The short answer
C82 tells you the pan is not the right size for the zone. On an induction cooktop the pan is part of the circuit, so a base that is too small for the coil beneath it leaves the control with nothing it can safely drive. Move the pan to a smaller zone or use a larger pan, and the code goes with it. Nothing is broken.
Whirlpool cooktop code as the manufacturer publishes it
Reference| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| C82 | Pan/pot is not the right size. |
What you observe alongside the code
- The zone will not heat although the controls respond — Induction needs a pan it can couple to before it does anything.
- It heats for a moment, then stops and shows the code — The coil found something, then lost it.
- One pan works and another does not — The cleanest evidence there is.
- A ring of heat narrower than the pan base — Partial coupling to a base that is too small or not flat.
What triggers it, most likely first
- A base too small for the zone — Second: the coil needs a minimum footprint before it will energise, and a small pot on a large zone falls under it.
- A pan sitting off-centre — Fourth: half a base over the coil reads like half a pan, and the control would rather stop than guess.
- A pan base that is not ferromagnetic enough — First: aluminium, copper and most stainless without a magnetic layer cannot couple at all, whatever the pan cost.
- A warped or ridged base — Third: a base that rocks touches the glass only at its rim, and coupling follows contact.
Check in this order, and why
- Compare the pan base with the ring marked on the glass — The ring is the zone, and a base well inside it is the fault.
- Hold a fridge magnet to the pan base — If it does not grip firmly, the pan is the fault and nothing else needs checking.
- Try a pan you know works on the same zone — Separates pan from cooktop in one move.
- Centre the pan and watch the display — Off-centre pans produce intermittent versions of this code.
Clearing the code, then the owner-safe checks
- Magnet-test every pan you use on the cooktop — Sort them once and the problem does not come back.
Tools: fridge magnetAbout 10 min
- Wipe the glass and the pan base clean and dry — Grit under a base holds it off the glass.
Tools: clothAbout 5 min
- Centre the pan and set a mid heat level — A controlled retest with the variables removed.
About 10 min
- STOP HERE if a known-good pan fails on one zone only — That is the coil or its module, under the glass.
Before you open anything
Safety
Switch the cooktop off at its breaker before any panel comes off — a capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off, and a cooktop is fed from a double-pole breaker, so both poles have to be dead. The glass stays hot long after the zones are off. Never bridge or bypass a thermal cut-out or an interlock to keep cooking.
When this code is a service call
Call when a pan you know works elsewhere on the cooktop fails on one zone: that points at the coil or the induction module for that zone rather than at your cookware. There is no hazard in the meantime and the other zones remain usable, so this is a code you can live with while you wait.
Neighbouring Whirlpool cooktop codes
Which model lines this reading applies to
This reading of C82 applies to Whirlpool induction and radiant glass cooktops with the touch control that publishes this code, which is where the manufacturer documents it. A knob-controlled coil or gas cooktop has no display and cannot produce it, and a Whirlpool-built unit badged for another brand may pair the same characters with a different fault. Minimum base sizes are published per zone diameter, and a bridge or flex zone follows a different rule again.
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
