On Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at 9:47:47 PM UTC-7, Donna Ohl wrote:
The top element of my 6-year-old General Electric GE JBP24B0B4WH oven went
on electrical fire and the top bake element broke open when the fire
department put it out.

Pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl

I need advice since this is the first time my oven went on fire all by
itself.

The fire department said replace the oven.

Coworkers told me I can just replace the burned out top bake oven element..
Whose advice should I follow?

Can I just replace the bake element (or is the oven really kaput)?
Can anyone tell me what actually caused the fire (it wasn't food)?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnaohl/2923845906/

Wow! You get all kinds of advice on the internet! Oven fires are frightening no doubt. When the heating element goes, it's a magnesium fire that burns at about 5,500F. It looks like the old 4th of July sparklers because the same thing is burning. The fire starts because an area of the element gets bumped, cracked or is improperly manufactured and that causes more resistance at that point which causes more heat at that point. When you get over 5,500F it starts a chain reaction that works all the way down the heating element until it cracks apart (usually a couple of feet of element get burnt before this happens).

Here's a video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieslf3aB-KQ

Here's how to fix it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgkPWkVUcF8

Probably no need to get a new oven but if you don't do the repair yourself, the service repair man will charge you an arm and a leg to run the oven through its paces and verify that all the electrical connections are putting out the proper voltage. So, decide if the $ is worth your peace of mind. Otherwise a new heating element is probably less than $20.

http://www.amazon.com/General-Electr...oiler+elements

My recommendation is this: MAKE SURE THE OVEN IS 100% off and the circuit breaker to it is off as well. Take out the old element. Inspect the oven for any damaged porcelain (chipped paint) on the interior. If there is none you should be good to put the new element in and use your oven. Of course use your judgement and if you don't feel you can do the job, hire a professional.