On 2/13/2013 1:09 PM, KenK wrote:
Several weeks ago I turned on my oven to preheat it. Some 15 minutes later
I returned and it was cold. I finally checked the 40 A double-breaker and
it was tripped. I reset it and the oven worked ok. I've used the oven since
several times with no problem Can I stop worrying about it? I've never had
a breaker trip like that for no reason before.

TIA


With heating elements you can have an intermittent short circuit,
typically at one of the terminal ends. When they heat up they flex
slightly, and if the terminal is very close to metal, it can short,
sometimes burning away the metal that it came in contact with. It is
also possible to have a bad connection at the breaker, or at the oven
end. If this is the case, it will continue to deteriorate and ultimately
leave you with an open circuit. It is also possibly a breaker going bad,
again, if so, it will continue to deteriorate until it stops working.