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As quite a few people are these days, my wife and I are in a difficult financial situation. About 5 months ago we got a HUGE break and purchased a Stove, Fridge, LARGE microwave and Dishwasher for $250 (basically a gift as it was all worth well over $3,000). Two days ago I tripped over my dog , dropped a full pot the stove and shattered the glass stovetop. It doesn't look like anything but the glass is broken but the glass is definitely ruined. I looked up the part from Whirlpool....it's over $360 just for that glass piece....and that doesn't include install.

So my question is this: Are there any unconventional things I can do here to be able to use my stove again? Could I just get a piece of tempered glass? Remove all the glass and cook straight on the burners? Or better yet...are there any places I could get a used stovetop that would fit?

Niall C.
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James P. Wright
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    What is the make and model of the stove? – James Van Huis Nov 10 '10 at 19:55
  • It is a Whirlpool Gold Super Capacity 465. The Part number in question is 8187853. – James P. Wright Nov 10 '10 at 20:03
  • Edit your question to include that information. – Jay Bazuzi Nov 11 '10 at 03:17
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    See if your home insurance will cover it as an accident. –  Jan 07 '13 at 22:27
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    Tempered glass will not work at all, it will shatter into thousands of pieces as soon as a burner heats it up a good bit. A lot of uneven heat is not the forte of tempered glass. Ceramic glass used for stovetops and woodstoves is the only viable candidate. – bcworkz Jan 08 '13 at 01:01
  • You could buy an electric hot plate and set it on top. – DA01 Jan 08 '13 at 01:29
  • @user9968 - I wouldn't use homeowners insurance for a claim this small (doubtful that it's even above the deductible). Too many claims can [drive up insurance rates or cause cancellation](http://www.uphelp.org/library/resource/claim-or-not-claim%E2%80%A6-question-david-shaffer). So even though insurance is supposed to be there for exactly this type of accident, I wouldn't waste a claim on such a small amount. – Johnny Jan 20 '15 at 20:52
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    This is one of those situations where you would need to bite the bullet and buy the part from the manufacturer. There may be a better price for the part if you shop around a bit. For the price, you may be able to just buy a different stove and sell the broken one. – Jason Hutchinson Jan 20 '15 at 21:27

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Tempered glass is almost impossible to cut without shattering it after it's tempered, so you'd have to find a piece exactly the right size. And even then I don't know if it would withstand high temperatures -- in fact it may get hot enough to un-temper it, in which case it would be a lot weaker and likely to break in normal use.

I have no idea if you can cook straight on the burners, but my guess is that since they're normally covered by ceramic glass, they're not constructed to support much weight. Also I suspect they get a lot hotter than the glass surface does on a non-broken cooktop, so you'd be looking at an increased risk of fire if something spilled over.

I did a quick search and found a few online used appliance part suppliers, but I didn't check to see if any had that part available and at what price. You might also call a few local appliance shops to see if they have any ideas on used parts.

A nationwide Craigslist search turns up many instances of that model stove for sale, all at prices lower than your price for a new part. Sadly your most cost-effective option may be to toss this one and buy a used one.

Mike Powell
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As a licensed professional home inspector (specifically inspects appliances and their safety), I am surprised to read some of the suggestions offered.

It is IMPERATIVE to replace broken or non-functioning stove/oven parts with OME or manufacturer approved replacement parts. Any shade tree modifications could result in fires or worse, loss of life. DO NOT replace a glass cook top with tempered glass, IT WILL SHATTER. DO NOT try to cook directly on the exposed elements, extremely unsafe. DO NOT try to fit the cook top with any metal tops. The heat is uncontrollable and could over heat other unprotected areas of the unit. The lady bought over $3,000.00 worth of appliances for only $250.00. I'd say the unit was a free one to her, therefore is worthy of spending $300.00 for the RIGHT replacement part and have a qualified service technician install the part.

JDKile
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I dropped a large pot on my glass top and due to repair costs I found a tacky but clever, alternative to replacement because the oven is still useable. I already had a spare replacement sheet of glass for the oven door (can be found cheap at places like Habitat for Humanity or craigslist) and put that on top of the broken glass then purchased a counter top burner set that I put on the door glass & it works fantastic! VERY budget friendly AND it does the job for now. Hope that description of my clever idea makes sense.

user110119
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  • Hello, and welcome to Home Improvement. Thanks for the answer; keep 'em coming. And, you should probably [take our tour](//diy.stackexchange.com/tour) so you'll know how best to contribute here. – Daniel Griscom Dec 16 '19 at 00:07
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One other option to try before replacing it would be to check with a glass supplier - my local auto glass replacement place, for example, also does a lot of glass for wood stoves. If they have the ability to work with that type of glass, they may also be able to help with a replacement piece for your stove.

chris
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Your best bet is to replace the stove. It will mean a downgrade while you save money. You can get used stoves in the classifieds like kijiji, backpage, craigslist. Some places thrift stores like good will, habitat for humanity will also carry them. You can likely get a decent 2nd had stove for $100.

Sherwood Botsford
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Appliance parts can be purchased used. A quick search on ebay turns up this part for $160 shipped. (Only one listing, and it's not in great cosmetic shape, but whatever.) If you look around, you can probably find other places with it for sale; I'd call up local used appliance stores and see how that goes.

Youtube has videos explaining how to replace this part, and it looks comfortably within the abilities of an average homeowner with a screwdriver and the ability to follow simple directions, so there's no need to pay for installation.

user3757614
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A metal top would work but the entire top will act as a heat sink making the entire top get hot and because of that your cooking time is extended slightly longer.

Tom Shelvetan
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