Heater controller type and replacement

[mulo]

I am a newbie. On one of my machines has a siemens Statotherm heater controller that has gone bad. Its function is to intermittently on and off a contactor that supplies power to a heater. There is a dial to control on off time or heat. There is no input feedback.
What type of controller is it called. Any alternative? I tried thyristor controller. But I will have to change wiring and bypass contactor

[andy3055]

I cannot think of the name off hand. May be "thermostatic control" (?) Old electric cookers had this type of controls.  Within the switch, there is a bimetallic strip with a very fine gauge heating element wound around it.

As the current passes thru it, the heat will bend the bi-metal strip and that operates a pair of contacts that breaks the supply to the heating element as well as the wire wound around the bi-metal strip.

[andy3055]

Something like this:

https://good-appliance.com/products/wb24t10027-ge-electric-range-burner-control-switch-for-2100w-burner

[perieanuo]

https://uk.farnell.com/c/automation-process-control/temperature-controllers
 just choose one that can control your contactor and have the same sensor input (or just buy the sensor and use him in the right place), it's really simple and standardised all over the place in industry
regards,pierre