glass-top stove is easier than it sounds. 

These are generalized steps and can vary by brand and model.

Gather Your Supplies

• Slot & Phillips Screwdrivers
• Work Gloves
• Stout Prop
• Replacement Glass

The first step in any repair is to have your supplies ready before you begin. To replace your glass cooktop, you will need both types of screwdriver, slot, and Phillips, handy for the screws you will encounter. You may also need a stout prop, like a section of 2×4 or a paint can. In addition, we advise that you wear a pair of work gloves when handling the internal components of the stove, as some edges can be sharp and dangerous to touch with bare hands.

The most important piece you need, of course, is a replacement glass cooktop. Match your stove’s make and model to order the correct piece of glass. Have it unpackaged and ready to swap out as you begin your repairs. 

Safety First

Before you begin this repair, unplug the stove. While the glass top is not electric, the burners underneath are and you will be working with them. To ensure that you do not get shocked and to keep the electrical components in good condition, make sure there is no power flowing through the stove. To do this, simply pull the plug. If you can’t reach the plug, consider flipping the kitchen breaker and working by lamp-light while you perform repairs. 

Release the Glass Cooktop

Now you will need to remove your glass cooktop. The first step to this is to release the cooktop from it’s mounted position on top of the oven.

• Open Oven Door
  • Start by opening the oven door as wide as you feel comfortable. Make sure both the burners and oven are off and completely cool.
• Remove Screws Underneath Stove Lip
  • With the door open, find where the cooktop extends to create a lip. Underneath the lip of this cooktop (usually hidden by the burner door’s top-edge) is a set of screws. Remove them with your screwdriver and set the screws aside somewhere safe.
• Flip-Up the Cooktop
  • Lift up the front of your old glass top surface so that it swings open like a hinged door. 
• Place Your Prop
  • Use your prop, your piece of wood or paint can hold the stovetop open while you work on it. Be careful not to touch or damage any of the insulation surrounding the inner chamber of the oven.

Remove the Burners

The next step is to take out the burners, brackets and all, so that they can be easily transferred to the next glass cooktop. This is the most challenging part of the process.

• Disconnect the Wire Harnesses
  • Start by disconnecting the two wire harnesses, one to the front and back of the cooktop. These are essential to the stove getting hot, so treat the wire pieces still attached to the stove with great care.
• Remove the Mounting Screws from Both Ends
  • The burners are connected via bracket-bars, long brackets that secure two or even three burners at a time. You don’t need to worry about individual burners. Remove the mounting screws on either end of each bracket to remove two and three burners together at one time. Place the screws somewhere nearby to easily reaccess.
• Set the Burner Brackets Aside
  • When the burner brackets are removed, set them aside very carefully nearby where you can quickly access them again soon.

Replace the Glass Cooktop

• Lift-Away the Old Glass-Top
  • Now that the burners are free, you can carefully lift the glass top while also pulling away. This should loosen the glass top from the back panel and it should pull free.
• Transfer the Hinge Tabs
  • The hinge tabs are two small metal pieces on the back-sides of the glass cooktop. They help the cooktop line up and lock into the back panel of the stove. Remove these hinge tabs from the first cooktop and move them to the new cooktop piece.
• Fit and Place the New Glass-Top
  • Now you can take the new cooktop and carefully fit it into place. First line up those hinge tabs with their correct slot or space to fit into the back panel of the stove. Then push the back end into place and lift the front-end with a prop once-more.

Reinstall the Burners

The next step is to put those burners right back on where they came from, but on a new, working cooktop.

• Position the Burners
  • Align your brackets with the underside of the new cooktop. Make sure all the burners are in the right place and that the screw-holes line-up.
• Return the Mounting Screws
  • Now grab those mounting screws you stashed for the burner brackets and return them to place. This should leave your burners firmly secured to the underside of the glass.
• Reattach the Wire Harness
  • To finish reinstalling the burners, reconnect the wire harnesses right back where they came from. 

Secure the Glass Cooktop

The process is almost finished, now we simply need to put the glasstop back together.

• Lower and Fit the Glass Top
  • Remove your prop and lower the glass top surface so that it fits correctly with the top of the stove. You may need to shove backward for one final fit into the back panel of the stove and to align the front corners.
• Return the Mounting Screws
  • Re-affix the mounting screws on the underside of the front lip of the glass-top to complete your repair.

Test Your Success

Congratulations, you have just changed out the glass of your glass-top electric stove. Now it’s time to test your success. Plug the stove back in and fire up the burners. If each burner glows and your stovetop feels secure, then you have succeeded.