Monday, June 4, 2018

Oven heating element failure

One big reason for premature failure of a oven bake or broil element is contamination of oils or greasy residue that can accumulate on the red-hot heating coils.  Types of contamination is grease that splatters or drips from cooking food such as fried chicken.  When the grease gets hot during  the bake or broil process, it can become unstable and drip on the element thus creating a hot spot that burns hotter then the rest of the element and weakens the insulation of the element material. If the grease spot is real bad or if this happens repeatedly it can cause a rupture and a small explosion.  Most customers describe this event as a flash fire in the oven or a arc-welding type of event.  Many times the 240V circuit breaker will trip and will need to be reset.
If this happens to you, disconnect power to your appliance and call a repairman.  If you would like to attempt the appliance repair yourself then turn off all power to the appliance before doing anything.  Inspect the element carefully using a flashlight.  If the element is similar looking the the picture above then replace the element.

Rich
Appliance Repair in Meridian Idaho