Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
I'm trying to help my parents resolve some weird issues with their
Whirlpool electric self-cleaning oven, model #GBD277PDQ1. Twice now, they report that while trying to cook something the oven has gotten itself into self-cleaning mode and they couldn't find any way to turn it off. Furthermore, the electronic door lock prevented them from opening the door. The first time this happened (about 1 1/2 yrs ago), things got so bad that the oven overheated itself and severely burned all the food inside before they turned it off at the breaker. They wound up with a $600+ repair bill to replace the Control Assembly, Thermo Control, and Thermostat. It's unclear which if any of these parts were secondary failures due to the overheating and smoke. The second time around, which I witnessed this evening, the oven again got stuck on self clean. We tried repeatedly to stop it with the OFF button. The control display indicated 'Cool' and kept the door locked. This makes sense - that it wouldn't let you open the door until the oven cooled down to a safe temperature - except that we're pretty sure that the heating elements continued to stay on (we saw the glow). Before creating another charred food fiasco, we switched off the breaker. After some time without power, the oven eventually cooled and unlocked the door. Now, the control unit seems to come up in a 'clean' state, with only the time showing and no indication of a clean cycle or oven on in any capacity, BUT the top heating elements immediately come on and don't seem to respond to anything from the control panel. We can't get the darn things to turn off. So we've disabled the oven at the breaker box and can't use it until we figure this out. Needless to say, my parents are loathe to go through another $600 repair and are very frustrated. We need to either get Whirlpool to address this issue on their dime, figure out how to repair it ourselves for a more reasonable cost, or shop for a new oven entirely. Any advice would be most appreciated! Dan |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
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Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
Wayne Boatwright ) said...
After two such episodes and one costly repair, I would get thee to an appliance store and buy a new one. This one seems doomed, and I wouldn't trust it yet again. I would agree with that. Eiher there is something that is really malfunctioning, or there may be just a bad design that makes it easy to accidently put it into cleaning mode. It could conceivably burn down the house. This borders on scare mongering, but there is a concern about fire -- just not from the faulty operation in and of itself. Self cleaning ovens are very well insulated - so much so that they use LESS power to operate over a year, cleaning cycles included, than non self cleaning ovens. In cleaning mode, the element is basically turned on continuously -- there is no thermostat that is cycling it on and off to maintain a temperature setpoint. It just runs at full blast and heats the oven as hot as it is possible - how hot this is will be a function of your line voltage, but the design of the oven is such that at the high end of its rating (240 volts, or perhaps a bit higher), it will reach a maximum temperature that is not greater than the design of the unit. If you live in a highrise, your electrical supply is likely two phases of a three phase system, so you will only have 208 volts and the cleaning cycle will need to be longer due to the lower temperature this creates. Now, even though the oven will not get any hotter with a faulty control system than it would otherwise, there is a concern about the food items in the oven at the time. The design for the cleaning cycle involves the oven being empty. Any food could contribute to a fire. -- Calvin Henry-Cotnam "Never ascribe to malice what can equally be explained by incompetence." - Napoleon ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: if replying by email, remove "remove." and ".invalid" |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
From what you're saying, the unit's defective and should be repaired or
replaced properly. Given the previous pyrotechnics, I'd wager that warranty coverage could still be argued. You might want to contact your lawyer on that one if dealer/mfg. drag feet. More'n likely some local media outlet would be interested in the story if it gets tossed back to you. Inquiring minds have to ask- what were they thinking, with electronic controls, circuit-boards, and such? Especially ones that could put the unit into self-cleaning mode. IMHO, that is in itself defective. Sure you don't want gas? J |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
wrote in message ups.com... I'm trying to help my parents resolve some weird issues with their Whirlpool electric self-cleaning oven, model #GBD277PDQ1. Twice now, they report that while trying to cook something the oven has gotten itself into self-cleaning mode and they couldn't find any way to turn it off. Furthermore, the electronic door lock prevented them from opening the door. The first time this happened (about 1 1/2 yrs ago), things got so bad that the oven overheated itself and severely burned all the food inside before they turned it off at the breaker. They wound up with a $600+ repair bill to replace the Control Assembly, Thermo Control, and Thermostat. It's unclear which if any of these parts were secondary failures due to the overheating and smoke. The second time around, which I witnessed this evening, the oven again got stuck on self clean. We tried repeatedly to stop it with the OFF button. The control display indicated 'Cool' and kept the door locked. This makes sense - that it wouldn't let you open the door until the oven cooled down to a safe temperature - except that we're pretty sure that the heating elements continued to stay on (we saw the glow). Before creating another charred food fiasco, we switched off the breaker. After some time without power, the oven eventually cooled and unlocked the door. Now, the control unit seems to come up in a 'clean' state, with only the time showing and no indication of a clean cycle or oven on in any capacity, BUT the top heating elements immediately come on and don't seem to respond to anything from the control panel. We can't get the darn things to turn off. So we've disabled the oven at the breaker box and can't use it until we figure this out. Needless to say, my parents are loathe to go through another $600 repair and are very frustrated. We need to either get Whirlpool to address this issue on their dime, figure out how to repair it ourselves for a more reasonable cost, or shop for a new oven entirely. Any advice would be most appreciated! Dan I know this is nuts, but why in the world did ya wait this long. Whirlpool ( or any manufacture ) is unlikely to help after this much time has passed. I would check and see if the whirlpool site lists any recall on this model. Me thinks your going to be spend more money for a new one |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
"Calvin Henry-Cotnam" wrote In cleaning mode, the element is basically turned on continuously -- there is no thermostat that is cycling it on and off to maintain a temperature setpoint. This is not true. There is a "clean" temperature that is reached and maintained. For most newer models it's 850 degrees. |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
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Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
Calvin Henry-Cotnam wrote:
Wayne Boatwright ) said... After two such episodes and one costly repair, I would get thee to an appliance store and buy a new one. This one seems doomed, and I wouldn't trust it yet again. I would agree with that. Eiher there is something that is really malfunctioning, or there may be just a bad design that makes it easy to accidently put it into cleaning mode. It could conceivably burn down the house. This borders on scare mongering, but there is a concern about fire -- just not from the faulty operation in and of itself. Self cleaning ovens are very well insulated - so much so that they use LESS power to operate over a year, cleaning cycles included, than non self cleaning ovens. In cleaning mode, the element is basically turned on continuously -- there is no thermostat that is cycling it on and off to maintain a temperature setpoint. It just runs at full blast and heats the oven as hot as it is possible - how hot this is will be a function of your line voltage, but the design of the oven is such that at the high end of its rating (240 volts, or perhaps a bit higher), it will reach a maximum temperature that is not greater than the design of the unit. If you live in a highrise, your electrical supply is likely two phases of a three phase system, so you will only have 208 volts and the cleaning cycle will need to be longer due to the lower temperature this creates. Now, even though the oven will not get any hotter with a faulty control system than it would otherwise, there is a concern about the food items in the oven at the time. The design for the cleaning cycle involves the oven being empty. Any food could contribute to a fire. |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
Calvin Henry-Cotnam wrote:
Wayne Boatwright ) said... After two such episodes and one costly repair, I would get thee to an appliance store and buy a new one. This one seems doomed, and I wouldn't trust it yet again. I would agree with that. Eiher there is something that is really malfunctioning, or there may be just a bad design that makes it easy to accidently put it into cleaning mode. It could conceivably burn down the house. This borders on scare mongering, but there is a concern about fire -- just not from the faulty operation in and of itself. Self cleaning ovens are very well insulated - so much so that they use LESS power to operate over a year, cleaning cycles included, than non self cleaning ovens. In cleaning mode, the element is basically turned on continuously -- there is no thermostat that is cycling it on and off to maintain a temperature setpoint. It just runs at full blast and heats the oven as hot as it is possible - how hot this is will be a function of your line voltage, but the design of the oven is such that at the high end of its rating (240 volts, or perhaps a bit higher), it will reach a maximum temperature that is not greater than the design of the unit. If you live in a highrise, your electrical supply is likely two phases of a three phase system, so you will only have 208 volts and the cleaning cycle will need to be longer due to the lower temperature this creates. Now, even though the oven will not get any hotter with a faulty control system than it would otherwise, there is a concern about the food items in the oven at the time. The design for the cleaning cycle involves the oven being empty. Any food could contribute to a fire. Hi, Are you sure of what you're saying here? Tony |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
Well, at my encouragement, my dad called Whirlpool and described the
trouble. Despite the unit being officially out of warranty coverage, they are sending out a tech today. Dad says they were very courteous and concerned about the potential for property damage and safety. We're hoping they'll do right by us today. More later... |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
Tech verified that the unit was wonky, and decided that the electronic
control unit has to be replaced. Whirlpool agreed to cover the cost of parts (~$1000) but not labor (~$100). Seems reasonable given the age of the unit, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that the problem goes away... |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
On Monday, December 26, 2005 at 11:33:02 PM UTC-8, wrote:
I'm trying to help my parents resolve some weird issues with their Whirlpool electric self-cleaning oven, model #GBD277PDQ1. Twice now, they report that while trying to cook something the oven has gotten itself into self-cleaning mode and they couldn't find any way to turn it off. Furthermore, the electronic door lock prevented them from opening the door. The first time this happened (about 1 1/2 yrs ago), things got so bad that the oven overheated itself and severely burned all the food inside before they turned it off at the breaker. They wound up with a $600+ repair bill to replace the Control Assembly, Thermo Control, and Thermostat. It's unclear which if any of these parts were secondary failures due to the overheating and smoke. The second time around, which I witnessed this evening, the oven again got stuck on self clean. We tried repeatedly to stop it with the OFF button. The control display indicated 'Cool' and kept the door locked. This makes sense - that it wouldn't let you open the door until the oven cooled down to a safe temperature - except that we're pretty sure that the heating elements continued to stay on (we saw the glow). Before creating another charred food fiasco, we switched off the breaker. After some time without power, the oven eventually cooled and unlocked the door. Now, the control unit seems to come up in a 'clean' state, with only the time showing and no indication of a clean cycle or oven on in any capacity, BUT the top heating elements immediately come on and don't seem to respond to anything from the control panel. We can't get the darn things to turn off. So we've disabled the oven at the breaker box and can't use it until we figure this out. Needless to say, my parents are loathe to go through another $600 repair and are very frustrated. We need to either get Whirlpool to address this issue on their dime, figure out how to repair it ourselves for a more reasonable cost, or shop for a new oven entirely. Any advice would be most appreciated! Dan |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
On Monday, December 26, 2005 at 11:33:02 PM UTC-8, wrote:
I'm trying to help my parents resolve some weird issues with their Whirlpool electric self-cleaning oven, model #GBD277PDQ1. Twice now, they report that while trying to cook something the oven has gotten itself into self-cleaning mode and they couldn't find any way to turn it off. Furthermore, the electronic door lock prevented them from opening the door. The first time this happened (about 1 1/2 yrs ago), things got so bad that the oven overheated itself and severely burned all the food inside before they turned it off at the breaker. They wound up with a $600+ repair bill to replace the Control Assembly, Thermo Control, and Thermostat. It's unclear which if any of these parts were secondary failures due to the overheating and smoke. The second time around, which I witnessed this evening, the oven again got stuck on self clean. We tried repeatedly to stop it with the OFF button. The control display indicated 'Cool' and kept the door locked. This makes sense - that it wouldn't let you open the door until the oven cooled down to a safe temperature - except that we're pretty sure that the heating elements continued to stay on (we saw the glow). Before creating another charred food fiasco, we switched off the breaker. After some time without power, the oven eventually cooled and unlocked the door. Now, the control unit seems to come up in a 'clean' state, with only the time showing and no indication of a clean cycle or oven on in any capacity, BUT the top heating elements immediately come on and don't seem to respond to anything from the control panel. We can't get the darn things to turn off. So we've disabled the oven at the breaker box and can't use it until we figure this out. Needless to say, my parents are loathe to go through another $600 repair and are very frustrated. We need to either get Whirlpool to address this issue on their dime, figure out how to repair it ourselves for a more reasonable cost, or shop for a new oven entirely. Any advice would be most appreciated! I'm having the same trouble with my Whirlpool Range Model# RF378LXKB1. The only difference is my door didn't lock. Thankfully my husband showed me which breaker to flip. Now I don't know what we are going to do. |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
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Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
Victoria,
Based on the OP experience, I would contact the manufacturer and tell them you are worried about burning your house down and see if hey don't respond as with the OP. They certainly don't want you going to your local newspaper with their lack of action, so you might casually mention that that is what you might have to do if they don't respond appropriately. |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
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Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
Check all connections to make sure they are clean and tight and don't show signs of arcing/sparking. (Loose wiring, especially on the neutral, can sometimes make electronic stuff act really stupid.) |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
I am a ups driver, Christmas week one of my customers house was gutted by fire, the cause was a self cleaning oven ran its cycle when no one was home. I have yet to find out what was the make of oven. However , the same problem has happened to me over and over again. I have unwired my oven heating elements and no longer use that oven. ( I Have a second oven , a whirlpool) we plan to replace both units as we plan to remodel the kitchen never to use whirlpool ovens again. I have not heard of any recalls or warnings I hope whirlpool goes out of business or fixes the problems , I know they know of this problem especially with social media these days
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Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
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Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
On 9/6/2016 6:19 PM, anonymous wrote:
Check all connections to make sure they are clean and tight and don't show signs of arcing/sparking. (Loose wiring, especially on the neutral, can sometimes make electronic stuff act really stupid.) You mean...stoopid like yer peabrain? Is that wot yer sayin'? |
Scary behavior from Whirlpool Self Cleaning Oven
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