The Quick And Easy Guide To Fixing Your Air Fryer That Turned Off
Air fryers are supposed to be the set-it-and-forget-it device that allows you to click the start button and go on with your day preparing other things in the kitchen.
It can be pretty frustrating when you trust in your device to be ready at a set time for dinner but when you check to see the progress you realize that your air fryer had turned off on its own. Now the food is late for dinner, the family is starving, and everyone’s upset.
Don’t let this happen to you. In this article, we’re going to discuss all the details on why your air fryer might be turning off on its own and how exactly to fix that.
Why does my air fryer turn off in the middle of cooking?
There can be a multitude of reasons why your air fryer had turned off while cooking. It could be related to a malfunction in the device, or could even be a user error. It’s anyone’s guess, but here are several of the most popular reasons why they occur.
- There’s a malfunction in the electrical system
- The power cable is mauled and damaged
- The air fryer basket is not securely pushed in
- The air fryer is having chip problems
- You didn’t turn the air fryer on
- The air fryer was only set to preheat
- The air fryer overheated
- Your circuit breaker tripped
- Your air fryer is old and needs cleaning
- You bought a low-quality, inexpensive air fryer
- Your air fryer’s timer display is broken
How to fix it when your air fryer turns off during cooking
Unfortunately, there could be a number of reasons as to why your air fryer suddenly turned off while it was cooking. However, 3 of the most popular reasons that we’ve picked up from our audience of air fryer experts say that it has to do mostly with the basket not fully snuck into the air fryer.
The runner-up reason for an air fryer to stop in the middle of cooking can possibly be explained through electrical malfunctions and defects.
The final, most popular reason for this to occur is user error.
Here are some quick steps in order to help you diagnose and potentially fix the problem.
Check the electrical system supplying your air fryer with power
Air fryers are not very high-powered devices. They don’t use a lot of power, but sometimes with enough devices connected into 1 circuit, using an air fryer may just be the thing that causes the circuit breaker to trip.
Air fryers usually have an average of around 1600 Watts. This isn’t high, but it isn’t Low by any means. If you compare it to things like household electric ovens we’re looking at an average of 3000 Watts used. However, refrigerators only use around 400 to 500 watts. So you can see the difference here and that air fryers aren’t really that bad.
If you don’t find that there have been any circuits tripped, then I would highly advise you to seek out a professional electrician.
You can also try moving to another wall plug on a different side of the house. If it’s still not working then call that professional electrician.
The air fryer door doesn’t fully close
When using an air fryer for a long time, all the moving pieces start to show their age. A lot of this has to do with the grease that continues to build up inside the machine and also contributing to sensor failing and even the mechanical hold that the basket makes to the air fryer.
Check the power and electricity
There are many ways you can check if there’s power running through your walls.
The easiest method is perhaps to use a phone charger and simply plug it into that outlet and see if your phone starts to charge. You can potentially use any electronic device for this. It doesn’t have to be a phone. As long as it can give you an indication that it’s being charged, you’re good to go.
Another method is to get yourself a voltmeter. I’ve always been adamant about saying how every household should get a voltmeter. You don’t use it much but when you need it, it’s amazingly helpful. You can figure out how much electricity is running through a wall and determine if it’s in good shape or not. You can get your voltmeters at any local hardware store and they’re not that expensive.
Then just find a YouTube video and watch it to learn how to use it.
Reset the power and electricity
This is probably the biggest meme of the century, but a lot of it holds merit. You can try to turn it off and on. Alternately, you can also do this by pulling the plug out of the outlet and putting it back in to restart the system.
It’s very possible that there was some bug that occurred when the device was on. Hopefully, this is something that will go away forever. But if it does ever return, then it’s likely that you should reach out to the manufacturer and tell them about your experience.
Check the electrical wire and plug
Here’s another basic task you should check before you do anything advanced. Run your eyes and fingers through the electrical wire and plug. Look for any abrasions or damages that you can either feel or see with your hands and eyes.
Animals love to chew on these rubber wires.
Check the air fryer drawer or lid
There has been a ton of reports regarding how loose the air fryer basket or lid can be when it comes to cooking. In most devices these days if you remove the basket from the air fryer while it’s cooking, it will automatically go into pause.
This is a step manufacturer is made in order to help you do whatever that’s necessary for the recipe to make your food. It could be anything from adding some more seasoning or butter.
Sometimes pushing the basket in as far as you can, might not be enough to fix the problem. In some rare cases and if your air fryer is really old and not well maintained, the problem could be some type of damage to the sensor.
These sensors are programmed to shut off the air fryer once the basket is removed. It’s a safety measure so that if users ever pull out the basket accidentally, it will stop the element from remaining hot.
Leave the air fryer unplugged during your night
This is something that a few people in our community said worked for them, at least temporarily.
Try letting your air fryer sit alone without any power running through it for a night. Users believe this drains all the electricity from the fryer and helps “sorta” reset the whole device.
As I said, this isn’t a science but it has been found to work for some people.
Call in a repair warranty
When everything fails and hopefully you didn’t open up the device or anything like that, it might be time to call in a repair warranty. That’s assuming that you purchased insurance for it if it has been more than a year.
And that’s something I highly recommend everyone do. Just purchase the extra years of insurance and you should be completely safe with replacement and repairs. In some cases, if the manufacturer no longer has this product, they might even give you a newer model.
It happened to me twice on different kitchen appliances
Read the manual for guidance
I know it’s hard for a lot of people to do this, but reading the manual can be a lot of help when you are new to using your air fryer. There’s a lot of tips inside your manual that you may not be aware of. And if you don’t know about them, there’s a high chance that you won’t know about them
Don’t overfill the air fryer basket with too much food
Sometimes overfilling the basket can be an issue with it accidentally turning off on its own. The reason here is often due to overheating and potentially tripping the sensor within the air fryer.
There’s usually a line inside the basket that allows you to add food up to this certain point. However, if that instruction is not followed your food could very well become overcooked due to it being too close to the heating element.
Depending on the model air fryer that you have there may be a safety precaution that will shut off the air fryer if it gets too hot. If your Foods top layer gets so hot that it starts to smoke and even catch fire.
You purchased a low-quality, cheap air fryer
I hate to say this, but if you bought your air fryer for an 80% discount and your bill ran up to less than $20 or so, there’s a chance it won’t last long.
I’ve purchased a used air fryer on craigslist once upon a time ago. I was able to use it for about 6 months before it died on me.
I don’t know what the problem was and there wasn’t any warranty on it obviously.
It’s the old saying, you get what you pay for.
Give your air fryer space to vent
Air fryers deal with a lot of heat. Sometimes these devices can run up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. So having vents and plenty of space is crucial to letting air out of the machine.
If you keep your air fryer within a closed place while cooking with it, the hot air gets trapped into one place and can potentially overheat the air fryer.
When cooking, it’s recommended to give it at least 5 inches from any corner where there’s a wall. Also, cook it on a countertop where there’s none or very few walls in its way. You want to make sure the hot air can properly vent out of the machine.
Air fryers aren’t air-sealed devices. There are small pockets of space that allow hot air to vent out of the air fryer. Make sure none of those are blocked.
Don’t wash your air fryer in the dishwasher
This probably goes without saying but your air fryer is not waterproof. There’s a whole network of wires and a chip inside of these things that can easily damage if water gets on it.
I don’t imagine anyone would throw an entire air fryer into a dishwasher but it’s a good reminder.
Make sure the air fryer is plugged all the way in
Sometimes, we like to readjust our kitchen appliances, or maybe our kids will play around in the kitchen and cause the air fryer’s plug to pull away from the outlet, but barely hanging on to it.
Make sure you securely have your air fryer’s electrical pins fully inside the outlet. If they are hanging loose, this could be very dangerous. By leaving the metal pin out and exposed, you could run the risk of a fire.
This may also contribute to your air fryer shutting off during cooking as well.
Make sure the air fryers basket is inserted into the air fryer correctly
Now, this is something that has happened to the best of us. We are in a hurry and sometimes we forget that it’s important to push the basket all the way into the air fryer in order for it to work. Sometimes you might be a little negligent and not push it in as far as it should be.
In this instance, your air fryer will actually turn on and start working. However, at some point in the middle of cooking the basket pops back out and causes the entire air fryer to immediately stop heating.
Make sure you securely push the air fryer basket into the air fryer before leaving it alone. I don’t ever recommend that someone leave the air fryer alone completely. You can be in another room still a few steps away in case you need to check up on your food.
Make sure the air fryers electrical cables are not damaged
Never ever plug in a device that has damaged electrical cables. This kind of thing can honestly start a fire. Having the metals exposed to air can cause Sparks and can really burn down your house.
It’s been recorded that in 2012 through 2016, electrical failures and malfunctions coming from damaged wires has caused about 13% of all home fires.
So what should you do in this case I recommend that you seek out a professional to repair this broken wire, or call the manufacturer and request a repair.
The food in your air fryer is too thin and light
Here we have another issue that indirectly leads to overheating. There have been stories throughout the community one or two times where a user accidentally put food or items that are way too light and thin inside the air fryer. Remember air fryers use a fan that circulates air throughout the entire chamber. If the food that you put into the air fryer is way too thin and way too light, there’s a good possibility that it will be flying around inside the chamber. It may even get lodged into the element or stuck and jam up the fan.
If it gets lodged into the element then eventually it will burn, smoke, and catch fire. If it ends up jamming up the fan, then there’s a chance that the heat will be heavily concentrated between the element and the layer facing the element.
Can air fryers trip my breaker?
Depending on the unit or model air fryer that you own, you’re going to have to look at the manual to see how many amps it carries. A circuit breaker should never trip if it is carrying the current amperage that it is limited to.
You also need to know what the rated amps for your home are. Typically speaking, most households have circuits that are rated either between 15 or 20 amps. What’s also important to understand is that these circuit breakers often can only handle about 80% of the overall amperage potential. That means that if your home can carry up to 20 amps oh, that means the highest amperage your air fryer should produce is 16 amps. This is what’s considered your home circuit’s load capacity.
Is it okay for me to fix my air fryer on my own?
If the device is out of warranty and there’s no way you would shell out the extra costs to fix it. You could perhaps attempt to take it apart and try to wiggle and secure all the wiring.
However, word of caution, always make sure the air fryer is unplugged from the wall. Give it a few days alone. Don’t plug it back in. This is to let all the residual electricity run out.
Depending on your model, some may have small batteries in them so there’s no way of avoiding getting electrocuted altogether.
I would only suggest this if you are very familiar with how electronic devices work and have some sort of expertise in the subject.
If you have a voltmeter, you can use that to make sure there’s no longer a running voltage inside the machine as well.
Other interesting articles:
