Kitchen Gas Appliances - Gas Oven not heating very fast

I have a Caloric wall oven. I'm assuming it's from 1968 (that's when the house was built and it looks to be the original). It seems to sometimes take over 30 minutes to warm up to 350 degrees. Sometimes it works just fine and heats right up, but most of the time it takes a while. Also, when the oven is on, the whole kitchen heats up...you can feel the hot air just by holding your hand near the oven. I noticed there's a vent at the top of the oven, probably to vent out all the extra heat, but you can feel the heat all around the oven itself. When we purchased our home less than a year ago, the seller paid for a home warranty. I'm thinking about calling them, but don't want to waste the $50-$60 service charge if it's something I can probably fix myself. Also, sometimes when I light the oven, you can hear it "hissing", but it doesn't always light up right away. Do you think it would be worth me calling the warranty company to come out??

Thanks for your help

Hello lspringman and Welcome to the Do It Yourself Web Site and my Gas Appliances topic.

Before caling anyone, try these.

Be sure all selections on front control panel are set to manual. Clock, if any, is set to manual. All selections must be in manual, not pre-heat or keep-warm settings or selections, etc. Note if problem is corrected or remains.

Problem remains:
Blow out the pilot flame and allow the pilot assembly to cool down for a few minutes. Buy a can of computer keyboard cleaner. With the supplied extension plastic tube installed into the can, blow out the pilot assembly completely. Into every opening there is.

One or two tiny ones will be located on the assembly and or on the alluminum tubing nut(s). Doing this will ensure the pilot assembly is clean and dust free. Pilot flame may or may not be clean. No yellow flame or flame tips must be present on either the tiny pilot or the larger pilot flame.

Some of these older models use a larger flame to heat a safety element. Some do no. Some use only one pilot flame to heat a safety element directly above pilot. Safety element may be small horizontal rod looking device while some may be a bulb type element. Types vary.

Does not matter which type at this point in time. Cleaning pilot assembly is to ensure pilot(s) flame(s) are hot and all blue in color. Do this regradless of flame color or type of pilot assembly oven has on it.

Once cleaning is done, relight pilot, turn on thermsotat and note the results. Cleaning pilot assembly may or may not correct the problem. If cleaning solved the problem, the oven will than work as it show.

If cleaning did not resolve the problem, two choices. Clean again or another problem exists. At this time, note the size of the burner flames. If very tiny, advise after cleaning pilot assembly, as noted above.

Tiny sized burner flames indicate a different problem. One which requires more observations and testing. Will need more detailed info from you at that time.

Venting the oven heat into the kitchen is perfectly normal and acceptable. Oven cabinet heat also normal for ovens built in that era of time. Still done that way today on some models. Nothing unusual or unsafe. Would not be worth the cost to vent that aged oven to the outside. Too costly, in my opinion.

No need to call service person or warranty company as of yet. Do above and post back results.

Range-Stove-Oven-Broiler Basic Help Information & Manufacturers Web Site Links: http://forum.doityourself.com/showthread.php?t=159808

Retail appliance parts dealers can also help determine what the possible problem may be. Bring the make, model and serial numbers. Appliance part stores and dealers are listed in the phone book.

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Thanks for the quick and insightful response. I will definitely try cleaning it out. From what I can remember (I'm not at home right now), there is just one pilot light, and it is blue. I don't recall seeing any yellow, even at the tip. The flame "tube" (sorry, not quite sure of the correct name) does seem like it needs to be cleaned. It almost looks like it has more corrosion on it than it does baked on food particles. When the full flame is lit, it is all blue and again, don't recall seeing any yellow. Could it also take long to heat up because it is nearly 40 years old???

I will try cleaning it and will post my results.

Thanks again!! :D

Hello: lspringman

Yes. Age does have a factor to consider. Parts do wear out. Oven safety devices need to be replaced when they become slow to act, allow burner to light or fail and burner does not light.

The type of safety element can vary widely. If the pilot assembly is a vertical assembly with a thin tube rod like element above it, that element is the safety device.

Two types where used. Both use fluid. One type the fluid pushed on a pin. That type is screwed into the gas control valve which the back end of the burner tube sets on.

The other type, the tube from the element is attached to a round safety device which has two small screws which secure it to the back wall of the broiler compartment.

That type uses electrcial current. Use caution with it. Be sure power is turned off or appliance is unplugged before attempting any repairs. If oven has this type of safety, fluid safety device needs to be replaced.

Personal Reminder:
Buckle Up & Drive Safely.
"The Life You Save, May Be Your Own."