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Nate425
Premium Member
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA

Nate425

Premium Member

Busted oven

Hey all,

I have a gas oven that isn't working too well. It will turn on and light up just fine, but at random times, it will stop heating up and never get beyond a mild warm. Sometimes turning it off and back on will fix it, but today my wife was trying to bake cookies, and for one batch it worked fine, the second batch has been in there for 2 hours and is no where near done. I'm not really sure what all could cause it...thermostat? Something needs cleaning? What other details do you need? Thanks

Sureshot
Cellar Dweller
Premium Member
join:2000-08-15
Woodruff, WI

Sureshot

Premium Member

Just small guesses here. How is the seal for the oven door? Do the top burners seem to work as well as they used too?

Nate425
Premium Member
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA

Nate425

Premium Member

Hi,

Yeah, the seal is good...you can't feel any abnormal heat escaping when the oven is working right. The top burners still work great...don't have any trouble with those.

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

jack b to Nate425

MVM

to Nate425
Hot surface igniter is probably wearing out.
What happens is the amperage draw through the igniter is what tells the gas control to open, and when the current draw is low the gas will not open.

Sureshot
Cellar Dweller
Premium Member
join:2000-08-15
Woodruff, WI

1 recommendation

Sureshot to Nate425

Premium Member

to Nate425
That is as far as I can help. I can only guess that maybe the gas line is partially clogged somewhere at the split to the oven. If it was an element for the oven, I would assume that the oven would not heat up at all. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable in gas ovens will drop by.
Sureshot

Sureshot

Premium Member

Well there you go

Nate425
Premium Member
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA

Nate425 to jack b

Premium Member

to jack b
Is there an easy way to test this, or should I just call in someone? Thanks for your help!

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

2 edits

jack b

MVM

Put an ammeter in series with the igniter and check the amp draw. I forget the values, but I think below 2 amps and the valve won't open.
The threshold current required to open may be on the gas control-valve label.
Careful, it's 120 volts.

If you can get in there to test, then you should be able to replace the part!

Nate425
Premium Member
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA

Nate425

Premium Member

That seems to be it...thank you very much!!
Nate425

Nate425 to jack b

Premium Member

to jack b
Ok, so I got the part out, but I'm not really sure where to order it from and what price to expect. The sites that I googled for it were either ebay or somewhere that I'm not sure if it's reputable. The igniter is a Norton Model 501A. Any good places that you know of to order from or is this common enough, I can just go to lowes? Thanks again!

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

2 edits

1 recommendation

jack b

MVM

eBay certainly has the best prices, just from what I saw poking around a little. You should be okay buying from there.
No, I really don't think Lowes carries these.

»cgi.ebay.com/GE-Gas-Rang ··· ViewItem

As long as the mounting is the same it's a snap to install.
If yours has a plastic plug connector and the new one doesn't, or it's different, just wire nut the old plug on.