I’m having problems with my range. Occasionally, the oven doesn’t heat and the top electric “burners” don’t heat up, even though the range exhaust fan, surface light, and burner lights work. I’ve called TWO different electricians and neither could solve the problem. Each checked the breaker box and the electrical connections to the range. One found that if you turn the breaker to the range on and off, the range eventually starts heating again. Any suggestions? Is this dangerous? Should I get a new range; this one is at least 15 years old?
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Replies
Yes it could be a loose connection that could potentially arc and cause a fire. Get it checked out as soon as possible. Personally I wouldn't use it until you are sure its safe.
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
>> Occasionally, the oven doesn't heat and the top electric "burners" don't heat up, even though the range exhaust fan, surface light, and burner lights work. <<
It's the range, not a problem with the electrical system in your home. BTW - I'm assuming it's an all electric. Call an appliance repairman, or start pricing new ones.
The fact that none of the heating elements work suggests a bad connection in the main wiring coming into the range. Could be at the breaker box, in the wiring to the range, in the range outlet box, in the pigtail cable, at the pigtail cable connection, or inside the range itself.
Most likely, though, the problem is with the plug/socket connection between the range pigtail and the outlet box.
There should be no need to replace the range. (Our last one lasted over 25 years, and it was still going strong other than having a bad clock. Most parts in a standard electric range are readily available and easily replaced.) Get an electrician to replace the range outlet, and have a range service guy come and tighten all major the connections inside the range.
"One found that if you turn the breaker to the range on and off, the range eventually starts heating again. "
That does not make any sense.
When it was off. He could have quickly verified with a voltmeter if the was getting power to the breaker, receptacle, stove.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
"Each checked the breaker box and the electrical connections to the range. One found that if you turn the breaker to the range on and off, the range eventually starts heating again."
If an electrician checked breaker box and electrical connections to the range and found no problem, then clearly cycling the breaker off/on could not make the stove work again. He had already determined that it had power. If an electrician told me that, I would refuse to pay him because he clearly doesn't know his stuff. Since you described the problem as an intermittent one in the first place, of course the range would eventually start heating again whether he had fiddled with the breaker or not.
Someone needs to determine why one leg of the 220 inside the range (the one not supplying the 110V parts of the stove) sometimes does not work.
The cycling of the power to the range indicates to me that you might have a bad control board. The cycling of power can sometimes temporarily 'reset' the board. Check what a new board costs maybe $150 to $200 vs what a new range costs $400 to $700.
-day
" if you turn the breaker to the range on and off, the range eventually starts heating again."
I would have thought it more likely to restore power if you turned the breaker off and on rather than on and off. I'm really puzzled how it started working when leaving the breaker in the off position...
;)
Really - I think you have a bad connetion at the receptile or where the pigtail is wired into the appliance.
Another possibility is that you have a bad breaker.
Third is that you need an appiance repairman.
But you diodn't really describe what exactly the electricians did when they "checked it out".
Did he use a voltometer?
Did he try replacing the breaker?
Did he pull the range and check the actual connections?
Maybe you were just too brief in your description, but based on what you said, he doesn't know his stuff. If flipping the breaker switch on and off and on really did anything, then he should have replaced it. I tend to think it was only coincidental that it seemed to start working again after flipping it and that you need an appliance guy or a new range, but a good electrician should have been able to definitively tell you that.
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This happened to us, but there were other circuits in the house that didn't work too.
Turns out one leg of our u/g service had corroded and had to be replaced.
Cause was quite clearly a nick in the insulation of the UG cable sheath by a backhoe operator, which was clearly quite quickly covered up, and it took 15 years to manifest itself, and it did by corrosion of the ?aluminium cable. Still got the puppy.
To us, the upside was that the u/g elec service was underneath our gas line, so despite the fact that the electrical contractors backhoe snagged and ruptured the gas line (we were at the very end of a loop thank heavens), the rupture in the electrical insulation was caused by the gas line installation way back when, so we escaped not only the 8k$ fee for the electrical contractor, but avoided major gas line rupture costs as well. Took the VP of local utilities to make that happen though. And the Gas co would have paid all the bill, except that the billing cycle for the elec contractor didn't get all the expenses on the bill forwarded to the gas co, and they tried to collect more money from me, (clearly I objected) and the gas co said, ain't no way we are gonna waive charges to some company "who should have known better" (we got the free for all, call before you dig, etc arrrangements here), anyway, we ain't gonna waive any charges for disruption of utility services when there are three or four groups involved who shoulda knowed better....ie the Electrical Contractor, the excavation company, The site foreman, and me. They didn't think my cats shoulda knowed, but it was getting that bizarre.
Anyway, the gas co paid the electrical contractor almost, but as his accountant was slow at the tabulation effort, there were other charges after the month end, , so hthey came back at me with a collection effort, which got interesting....
(I offered to go thru his insurance(wouldn't provide me with his insurer) , split the cost (f**k-o*f response), etc... before I got to that stage though - wifey thought I was nuts, but a tradesman has to be paid eh?, and I made three eforts to accomade the co before I "pulled the plug")Nasty nasty nasty.....
They came back at me and said that there is "no warranty" on the work done....as if there ever was or would be......
I ain't a practicioner of the Church of the Subgenius for nothin eh?
Bottom line is
Check all yer circuits buddy, it might be just one leg of yr 220 service thats toast.
Eric
in Calgary
Eric:
How deep do they bury UG electric and gas service in Calgary? Here, it's only 3'.
I dunno if it was even that deep. What it is supposed to be and what it actually is can clearly be one thing I did learn was the local call befur ya dig marks a 3 metre (10') swath where they believe the utilities are, but up till that incident, I thought you only had to had dig in that swathe, and only in the aftermath of fiscal accountability did I discover that you had to hand dig 3 m(10') on either side of it....30 ft total.Did I mention that locally here in Calgary, if you hit and break the gas line, you not only become liable for the cost of door-to-door visits by the gas company to ensure that everyone elses gas appliances are properly relit, but are also liable for the cost of the gas that escapes......We was on the very end of the loop. Got off lucky. Real lucky!Eric
What style range?
As restorationtoday said, it is likely the control board, esp. if your range has touch pad controls.
Typically, the screened polyester touch pad assembly gets damaged by heat, and the didgital circuit that controls the power gets the wrong signals. Recycling power resets that. You will eventually get to the point where nothing works.
Have repaired 2 cooktops and 3 microwave ovens that had control board failures.
tenniscro,
I think it's the range myself. The ranges that have a timer to start/stop them, and are electronic, would be cycled on/ off with a relay. It could be getting weak or sticking, or the contacts on it could be dirty/ corroded. I am not sure if the relay would be on the board itself/ or mounted separate, I have no idea. I'm thinking they would rather sell a board than just a relay. So they would mount it on the board :) . Just a hunch.
northeastvt
Hey! Zoom over to the chat board at Samuri Appliance. He has helped me out A LOT! Send a donation for beer money to use the board. Well worth it.
You will find that circuit board replacement in many appliances will exceed the cost of new when you add labor. Typical is 200 to 400 for the board and 200 or so for the call.
If you have no fancy circuitry, then look at the power cord. Three or four wire? If there is no clamp on the wire where it enters the range it can get pulled loose. Last time you pulled it out and cleaned there was when? Also, the heavy cable to the receptacle is seated with screws. If one loosens, no go.http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com