The answer first
On a Maytag cooktop, C82 is the cooktop telling you about the pan rather than about itself. The documented meaning is that the pan or pot is not the right size for the zone.
Error codes
Reference| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| C82 | Pan/pot is not the right size. |
What you observe
- The zone will not start, or starts and stops again — On some models it beeps and drops out after a few seconds, which is the zone looking for a pan and not finding enough of one.
- It happens with one pan and not another — That is the whole diagnosis. Swap the pan and the behaviour changes. No tool and no visit is involved.
- NEAR MISS — no zone works with any pan — That is a supply or control fault rather than a pan problem, and it belongs on those pages.
Ranked causes
- The pan is too small for the zone — Ranked first because it is exactly what the code says. The zone needs a base covering enough of its area to couple into, and a small pan does not.
- The pan is warped or does not sit flat — A base that rocks or domes lifts most of its area away from the glass, and the zone reads that as a pan that is not there.
- The pan is off-centre on the zone — Last: even a correctly sized pan pushed to the edge of the zone can drop below what the sensing needs, and centring it is the whole fix.
What to check first, and why
- Try a different pan on the same zone — A heavy, flat, magnetic pan that matches the marked ring. If that works, the cooktop is behaving correctly and the pan was the problem.
- Hold a magnet to the base of the pan that failed — It should hold firmly. A weak grip or none at all means the pan cannot be used on this cooktop, whatever its size.
- Centre the pan on the marked ring — Free, instant, and the fix in a surprising share of cases, especially on the larger zones.
The steps you can do yourself
- Match the pan to the ring marked on the glass — Choose a pan whose base covers most of the marked zone, centre it, and try again.
About 5 min
- Check the base with a magnet — A fridge magnet is enough. If it does not hold firmly to the middle of the base, the pan is not suitable for induction and no setting will make it work.
Tools: magnetAbout 5 min
- Check the base is flat on cold glass — Press each edge in turn. Any rocking means the pan is warped, which is a common result of heating an empty pan.
About 10 min
- STOP HERE if the next step needs a meter on live terminals or a panel off — That is the line between an owner check and a service call on this circuit.
Before any panel comes off
Safety
Switch the cooktop off at the breaker before the control panel comes off or you reach under the glass. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. If the cooktop burns gas and you smell gas: leave the building without switching anything on or off, call the gas utility or emergency services from outside, and do not look for the leak yourself.
Where the owner checks end
Call only if a correctly sized, flat, magnetic pan is refused on one zone while it works on the others. That points at the coil or the sensing for that zone rather than at the cookware, and reaching either means the top out of the counter.
Codes next to this one
What this page does and does not cover
This page reads C82 as Maytag documents it for cooktops in this range, so it covers the appliance class rather than one model line: a radiant glass top and an induction top can both post it, and the module under the glass is not the same part. Where a family- or model-specific page exists for your unit it is the more specific answer, and it is linked from the code index below.
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