Electric Oven is Not Baking
Repairing a cooking home appliance often sounds like a big job, however some of the common problems can often be diagnosed rather easily and they do not require particular technical skills. Sometimes, even the high-end oven or stove models end up with a disturbing malfunction – they do not seem to bake properly. Discovering this can be rather a shock – most of our customers have only a single oven at home. You may have to pretty much waste your time and money preparing a delicious meal, only to discover, at the very last moment, that you are unable to bake it. Sometimes your oven may seem to bake the food and complete the task successfully. However, the oven with malfunctioning bake element wouldn’t generate enough heat and as a result your meal would end up being only half-cooked.
Checking the Bake Element
Most modern ovens have both bake and broil elements, and both of them are used in the baking cycle – with the bake element producing the most heat. If the bake element is not working properly the food might not reach the necessary temperature, or it might take too long to reach the temperature, which will result in the item being burnt at the top.
- Examine the element visually. Have a look at this image if you have troubles locating the bake element. Does it appear to be distorted, heavily burnt or damaged? Check if the element heats up at all during the baking.
- Turn off the power and remove the back panel of your appliance. Find the wires which are connected to your bake element and examine them visually – make sure they are not loose or corroded.
- Test wires with the multimeter for continuity.
- In case you fail to find a problem with the wiring and the bake element you may also want to check the bake element fuse. Locate it in your stove or oven with you the user manual and check if the string inside the fuse is not loose or detached and if the fuse itself is not burnt.
Checking the Oven Control Thermostat
The oven thermostat is usually a part of the control panel. It controls the bake and broil elements temperature. A damaged thermostat may mean that your appliance produces too little, too much, or no heat at all. Sometimes it is possible to calibrate the thermostat, however, if the part is sealed it is not meant to be calibrated. You can normally find the screws for calibration at the back of the control board. Check the thermostat for continuity with the multimeter.
Checking the Temperature Sensor
Some modern ranges the oven temperature sensor is responsible for monitoring the oven temperature and inform the electronic control board when the heating element should be turned off or on. Sometimes the problem with your heating elements may be a result of a malfunctioning temperature sensor. You can find the temperature sensor inside the oven, normally located near the broil element. Most of stoves will display an error message if the sensor is malfunctioning, but sometimes it may not be the case. To test the sensor you need to check its resistance with the multimeter, however you need to know what is the correct resistance in the room temperature. Make sure to disable power before you perform the test!
Checking the Control Board
Ovens use the control board, which is responsible for various oven functions. If you have failed to find the problem in the previous steps – check the control board itself. Of course, it should lack visual damage. Verify that there is power on the output relay of the control board. Further testing would require voltage checks, and we would recommend you to set up an appointment with a professional technician instead of performing those on your own.