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DIY for Homeowners

How to Replace an Oven Bake Element

7/1/2020

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text by Vicki     Sign up here to join our weekly email newsletter! ​
Like many have done during this season of COVID-19, we have been cooking all our meals at Steph's house. Her oven, which is 16+ years old, has been getting a workout. While baking bacon for our favorite BLT sandwich, we realized the oven was on but not getting hot enough to cook. It was then we realized the oven bake element had failed and lunch was going to be late!
How to replace an oven bake element.
Although, I never had replaced an oven bake element, I knew it was possible. We did a lot of online research to see how it was done. The hard part was finding the correct part. This oven is so old that the owner's manual does not appear online and a replacement part number does not seem to exist. We had to make an educated guess on the part we needed based on the size and shape of the old element.
Turn off the power at the electrical box.
Once we had the correct part, it was time to remove the old one and install the new one. Always turn off the power at the box before attempting to work on anything electrical!
Remove the oven door if you can before removing the old baking element.
Time to get started. First off, it would have been extremely helpful to have been able to remove the door. We didn't realize this was possible until long after we had replaced the part. Basically, for this oven, the door is opened to the broil position and simply lifted up and off the hinges. I don't know if that works for all oven doors but it was super simple!
Remove the two screws holding the baking element to the oven.
We used a socket wrench to remove the two screws holding the element to the oven wall. Save those screws because you'll need them. We took the opportunity to clean them with WD-40 while they were out.
Gently pull the element away to expose the wires. Disconnect the wires.
Gently pull the element away to expose the wires. Disconnect the wires.
This is how it will look when the wires are disconnected.
This is how it will look when the wires are disconnected. Tip: This would have been a good time to do a good clean of the inside of the oven. I wish we had since it is easier to clean it with the element out.
Attach the new element to the existing wiring.
Connect the new element to the existing old wiring. Gently push the wires in and replace the two screws.
Power on the oven and check to see that the new oven baking element is working.
Turn the power back on, turn on the oven and test your work! Look at that beautiful red glow! It totally worked!
Check under the cook top for information about the oven.
Did you know the top of a drop in range opens? Steph accidentally discovered this little trick. It lifts so that it can be cleaned easily beneath the burners. We also found a folded piece of paper with information about the appliance stuck in the very back in the back left hand corner. That's were we learned the trick about the door being removable. There was also a label in there with the model number of the appliance.
SuperClean foam spray doesn't run so it's great to use on vertical surfaces.
Super Clean sent us a selection of their cleaners to try. We thought the oven door would be the perfect opportunity to give the foam spray a try.
It was really impressive how well Super Clean foam worked to dissolve the dirt, grease, and gunk on the oven door.
It was really impressive how well Super Clean foam worked to dissolve the dirt, grease, and gunk on this door. It took almost no effort to get it clean.
How to remove an oven door.
So the door comes off--who knew!!!! Basically, for this oven, the door is opened to the broil position and simply lifted up and off the hinges. I don't know if that works for all oven doors but it was super simple!
Use an oven thermometer to check to see if the oven is heating to the correct temperature.
One last tip. You can buy an inexpensive oven theormether to see if your oven is working properly. If it's not heating like it should, check your owner's manual to make adjustments. If it’s a big difference you probably need to change out the baking element or check to see if the oven temperature sensor is working.
With this simple and inexpensive fix, Steph does not have to replace her drop-in range anytime soon. All the burners work, so it should be fine for a long time. It's very gratifying to be able to fix something rather than replace!

Please note: This is not a sponsored post.

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don't claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

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