My Sweet Bride had just turned on the oven prepping to cook some bacon. I heard some electric arc sound & a holler from her to 'come here quick'.

The oven electric element had somehow shorted itself out and was melting a 3" length between it & the bottom of the oven. Looked a bit like the end of an electrical welding experiment.

Got it turned off & cooled down. No other damage apparent. She kept it meticulously clean & had just run the oven cleaning cycle a few days prior.

Stove is 30" GE range 15+ years old, 4 old style top burners & oven. She doesn't want "a new flat top model" etc.

The old appliance repair guy retired a few years ago.

Repair/replace decision time. Helpful tips/clever hooting/catcalls solicited.

The element is external metal tube, the core is a wire with insulation between the wire and the tube.

The tube is "grounded" and the resistance wire core is separated by the insulation. Over time, the insulation breaks down and you get the arcing you described.

Elements can be replaced, fairly easy job.

Thank you gents, I've just watched a video. Got
to make sure the part # is correct.

Pretty amazing event. Used electric ovens over the better part of half a century. Never had this happen before.

Parts seem easily available on line too.

Thanks again.

A feller fixes a thing the Missus is very fond of, and you will be her hero for a good while...

As we learned in another thread, it's not safe to repair and must be replaced.

But I like to live on the edge, so I'd replace the element.

Yep, it happens. Spectacular display and gets one's blood flowing. No big deal replacing the element, eBay or source locally, diy for a few bucks.

Have you considered the age of all the elements? Is it time to proactively replace them as well?

I'd turn the breaker off.

quote:

just run the oven cleaning cycle a few days prior

A lot of appliance guys will tell you not to do this. The electronics of the ovens are subject to fail after running the cleaning cycle. Generates more heat than the electronics wiring, and insulation can withstand. Especially if the cleaning cycle is used on a regular basis.

I ran the self clean function on a stove we had one time . Scared the hell out of me . Yeah , I know millions of people do it all the time . Not this one .

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:

quote:

just run the oven cleaning cycle a few days prior

A lot of appliance guys will tell you not to do this. The electronics of the ovens are subject to fail after running the cleaning cycle. Generates more heat than the electronics wiring and insulation can withstand. Especially if the cleaning cycle is used on a regular basis.

^^^^ This! It simply burns out the oven electronics. Ovens can get up to 800F during cleaning cycles.

quote:

Originally posted by Mustang-PaPa:
Replace the element and carry on. Should be easy enough to find online.

That's my first thought.

an issue not covered in the video I watched:

This is the bottom element, not the upper broiler element. Its location should be easier to access, yet the oven door is in the way. Plus I have a couple physical issues the position of getting far enough into the oven chamber to avoid losing the connect wires during change from old to new element, is fraught with warning signs.

Plan A is to locate trained professional. Live ruralish & sometimes such are not readily available without considerable bump in service fee.

Plan B is to replace stove. It's old enough the top burner units have all be replaced a number of times. And there has been regular use of the self-clean cycle over 12-15 years of regular use.

Post or email me the make/model and let me look at it. I have spent my life doing stuff the wrong way and the hard way, so you don't have to...

Many ovens have doors that can easily be removed when the door is open by simply pulling the door off the hinges. On some you have to lift the door hinges and all and pull it out with the hinges attached. Others do not have this feature. In our previous house we had Jen Aire "Built In" That I could not remove.

Regarding replacing the element, I've had 3 different incidents with lower over elements over the last 40 or so years.

First time, in an apartment in 1980 the lower element "exploded" when my girlfriend opened the door and a 2 inch piece of it missed her head by inches and embedded in the wall behind her. Management replaced the range.

Second time in our house (different woman, now my wife) in 2001 the lower element simply broke near a brace. I shut the over off and replaced the element, no problem. The oven was 5 years old.

Most recently, in our current home the element seemed to be shorting out somehow and was glowing white hot in a 2-3 inch section at a brace. I shut the over off and waited a minute or so and opened the door again and the element was still glowing and "buzzing". I turned off the breaker and replaced the range. I wasn't messing with that. The range was 15 plus years old so it had reached end of life at that point but even if it was a newer range I wouldn't have messed with it.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I have spent my life doing stuff the wrong way and the hard way, so you don't have to...

That's very kind. TXT/phots headed your way IF I can get my silicon servants to cooperated this morning.

My stove is now 31 yrs old. I had to replace the top coils a few times.

The lower coil did spark like the OP described once. Replaced it also, about 15 yrs ago.

It too is a self-cleaning oven. The salesman told us NOT to use the self cleaning feature. I don't recall why he said that. IIRC, we may have used it once.

Now that I think about it, the oven's top coil is the only original coil. Time for a new stove?

quote:

removed when the door is open by simply pulling the door off the hinges. On some you have to lift the door hinges and all and pull it out with the hinges attached.

Hinge A doesn't seem to work, at least in the "simply pulling" approach.

Hinge B to be explored next.
Thanks for the suggestions.

replied.

SOLVED!!!

Issue solved via comparison with home equipment lesson from last spring...the marvelous John Deere lawn tractor adventure....

Sweet Bride decided to buy a new range, saving the money of repairing the venerable Oldie and then having to buy a new one anyway!

Thanks for all the tips.