The electric oven is a staple for most American households. It’s because of the oven that we can enjoy those scrumptious desserts and invite the entire family over for some Thanksgiving turkey. Despite its usefulness, it’s also one of the most overlooked appliances in the kitchen.
Most of us have been there; you plop in your pastry dough, turn on the switch, but your oven is not working. The next question that pops into your mind is, why is my oven not working? A logical question, given the situation, and we’re here to help you find all the answers.
In today’s post, we’ll be highlighting a couple of reasons why you have a broken oven.
Table of Contents
1. A Heating Element Is Defective
Your oven has two heating elements, and when one of them fails, your oven won’t heat as it should. The first heating element is found at the top and is responsible for baking. The second one is found at the bottom, and its job is to broil.
If either of these two heating elements fails, your oven won’t produce enough heat to bake or warm your food. It’s easy to tell when a heating element fails because a functional heating element glows bright red.
All you have to do is turn on the oven and take a peek through the screen and check whether both heating elements glow bright red.
2. The Ignitor Is Out
This only applies to gas ovens that require igniters to work. To find the gas ignitor, you’ll need to look at the back of the oven compartment. However, before doing so, it’s very important that you completely shut off the gas.
Next, use your multimeter to check whether there’s power continuity. You should detect anything between 0 to 1100 Ohms. If not, your ignitor has gone out, and you’ll need a new one.
3. Defective Relays
If your oven doesn’t heat and the problem isn’t the heating elements, the issue must be defective relays. Electric ovens have two relays that may burn out with continued use. In case of a defective relay, you best look for an oven repair near me to help you sort out the issues.
4. Your Oven Needs Recalibration
If your oven ends up burning or undercooking food even with the right temperature, you probably need to recalibrate it. To do so, you’ll need to look behind the temperature knob way down at the bottom of the small shaft. Use a flashlight to look into it, and you should see a small screw that you can adjust.
Turning the screw clockwise will recalibrate the temperature upwards while turning it anticlockwise will recalibrate it downwards. Turn the screw and check whether the temperature is correct.
When Your Oven Is Not Working Call the Pros
These are just a couple of the plethora of reasons why your oven is not working. Next time you have oven problems, don’t hesitate to call the pros. At least, they can get to the bottom of the oven issues and have your oven running like new in no time.
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