Mailbag: Range Error Codes

Jeff wrote:

We have an F1 code on our Magic Chef Gas Range. We tried replacing the full ERC touchpad which was really expensive and found that was not the problem unless we got a faulty one?

In surfing the net we found a notation that recently in Maytag the F1 error could be due to a Oven Temperature Sensor that needs to be replaced. Have you heard of this before?

If you think this needs to be replaced is it difficult to do so, any tricks we need to know.

Appreciate your help. We waited 3 weeks for the last part and are trying to get this fixed before Christmas so we can cook our turkey.

THANK YOU!!

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Appliance manufacturers (praise be their holy names), in their infinite wisdom and mercy have determined that it is in our best interest that they carefully guard the meanings of their precious fault codes. And to make our joy complete, they even vary the codes from model to model! So, even though there are no standard fault codes, even within the same brand, Allah has revealed ALL appliance fault codes to me in a dream. Yea verily, God bless Allah!

I don’t know where you got the information on the sensor but F1 on Magic Chef ranges almost always means a bad membrane switch–that is, the touch pad that attaches to the clock/electronic range control (ERC) board. Many times, this is mistaken for a bad ERC. To prove that it’s the membrane switch at fault, cut power to the range and disconnect the ribbon strip that connects the touch pad to the ERC board. Then re-apply power to the range. If no fault code appears, then replace the membrane switch. Otherwise, if you still get a fault code, replace the ERC.

If it is the oven sensor, it’s easy enough to check. At room temperature, 70°F, the resistance of the most common sensors used today is 1000-1100 ohms. What this means is that if you pull those sensor wires to measure the sensor’s resistance and it reads slap-a$$ open, why, it don’t take a rocket scientist like myself to figger out that you got yourself a bad sensor! Wasn’t that easy?

Just for grins, I’ve included the table below to show you the sensor resistance reading at various temperatures. Viva la Resistance!

Oven Sensor Resistances
Temperature (°F) Resistance (ohms)
100 1143
200 1350
300 1553
350 1654
400 1753
500 1949

 

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