Electric range repair
Electric range repair
Electric range repair. Oven repair.
In modern times, electric range has become one of the most used
appliances in homes. An electric range has two more or less separate components, the top frying, boiling, and other types of under-pan heating and the oven. The oven has its own controls which have nothing to do with the surface controls. It has a separate broiler element that is distinct from the basic oven heating element. In addition, there is the microwave range, with its separate microwave oven, or a combination microwave and electric oven. Ovens are becoming space-age electronic equipment.
Let us deal with the older electric oven, because that is what most people continue to buy. The kitchen
electric range uses a 200- to 230-volt, three-wire circuit, with heavy wire (No. 6 or heavier) that goes to the circuit breaker or fusebox where it has its own circuit switch, with no other appliance or system attached to it. The range may have 110- to 115-volt outlets for small appliances or lamps.
Electric ranges are rated at 60 amps, at least, and each surface unit may draw up to 2,200 watts. The oven may draw up to 5,000 or 6,000 watts, so that the range may be rated at 14,000 watts or more. Thus an electric stove can be quite expensive to operate, especially at high settings. (One such setting is the self-cleaning cycle on ovens so equipped. Self-cleaning is accomplished by excessive heat of around 800F (427C) that burns off the dirt. That could pay for a lot of elbow grease, which, however, you cannot use without destroying the surface of the self-cleaning finish. You can, of course, use plain hot water on such surfaces.)
What goes wrong with an electric range are its lights, surface heating elements, controls and (less often) wiring. Controls may consist of pushbuttons or knobs which vary the current.
When lights burn out, they must be replaced by means of an identification number and model or make. Sometimes the socket also must be replaced, especially in the oven where an older range can be subject to the breakdown of insulators and metal contacts in the electrical circuit. It goes without saying that before you touch anything on an electric range you turn it off completely. You also check the warranty.
Lights that fail can be fluorescent or incandescent Replacement and troubleshooting of either type follow procedures discussed under those headings. You will have to remove a panel or covering to gain access to thelights or sockets. An oven light socket that needs replacing usually requires that the oven be removed to permit access to the socket. This will be discussed below.
Surface heating elements are mostly the so-called calrod type. This type, which is usually a plug-in fixture held in place with a tension spring, will last for years if it isn't abused. Calrods also may be attached by means of a retaining screw. In this case you look for a screw at the insulation block and between the ends of the calrod. Remove this, and the calrod and insulation block with its wire terminals can be brought forward sufficiently to unscrew the terminals and remove the calrod.
Unless the calrod is clearly broken or damaged, it should be tested before buying a replacement. You might have the same trouble with a new one. To test it requires an ohmmeter or some continuity tester other than an electric light because the amount of current coming through may not be sufficiently strong to make the light go on. Take the calrod along to the store for testing, or if your range has two of the same kind, simply exchange the two calrods. If the problem now is reversed, you need a new calrod.
Both oven heating units broil and bake are open winding types which can be removed for inspection, though the broiler unit at the top may require some disassembly of the oven whereas the bake unit at the bottom (the usual place) simply plugs in and out, in most cases.
If the broiler is not lighting up and heating, and if it doesn't plug in, you will have to gain access to its mounting bracket from the rear. If the oven is not part of the range, it requires removing any front panels that lock in the oven, including any decorative fasteners, as well as control knobs. Remove any screws and bolts from wall brackets that hold the oven in place, then slide it forward, but not so far that it falls out. The oven is quite heavy and will have to be supported. Bring it forward and support it on a chair or something that may test your powers of improvisation. The cable connecting to the oven will prevent it from coming too far out, and anyway it isn't necessary to remove the oven completely, or shouldn't be.
There will be a metal plate or shield covering all the cable connections to the wiring connectors, sockets, and insulators.
Some oven broilers can be fully inspected without removing anything. Just look up at the top of the oven, and check out the coiled heating element for breaks. If the break is near the fastening screw, you might be able to stretch the coiled metal out and fasten that to the hold-down screw without removing anything.
That is the most optimistic scenario. The chances are that if you discover an open wire in the heating coil, it won't be close, enough the fastening screw to simply pull out the wire and attach it. What you can do is either replace the entire coil or use some kind of mending sleeve on the two broken ends. That you can buy in an electrical supply house. There are other ways to mend such a break, including a quasi-welding process, but the sleeve is your best bet. It is likely that if you seek to repair the break in the heating coil, you'll have to remove it, and that entails removing the oven. Also, you may discover that the terminal is so corroded that it is too fragile to withstand even the force of a screwdriver opening the fastening screws, and you'll have to replace the insulating terminal. Admittedly that is more likely to happen with the plug-in baking unit at the bottom of the oven.
The baking unit may also develop a break in the heating coil. Since this one simply pulls out (usually), you can inspect it by pulling out and looking carefully at the coils. The break may not be in the most exposed place. Keep looking. If there is no break in the coils that you can see, make sure the incoming cables are attached firmly and the posts are not corroded or broken. But that requires removing the oven.
Since oven removal is a bit of a chore though not forbiddingly difficult don't do it unless you can't find the problem through visual inspection of the coils. Inspection of the coils also includes inspection of the insulated terminals. Plug-in terminals are subject to corrosion and disintegration, because of the high heat and voltage. Broiler terminals (at the top) sometimes can be removed from the front, sometimes not. It is probable that if the bottom bake terminal insulator needs replacing, it can only be done by removing the oven.
Electric range switches, either at the front or on the back panel, can be uncovered and tested, if you see nothing wrong with the calrod and its connections. Remove the covering plate (after removing the knobs which usually are pulled or pried off with a knife or thin screwdriver). The plate may have screws holding it or it may be held by tension springs. Once the plate or bezel is removed, you can see the switches. A further covering may be present, in which case you have to remove that one also. In a typical Westinghouse range with four switches for the four-calrod top, when you remove the knobs, the stainless steel covering pulls off to reveal four multicolored, plastic, circular decals that are attached to the switches below. In operation, these plastic decals are lighted and their colors signify the five different heat settings.
The four-headed unit comes out when screws at the retaining points are removed.
Once the unit is loosened, pull up on it as far as the wiring will allow. Unscrew one of the wires from the switch that isn't working, and use a test probe with a light on the terminals. If the light in the probe doesn't go on, the switch needs replacing. Remember to turn the switch on to its various positions. Switches with detents (steps that indicate levels of heat) fail less often than infinite switches.
If the switch tests out as good, the next target should be the terminal into which the calrod fits (assuming the calrod has been checked). This terminal, if it is the plug-in type, is subject to some wear, though very little. Examine it for wear and corrosion, or even a loose connection.
The oven switch, which has degrees of heat on the knob, can also be tested with probes and a light. Its failure rate is also much lower than the elements to which it is connected the open coils.
The oven timer and its wiring involve complications of testing that you would do well to avoid. However, you can take it to a shop for testing.
When the oven fails to provide the specified amount of heat, first use a thermometer on it to determine how inaccurate its heating supply is. If the inaccuracy is great, the chances are that you need a new thermostat. Sometimes the old one can be adjusted, sometimes not. You have to determine whether your oven is adjustable. It has a dial if it is adjustable. If yours has no adjustment, it is probable that you will have to remove the oven to find the thermostat and replace it. Adjustable thermostats, if defective, may also require removal of the oven to replace them.
One cause of inaccurate heat level is improper closing of the oven door. Normally this will occur only in older ovens, and it will happen because the gasket has worn out, less because of the door and its hinges and closing mechanism. To test the door, pull a newspaper through it when you close it, and examine the gasket carefully for wear if you find a point where the paper test is failed where it slips through easily and loosely. Changing the door hinge setting is easy enough, but it can be a tricky thing to do correctly. It is mostly trial and error, plus using the newspaper test. We have been talking about a separate, wall oven in its own, self-sufficient quarters. An oven that is part of the electric range has different configurations, hinges, supports, and also has its controls on top of the range. Its components are easier to get at, in most cases, but if the fault involves removing the entire range, the problem should not be tackled.
One other problem that involves both a wall oven or one that is part of the surface range is oven overheating. Sometimes this can be traced to the sensor in the oven whose function it is to relay heat information back to the thermostat which opens or closes the electric circuit in accordance with the information supplied. If the sensor, which is called a capillary tube, gets pushed against the oven wall or too close to the heating element, it will cause the wrong signals to be sent they will be too high. On the other hand, if the capillary tube is not dislocated in these ways, and you still get overheating, it is time to take the thermostat to task.
Electric range repair
By: All American S.M.A.R.T.
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