I have a whirlpool oven about that's about five years old. It has a digital readout and push buttons for oven controls. A few days ago we heard a weird noise for a second a or two while the oven was heating, then it wouldn't heat up. Googling told me the heating element was a common problem, so i ordered one off amazon. Yesterday I put the new one in, and the old one was definitely bad, it had a hole melted in it. Installing the replacement was straightforward and everything seemed correct. Last night (the first time using the oven) we cooked a frozen pizza. Followed the instructions for time and temp. The cheese melted but the crust was nowhere near done. Before the breakdown we would have to pull them out a few minutes early to keep them from burning. So it doesn't seem to heating properly still.
I thought maybe the amazon heating element was just semi faulty, but here's the thing, the digital display shows the temp climbing at the normal rate and staying at the desired temp. Does that come from an actual sensor showing the real oven temp? Or is it some programmed thing that just goes off of how long the element has been heating? Because that appears to be working normally.
What am I missing here? If I check for 230v going into the element does that eliminate the rest of the oven as being a problem? I dont want to buy a new oven.
Thanks
I'd start by measuring what it is doing vs what it thinks it's doing. I can't imagine that they'd replace a thermometer with an algorithm to find the temperature, unless it would save them $.05, in which case they'd totally do it!
Seriously, measure the oven temp if you have an oven thermometer, otherwise "bake" a bowl of water for a half hour or so and see if it's at the temperature it should be with a traditional cooking thermometer.
I'm wondering if there's various versions of your heating element, and you got a lowered power one or something?
Addendum: a quick search showed 1600W, 2000W, and 2400W heating elements, and they looked the same to me at a quick glance..
I'll bet it's an algorithm for warm up time, so you're probably not fully up to temp with your element.
Pre-heat may use both upper and lower elements. Sounds like the lower element did not light off, thus the uncooked crust. Make sure the lower element is seated and actually warming up. You may need to pull both elements and check for voltage across the terminals during a pre-heat cycle, but there may be interlocks for the door open...
In reply to WonkoTheSane :
Thanks. We made some bacon just now, we put a thermometer in there with it. The temp was right where it was supposed to be, and the bacon cooked in normal time. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. Maybe the pizza last night was a fluke? I dont know.
I'd be suspicious of the new element. My oven in "Bake" only heats the lower element. "Broil" activates the upper element. Set a temp on "bake" and see if the new element gets red. When it reaches the setpoint, verify with an oven thermometer. Make sure the wattage of the new element is the same as the old element.
Good luck!
Stampie
MegaDork
5/16/21 12:59 p.m.
Sorry but the logical side of me couldn't let the bowl of water thing pass. The water will be 212 degrees Fahrenheit no matter what as long as the oven is set above that temp.
I was thinking the same as WonkotheSane. Possibly the replacement element was a different wattage than what came with the original unit.
Stampie said:
Sorry but the logical side of me couldn't let the bowl of water thing pass. The water will be 212 degrees Fahrenheit no matter what as long as the oven is set above that temp.
Sorry, I should have specified that the test is invalid above 200°. I thought all ovens could go down to 150ish and up, though. I'll be more specific next time.
