Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Oven Not Heating Sufficiently - Whirlpool "Self-Cleaning Electric Range" Mdl:RF366PXD

make: Whirlpool / model: RF366PXDW0 [Self-Cleaning Electric Range]

issue:
Oven Not Working - not heating sufficiently.

My oven seems to be heating only minimally. eg. when it set to 400, it take an incredibly long time to get nearly that hot. The cooktop works fine so this only involves the oven. I'm trying a self clean right now (never done in about 3 years) but am skeptical that it will do anything or even clean itself - its been going for about 20 minutes and doesn't appear to be hot enough to even make toast...

anyone have any ideas what could be causing this?

thanks in advance...

pat

I tried the self cleaning set for 3 hours and after 1 hour the oven was stone-cold.

A little while later i tried just heating up to about 200°F and it got to maybe 150° and the "oven heating" light was still on which i guess means it was still trying to reach 200° even after 10 minutes...

Its like if i try for a really high heat it doesn't even bother or has a very hard time. when i try for low temps it'll try but even then cant quite make it...

any ideas?

Pat

Is the bake element working? You should see it glowing red after a few minutes. If not, visually check the element for a hot spot on it where it might have shorted out. Could be just the broil element coming on & making oven warm. Dave

there are 2 elements (one on top and one at bottom) the bottom one does not glow when turned on. i will check the top one. thanks for the help.

Pat

The bottom one is the bake element. Thats the one that should glow red when baking. The top "broil" element will not get red when baking but comes on at half power to help brown food.

its the bottom coil that is not working. i raise and lower my hand and there appears to be no heat coming off the bottom coil and can only get my hand about 3 inches from the top one before it gets too hot to bring it closer.

Look over the bottom element carefully. Can you see a place on it that looks melted? Could be a bad element or something in the control panel not sending 220 volts to it. Dave

i ran my fingers along the whole bake element. other than a little soot/grit from food falling on it near the back, no visible or tangible 'melt' anywhere along the exposed part of the coil.

are there fuses within the oven itself that regulate electric to each element?

No fuses in oven that I'm aware off. It still could be a bad element. Do you have a voltmeter? Take back off stove & check to see if 220 volts at element terminals with oven on. If not comfortable around live wires it might be time to call a service tech.

hmm yes - getting a bit nervous at this point. what's a decent replacement element service call cost (in your opinion)?

Element should'nt be more than $40.00. Not sure what service calls go for in your area. Ask for their rates when you call. Dave

I have a multimeter - not sure how it works but where on the back of the oven would i test and how do i set the multimeter in order to check the proper terminals?

Pat

If you don't know how to use the voltmeter I don't recommend experimenting with it on 220 volts. You will have the back off the stove & the oven controls on when you test across the 2 terminals of the bake element. Better safe than sorry & call the service tech. Dave

yeah - kind of what i was thinking too. oh well the pain of getting ripped off by a service call is probably less than a 220 shock...

Yes. And you'll be alive to tell me what he found wrong. Dave

will do - thanks for the help.

well i think got off fairly easily:

$65 for the diagnostic visit
$35 for the new element off the web (the tech wanted $54 to order the same one for me)

$100 TOTAL COST TO ME

he showed me exactly how to remove the old bake element very simple - 2 screws holding in in place, 2 wires connected behind the panel. if i had had him do the whole thing, it would have been about $200 ($65 applied toward it). instead, it only cost me $100 and now i know how to do that repair myself. I figure the $65 was well worth a pro telling me EXACTLY what the problem was and EXACTLY HOW TO FIX IT...

thanks for all the help - i feel like i was armed enough to make a good decision and save a few dollars doing it too... ONCE AGAIN A DIY SATISFIED USER!!!

Pat