oven's thermostat bulb broke, replace all?
 

Hi,

My stove oven's thermostat bulb broke off, I went to
a parts store and they said I cant buy just the bulb
but, I have to buy the whole part, the thermostat with
bulb. Is this true?

Thanks, for all your help.

"js5895" wrote in message
oups.com...

Hi,

My stove oven's thermostat bulb broke off, I went to
a parts store and they said I cant buy just the bulb
but, I have to buy the whole part, the thermostat with
bulb. Is this true?

Of course, unless you have a $20,000 machine to reload the working liquid.
If you broke a thermometer in half would you expect to buy a replacement
half?

N

I don't understand, are we on the same page. The oven thermostat
has a 4 foot, 1/16" copper wire, then, at the end of the
wire is a foot long, 1/8" tube. It looks like a thermocouple.
I was wondering if I could just replace that, just like a thermocouple
on a gas regulator.

"js5895" wrote in message
ups.com...
I don't understand, are we on the same page. The oven thermostat
has a 4 foot, 1/16" copper wire, then, at the end of the
wire is a foot long, 1/8" tube. It looks like a thermocouple.
I was wondering if I could just replace that, just like a thermocouple
on a gas regulator.


It's not a thermocouple or a copper wire. It's a copper capilary tube with a
fluid filled bulb on the end. The fluid expands as the bulb is heated,
pushing on a diaphragm which moves the switch contacts in the thermostat. If
you damage the capilary tube you have to replace the whole assembly.

Understandable, thanks, for all your help.

On 3 Jul 2005 09:22:27 -0700 "js5895" wrote:

My stove oven's thermostat bulb broke off, I went to
a parts store and they said I cant buy just the bulb
but, I have to buy the whole part, the thermostat with
bulb. Is this true?

I think the answer is yes, you have to replace the whole thing.

I had a similar experience with an oven controller and also found that
no parts were sold, only complete assemblies. The part that broke on
mine was the little ceramic thermal relay, and the repair shop told me
that this was the part that always broke. That part alone should have
cost only $10 to replace (and that part is identical on all pre solid
state controllers) but I was still forced to buy the $70 assembly.

If you were patient and lucky you might find someone with a bad
controller and a good thermostat bulb sub-assembly, but that's an
extreme long shot.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

"Jim Adney" wrote in message
...

If you were patient and lucky you might find someone with a bad
controller and a good thermostat bulb sub-assembly, but that's an
extreme long shot.

We'll all be cooking with phasors before that happens.

N

Thanks, but I'm just going to have to buy the
whole assembly, mine is going to cost me $100+
because, it's a 20 year old, Glenwood.

js5895 wrote:
Thanks, but I'm just going to have to buy the
whole assembly, mine is going to cost me $100+
because, it's a 20 year old, Glenwood.

Hi...

If dollars are at all tight; you might want to look
in your local for sale newsgroups, or buy and sell
papers.

Seems that here at least, there are often people
upgrading their appliances, and offering the old
ones for very very little. Usually intending them
for cottages.

Grab one for much much less than a 100 bucks, use
the thermostat from it, and get a few more spare parts
as a bonus.

Take care.

Ken

"js5895" wrote in message
oups.com...

Thanks, but I'm just going to have to buy the
whole assembly, mine is going to cost me $100+
because, it's a 20 year old, Glenwood.

I see whole stoves for free on freecycle.org so why not keep one out of the
dump? Maybe you can find a similar stove even?

N

It's a zero sum game. If he doesn't fix the existing one, it
will end up in the dump. So he might as well fix that, and not
have to pay the cost of hauling one for parts and then disposing
of it.

NSM wrote:

I see whole stoves for free on freecycle.org so why not keep one out of the
dump? Maybe you can find a similar stove even?

N