On Nov 11, 5:10*pm, "Ivan Vegvary" wrote:

Question: *What would make a heating element (solid disc, about 5 in.
diameter) act intermittent. *It is very similar to the heating coils on an
electric stove. *I would think if it comes up to temperature once, it should
be alright.

No, it's unusual but it can happen. You need to hang a clamp AC
ammeter on one line and watch the amps. Another test (tricky) is to
short the thermostat and see if you can run two batches -- but watch
out for overheating!