Whirlpool Bake Element - on and off again

[michaelk]

The bake element in our Whirlpool Oven stopped working recently - had worked flawlessly since we bought the house a year ago. The oven/cooktop itself is perhaps 5-6 years old. It's a Whirlpool YGY396LXGQ5.

We ordered a new bake element, installed it, but the issue remained. We were going to return the new element, so we re-installed the old one, and all of a sudden, it worked! I screwed it back into the oven, tried again, and now it no longer works. Where could the hiccup be, here? There must be a loose wire somewhere (?) but I'm no electrician and don't know where to start.

(Possibly relevant: when I opened up the back of the oven, there is some light burning on the insulation around one wire terminal. I don't know if it's for the bake element, how long it has been there, or any other information. The wire itself and its casing looks like it is fully intact. See the attached photo.)

Thanks for the help!

[jeff1]

Hi,


there is some light burning on the insulation around one wire terminal. I don't know if it's for the bake element, how long it has been there, or any other information.

That looks like the light socket, browning of the insulation where things go through the liner is normal, that is grease laden air and this leaves a brown stain.


We ordered a new bake element, installed it, but the issue remained. We were going to return the new element, so we re-installed the old one, and all of a sudden, it worked! I screwed it back into the oven, tried again, and now it no longer works. Where could the hiccup be, here?

Elements either work or don't work....possible a bad/loose wire between the control and element....more possible the control is intermittantly sending power to the element....hard part is testing it when the problem is occuring....power tested into the control but not out = bad control.

718 LINK> Electronic oven control board (http://www.repairclinic.com/referral.asp?R=153&N=748284)


The oven/cooktop itself is perhaps 5-6 years old

Parts breakdown shows a date of 2001....a 13 years old range.

jeff.

[michaelk]

Jeff,
Thanks for the reply! I suspect it in a bad/loose wire between the control and the element somewhere, as it only ever worked the once and as soon as I physically moved it, it stopped working again. Aside from holding my hand on the element and turning the oven on - which is what I've been doing - how would I test where the loose/bad wire is? Thanks for the link on the control board - for me it's a last-option because of the price and, apparently, the age of the unit (!).
Thanks,
Michael

[jeff1]

Aside from holding my hand on the element and turning the oven on - which is what I've been doing - how would I test where the loose/bad wire is?

Place volt meter across the 2 element wire ends ( should read 240 volts AC ), then physically move/jiggle/wiggle the wires to see if the power disappears.

jeff.