On Sun, 06 May 2012 16:01:37 -0500, philo wrote:

Another thing that is bothering me is that when I was cleaning the
oven yesterday with the easy-off, I laid a wet rag on top of the oven
element (oven switch was off of course) which was cold and it popped
(a short) tripping the breaker too.

That's all the info I needed to hear, there is a *definite* problem and
you need to get it fixed at once or someone may get electrocuted.

Since you are not familiar with troubleshooting
you need to hire someone to check the range and your circuit!

Serious stuff here!

I agree for sure. Monday is a workday unlike today. I plan to put a
test meter on the element to see what I see. Then I will remove the
circuit breaker box cover so I can look at the breaker as well as
check the tightness of the breaker's screws and the condition of the
wire contacts involved. I know how to do that, and know how to change
a breaker, but I might still bring in an electrician just to be sure
all is okay. As I said, my wife is disabled, with dementia, and I
don't have the time any more to handle things like this, and certainly
need to worry about how this could affect her.

We cooked a meal tonight in the oven, and it went okay.

xiexie

Wei