Farmer Jim for Model Number Maytag Gemini, and a Kenmore with similar burners and screws I have 2 gas stoves (a Kenmore and Maytag -- 9 burners total). Maaaaybe 4 of them are easy to replace. The other 5 burners have Phillips head screws, so burnt that a screwdriver doesn't work. Oops -- and one of the 4 burners i took off -- a screw broke. I think i can hold that burner in place with one screw, but i would prefer not to. I can maybe take the broken screw out with a vice grips. But what to do if it breaks again and i can't grip it? Lessee, these are about -- what? -- size 10 screws, 3/4 inch long? They're so-so quality steel screws going thru (not threaded) an aluminum burner into a steel stove top (threaded). The screw heads are recessed into an aluminum well in the burner, and when the screw heads are scorched, they crumble without too much effort. (well, wouldn't you be scorched if you spent your life about an inch below the hot (radiating heat) bottom of a cast iron frying pan doing high temp cooking) So -- what's to do? Use an impact driver? Use PB Blaster to loosen the threads? Drill thru these too small screws and try a screw extractor? something else??? ____________________________ At the top of my to-do-list: Write letters to Whirlpool/Maytag requesting they use screws or clamps or a complete re-design which -- even when scorched -- can be replaced in 15 minutes instead of 2 hours or more! A $100 to $140 repair bill for a repairman to come out and spend his time removing and replacing 10 to 12 screws in a poorly designed cook top is -- not acceptable. Especially, in a $1500 Maytag Gemini. So yeah, yeah, I know Whirlpool bought Maytag, but both companies-- individually -- produced high quality machines. As an analogy, how would it be if you took your Mercedes (comparable quality) to your mechanic to deal with a wheel problem. When you came back, you got a $1000+ bill because 2 of the 5 lug nuts broke the bolts off at the hub, and a 15 minute remove-the-wheel operation took several hours + new hubs and wheels on 3 of the 4 wheels. I've spent many hours working on older Maytags and Whirlpools -- washers, fridges, dryers, stoves -- and have never run into sloppy design like these stovetops. What would it take to redesign the top so the burners are held in place by something other than these severely under-built screws? And why do aluminum burners need replacing within the lifetime of the stove. I've worked on many brands of stoves and the older burners never needed replacing. Is this intentional (or even unintentional) planned obsolescence?
Answer Farmer Jim, If the screws are burnt in where they will not come out then you would want to use an extraction tool to try to remove it. For the one that is already broken you will want to drill it out or remove it from the underside with pliers. Read More... Answered by AppliancePartsPros.com | Monday, February 8, 2016