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Spray contacts as needed with electrical contact cleaner.

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A steamer is a small appliance designed to steam foods, primarily vegetables. A rice cooker is a steamer designed specifically for steaming rice, but many can be used to steam other foods as well. All steamers use enclosed heating elements. Some include a thermostat. Simple steamers have a rotary timer that turns off the elements after a set time. Other units have a sensor that knows when the water has boiled off in the pan and automatically switches to a lower heat setting.
Disassemble and test the appliance:
- Unplug the cooker from the electrical receptacle. If the appliance has a plug-in cord, remove it.
- Remove the cover and the pan.
- Turn the steamer over and remove the fasteners holding the base.
- As needed, test the heating element, resistor, and service switch contacts (see below).
Test the heating element:
- Disconnect the heating wire from one terminal.
- Set the multimeter at RX1 (resistance times 1) scale to measure resistance.
- Touch the tester probes to the two terminals. The heating element is okay if the meter reads near zero ohms.
Test the resistor:
- Remove the lead to the heating element.
- Set the multimeter at RX1 (resistance times 1) scale to measure resistance.
- Touch the tester probes to the two terminals. The heating element is okay if the meter reads approximately 20 ohms.
To service switch contacts: Press down on the lever arm to verify that the switch contacts make full contact. If not, use a small file to file the contacts. As needed, spray the contacts with electrical contact cleaner.
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