How to Troubleshoot Oven Heating Issues in a Kenmore Stove

ID: 221352

Description: [youtubevideo|yT4b9lbTKqs]Use this guide to...

Steps:

  1. Set the oven to Bake, choose a temperature, and press Start.
  2. Look for the display indicator showing that the bake element, assist element, and fan are being called on.
  3. Wait 15 to 20 minutes and check whether the oven reaches about 350 °F.
  4. Continue troubleshooting if the controls appear to work but the oven never heats.
  5. Find the double-pole breaker that controls the stove.
  6. Turn the breaker fully off, then turn it back on.
  7. Reset the breaker even if it does not look tripped.
  8. Test the oven again and check whether it heats.
  9. Stop and get help from a qualified electrician if the breaker feels loose, will not reset, trips again, or shows signs of heat damage.
  10. Remember that an electric oven needs 240 V to heat correctly.
  11. The control board may still turn on with only 120 V.
  12. Do not assume the stove has proper power just because the display and controls work.
  13. A half-tripped or weak double-pole breaker can leave the controls working while the bake element never heats.
  14. Pull the stove out enough to reach the terminal block where the power cord connects to the back of the stove.
  15. Leave the stove plugged in for this voltage test.
  16. Set a multimeter to AC volts.
  17. Live 240 V power can seriously injure or kill you, so do not touch any bare terminals or wire ends during this test.
  18. Use one hand when possible, hold the insulated parts of the probes, and keep the probe tips from touching each other.
  19. Touch one multimeter probe to each outside terminal on the terminal block.
  20. A correct reading across the two outside terminals is about 240 V AC.
  21. Move one probe to the center terminal and touch the other probe to one outside terminal.
  22. A correct reading from the center terminal to either outside terminal is about 120 V AC.
  23. Repeat the 120 V test from the center terminal to the other outside terminal.
  24. Look for about 240 V across the two outside terminals and about 120 V from the center terminal to each outside terminal.
  25. Treat any missing or incorrect reading as a power-supply problem before testing stove parts.
  26. Incorrect voltage at the terminal block can indicate a bad cord, a bad breaker, or a problem between the outlet and the breaker.
  27. Continue to the bake-element test only if the terminal block has the proper voltage readings.
  28. Unplug the stove before testing the bake element for resistance.
  29. Never measure resistance on a live circuit, because voltage can damage the multimeter and injure you.
  30. Remove the orange wire from one bake-element terminal.
  31. Remove the yellow wire from the other bake-element terminal.
  32. Grip the wire connectors, not the wires, so you do not pull the wires out of their terminals.
  33. Set the multimeter to ohms.
  34. Touch one probe to each bake-element terminal.
  35. A reading around 16 ohms indicates a good bake element on this stove.
  36. An open, infinite, or out-of-range reading means the bake element has failed and must be replaced.
  37. Reconnect the orange and yellow wires to the bake-element terminals after testing.
  38. If the terminal-block voltage is correct and the bake element tests good, suspect the control board.
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