Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

On Dec 27, 1:43*am, Ricky wrote:
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. *It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. * And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

I am not a repairman of ovens, but I would think that anything is
possible after a fire. Did you check the upper element for continuity?
Heat usually goes up, therefore, I would think the upper element would
be harmed before the lower element. Are they connected in some way? I
don't know, but check it anyway.

From the sounds of it, I think it would cheaper to get a new stove.

Maybe someone with more info will stop by and assist.

Hank

On Dec 27, 6:43*am, Ricky wrote:
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. *It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. * And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

Your google is right. Check out the thermostat, it's probably been
damaged by the excessive heat. Easy to check out though.

On Dec 27, 6:43*am, Ricky wrote:
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. *It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. * And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

Another thought, depending on the extent of the fire, (ie if it was
not confined to the interior of the oven). possibly the timer or
selector switch has been damaged, again easy to check out.

?
"Ricky" wrote in message
...
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

Depending on what all got heated, other damage may have happened. Before
you spend a lot of money on this one, consider buying a new oven rather than
replace a couple hundred bucks in parts and hours of labor.

On Mon, 27 Dec 2010 02:40:35 -0800 (PST), Hank
wrote:

On Dec 27, 1:43*am, Ricky wrote:
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. *It was good.

Are all these thermostats the same? Other than calibration. That
is, can I get one out of a stove that's being thrown away, and if it's
not the same brand, Whirlpool, maybe the knob won't fit or the
temperatures won't match the numbers on the dial, but it will still
control the temperature, right??

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

I mean, iiuc, the Broil element is still subject to the thermostat,
unless one sets the thermostat to Broil, which keeps the element on
all the time. Is that right? For a Whirlpool. I think the Bake
element works the same way, yes?

The top burners work fine.

The oven elements don't turn the red light on and neither element got
hot. I guess it's the thermostat.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. * And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

I am not a repairman of ovens, but I would think that anything is
possible after a fire. Did you check the upper element for continuity?

Not yet.

Heat usually goes up, therefore, I would think the upper element would
be harmed before the lower element.

Me, too.

Are they connected in some way?

Only that they both go into the Bake/Broiler switch, but they're not
connected there.

I
don't know, but check it anyway.

From the sounds of it, I think it would cheaper to get a new stove.

I really like this one, and I think thermostats are not that
expensive, especially if I can get one out of a junk stove. The oven
gasket seems to be about 31 dollars. That's a lot less than 500.

Maybe someone with more info will stop by and assist.

Hank

Harry, I guess I'll have to pull it away from the wall, and then I may
end up leaving it like that until I fix it.

Thanks, Hank and Harry and Ed.

In ,
Ricky typed:
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the
thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire
extinguisher, and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the
bottom element and checked it for continuity. It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when
set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the
thermostat, about as far away as it could be; and I could
only find one hit in google that referred to this and even
it said just that the thermostat wouldn't be accurate
anymore. And nothing else got physically damaged except
the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one cheap
table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

It's not the thermostat, though it may no longer be accurate if it got too
hot.
It's the pilot adjustment and/or the eye that determines whether it lit or
not, and/or the igniter isn't heating up because it got cracked in the
cleanup. Yes, some ovens have BOTH a ingniter and a pilot that takes over
after it's lit, so it can go up and down in heat production. Our GE is like
that.
IMO those are much more likely culprits. Then again if you want to start
at low $ and work you way up, the thermostat will be the cheapest part. But
you said it wasn't actually in the fire, so ... .

On Dec 28, 2:08*am, "Twayne" wrote:
,
Ricky typed:





Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the
thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire
extinguisher, and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the
bottom element and checked it for continuity. *It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when
set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the
thermostat, about as far away as it could be; and I could
only find one hit in google that referred to this and even
it said just that the thermostat wouldn't be accurate
anymore. * And nothing else got physically damaged except
the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one cheap
table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

It's not the thermostat, though it may no longer be accurate if it got too
hot.
It's the pilot adjustment and/or the eye that determines whether it lit or
not, and/or the igniter isn't heating up because it got cracked in the
cleanup. Yes, some ovens have BOTH a ingniter and a pilot that takes over
after it's lit, so it can go up and down in heat production. Our GE is like
that.
* * IMO those are much more likely culprits. Then again if you want to start
at low $ and work you way up, the thermostat will be the cheapest part. But
you said it wasn't actually in the fire, so ... .- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Read the OP it's an electric oven.
The thermosatat ib a mini hydraulic device in most cases. (ie oil
filled pipes & phials)
If the thermostat has been over heated the sensor (oil filled) will
have over pressured and something along the line will have been bent.
Some thermostats have an adjusting screw on them. You might be able to
get a circuit by messing with this screw. How accurate the
temperatures will be even if it works I don't know. On the other hand
it oil may have leaked out and it will be completely knackered in that
case.

Ricky wrote:
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

The appliance parts place told me, after I did what you did, that the proper
response to an oven fire was to close the door, not use a fire extinguisher.
FWIW.

On Sun, 9 Jan 2011 23:19:16 -0800, "Bob F" wrote:

Ricky wrote:
Is a fire in an electric oven likely to totally ruin the thermostat?

I had a fire a few days ago, put it out with an ABC fire extinguisher,
and when I cleaned up the mess, I removed the bottom element and
checked it for continuity. It was good.

Yet neither it nor the top oven element go on, even when set on Broil.

The top burners work fine.

OTOH, the fire was on the other side of the oven from the thermostat,
about as far away as it could be; and I could only find one hit in
google that referred to this and even it said just that the thermostat
wouldn't be accurate anymore. And nothing else got physically
damaged except the oven-door gasket and the plastic handle on one
cheap table steak knife right above the fire.

What do you think?

The appliance parts place told me, after I did what you did, that the proper
response to an oven fire was to close the door, not use a fire extinguisher.
FWIW.

Yup! Many years ago (approaching 40) my wife had an oven fire so threw in a
box of baking soda. I asked her why she did that (the oven was never the
same). Her:"Every time I opened the door it flamed up." Me:"Don't do that."