Will a Heating Element Failure Damage My Oven?

[thatwasherguy]

Hey everyone! I hope the day finds you well. My beloved 2006 Frigidaire electric range, which has been largely trouble-free, is in need of some help. I noticed about a month or two ago that the bake element is cracked. (All elements are original.) Since then, the crack has gotten substantially larger. Will it damage the control board if it burns out? I’m planning on ordering a replacement element tonight. If it won’t hurt anything, I’ll just use it until it burns out, and then change it. (I’m honestly kind of curious how long it will last).
Thanks,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[sudsmaster]

Um, I probably wouldn't use. Wait for the replacement would be my approach.

 

Then again, I've never seen a cracked heating element so what do I know?

 

Since the element is cracked, I'd advise turning off the circuit breakers to the oven before attempting to diagnose what's wrong if anything.

 

I imagine, however, that there's a conducting wire inside the element. When that breaks, then the element will stop heating.

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[tomturbomatic]

If the element fails, it will look like a sunrise in your oven and some of the refractory material insulating the resistance wire will be vaporized and deposited on the oven floor. Best advice is to stop using the oven until the element is replaced.

 

[henene4]

It could - in theory - damage the PCB, but it's somewhat less likely than damaging the cavity itself, which is a way worse failure.

If it shorts to earth it could draw so much current that it damages parts of the control - though most likely it would "just" damage the associated relay.
That is unlikely though, since the breaker *should* trip before that - but it has certainly happened.

But it is very well known that these elements can fault to earth without tripping a circuit breaker.
That is that nice sparking, melting, spitting that can occur since now, instead of heating the wire inside the insulation, it heats the metal casing of the heating element.

If you catch that early, the damage is usually minor.

So if the element takes a long time to arrive, I would say in a pinch - an absolute emergency - you could use the often while being in the room with it.

But better safe than sorry and wait for the replacement element.

These shouldn't be outrageous in price and are very easy to fit, really.

 

[ea56]

Don’t use it again until you replace the element! I know from experience. I had the element in my last stove fail while using it and it was startling. I’m lucky that I was nearby when it failed, it was like a flash of lightening in the oven. Fortunately a fire didn’t start from it.

Eddie

 

[qsd-dan]

I've had a couple fail and it's just a momentary flash. No damage done to the oven cavity or controls but the controls were mechanical from 1969 and not the sensitive complex mess we have today.

 

[henene4]

Arcing and drops of molten metal certainly CAN damage the cavity.

Actually failing can be a quick flash - or slow sizzling.

It can go a lot of ways.
That's why I said you probably shouldn't use it, since if it fails it can go a lot of ways.
But if you have to, as long as you are around, you could probably prevent any larger problem with quick intervention and depending on delivery times, it might just not be realistic to not use it at all.
If the part arrives overnight, sure, don't use it. If it's weeks out, maybe not using it just isn't practical.

It's amazing how people on here always go either or.

One say's it's gonna be hellfire, the other says it's nothing.

Neither side seeing that it could go either way, so neither side is inherently correct, and neither realising that a cautious "maybe" is probably the best advice to give.

 

[combo52]

Impending element failure

Do not use it unless you wanna risk damage to the floor of the oven, and it might destroy the ERC.

The circuit breaker will not likely trip if the element shorts your range is on probably a 40 or 50 amp breaker. It will not trip it.

John

 

[thatwasherguy]

New element arrived...

But, there’s a catch. The idiots at Amazon didn’t package the thing worth a crap, and the end of it is bent. Is it advisable to straighten it out, or am I setting myself up for a premature element failure? I recently installed a second oven as you may have seen in a previous thread, so I’m not really losing anything by this one being down. If the element is not fixable, I will return it and get one locally.
Thanks,
Thatwasherguy.

 

[ea56]

I think I’d send it back. Trying to straighten it out may work, but ma not, why take the chance? You paid for a new, undamaged element, not a fix it project.

Eddie

 

[combo52]

Try straightening the terminal

This happens all the time, if it’s going to fail, it’ll break as soon as you straighten it. Otherwise, there will be no harm.

It’s unfortunate that they didn’t pack it better, but it’s very wasteful to return something. That’s perfectly good.

If you want to do anything and give them negative feedback for poor packaging.

John.

 

[sarahperdue]

Please

Don't use the oven. I think everyone has said plenty about that, but I had a failed element start a fire...so glad I was there an had a fire extinguisher handy.

 

Please don't give the Amazon seller a negative without giving them an opportunity to do something to satisfy you. I'm an eBay seller, and just received my first negative feedback in twenty years. There was nothing I could do to please that buyer, but she didn't even give me a chance to do something before leaving the feedback. I have made a lot of mistakes during my time as a seller and work hard to compensate for them and make sure my buyers are happy. In your situation, I would probably offer you a partial refund, let you keep the element and possibly give you a brief warranty period. It is extremely frustrating to receive negative or even neutral feedback without being first contacted by the buyer and given a chance to address the problem.

 

Sarah

 

[ea56]

Well Said Sarah

I agree with you completely! Most online sellers want to please their buyers and depend upon positive feedback to keep others wanting to trust them and buy from them. I always look at the feedback of sellers on eBay before making a purchase. If they have less than a 98% approval rating I won’t buy from them, no matter how badly I may want what they are selling.

Accidents can happen during shipping. Why take the chance installing a damaged element when you paid for a new one? Let the seller try to repair the damaged element or get reimbursed by the shipper for the damage.

Eddie

 

[combo52]

Straighten vent contact and use the part.Straighten vent con

It’s not the fault of the seller you don’t have to leave negative feedback to the seller if you don’t want to.

I have straighten at least 100 of these terminals. Every other one gets bent in shipping. It’s a common problem. It’s just part of the installation.

It’s like if you were an auto body guy when you buy a new fender there’s always a little dent in it it’s just something you straighten out when you’re doing your job

I would not return the part unless it breaks when you try to straighten it it’s very wasteful. This drives up prices for everybody. It’s also very bad environmentally to return perfectly good parts that will just end up in the trash. There is no possible danger from using this part if you know how to install it.

John

 

[ea56]

“I would not return the part unless it breaks when you try to straighten it it’s very wasteful.”

Then if you do break it, you bought it.

Some sellers would say, “Well if it was damaged you should have returned it. How do I know that YOU didn’t damage/break it during the installation due to your ineptitude?” And they would be within their rights and YOU would be out the dollars YOU spent on the merchandise that arrived in a damaged condition.

I’m all for not wasting things. But the amateur DYI homeowner doesn’t have 50 years of appliance repair experience and may inadvertently damage the part beyond repair in the attempt straighten it out to not be wasteful.

Eddie

 

[circlew]

What Eddie said!

If you break it trying to straighten it out, the seller will say it's your fault. Any warranty will be voided.

If you're in the part of KY near Cincinnati, I suggest you get it from V & V (Cincinnati) Appliance Parts in Blue Ash. They have a good stock in their warehouse, and may have the part for your range. You could inspect it before leaving their facility.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, there may be a 3rd solution. Give the vendor a call, telling them that the terminal end of the element is bent. Ask them what they recommend. That way they know you're in good faith. Perhaps they'll ask you to return it. Or perhaps they are used to such mishaps as Combojohn suggests, and they'll ask you to give it a try anyway. IDK. But if you call them you're at least giving them a say in the matter.

 

[gizmo]

What SudsMaster said.

 

I recently bought a cheap Chinese replacement for a Ryobi cordless tool battery charger, on Ebay Australia. It was a fraction of the price of a genuine one.

 

When it arrived, it wouldn't charge my batteries, it showed a red fault light. If I lifted the battery slightly, it would charge. It seemed one of the contacts was dodgy. I contacted the seller, told them the issue. I said I was not a professional technician but had years of experience with electronics. I asked if they were happy for me to open the charger and see if there was a poor solder joint or similar that would cause the problem. They were very nice, said they were happy for me to take a look and if there was an issue that I could fix, they would compensate me, otherwise they were happy to return/replace.

 

When I had a closer look, I noticed one of the springy steel contacts was sitting different to the other two - it was sticking out more at the top. I just pressed it back in with my finger and it snapped neatly into place. It was a simple assembly error, the spring steel contact was crooked when the two halves of the casing were put together, so the top end was outside instead of inside the casing.

 

I contacted the vendor, told them what I had done, that it was now working perfectly, I was happy with it, and that I don't need any compensation, I was happy with the price paid. They sent a reply saying thanks and that I was "a very good buyer."

 

Everybody happy.

 

I have straightened many of those element terminals, new ones and old ones. They just bend straight, no drama. The only ones that have ever broken off for me were old ones that had rusted. But to be on the safe side, you might contact the vendor. Then you have covered your a$$ in the unlikely event it snaps off.