Category Archives: Oven Repair

Get Your LG Appliance Parts Right Here at Your Local Online Appliance Repair Shop

What does “local” mean anymore in this age of the Internet? I mean, can you get any more local than right here on your computer screen? I know we look big time an’ all, but we’re a mom & pop (literally!) operation, too. Instead of a brick n’ mortar repair shop, we’re your online DIY appliance repair shop; we’re every bit (pardon the pun) as real and we’re as close as your compooter screen. How’s that for local?

Fun Fact to Know and Tell: The “local” appliance repair shop in your town or city cannot buy LG appliance parts directly from their parts dealer like they do for other appliance brands; they have to buy them directly from LG.

What does this mean for you? It means you’re gonna pay a higher price and wait longer to get LG parts if buy them from your “local” parts house.

LG.jpgBut the Samurai has the solution: buy your LG parts right here through Fixitnow.com– your local online appliance repair place– you’ll save mucho dinero and you’ll get your parts delivered lickety-split. Just use the handy links below:

LG Appliance Parts Links

Dishwashers
Dryers
Ice Makers
Refrigerators
Microwave Ovens
Ovens/Ranges/Stoves
Refrigerators
Washers

Whirlpool 30″ Gas Self-Cleaning Freestanding Range with Direct Spark Ignition (DSI) that Won’t Bake

This range uses the finicky and temperamental Direct Spark Ignition (DSI) system. This is a different animal from the two most common gas oven ignition systems: standing pilot and hot surface ignition.

In the DSI system, when you turn on the oven, it makes a spark at the burner to ignite the gas and fire it up… except when it won’t. Hence this post.

Common complaints:

– oven shuts off during the Bake cycle and the food ain’t cooked
– oven won’t light or, if it does, it shuts right off
– burner ignition is sporadic or intermittent– sometimes it works, sometimes, tough cookie (or raw cookie)
– oven may “lockout” after it reaches the set Bake temperature
– oven cools down after pre-heat

Most of the time, these problems are caused by the bake burner itself. Whirlpool added more holes to the gas burner tube to help it fire up more reliably. Check it out:

Whirlpool DSI Range Modified Burner

The cure is to buy and install the upgraded bake burner tube.

upgraded bake burner tube for the whirlpool DSI gas range-- click it to git it

To learn more about your range/stove/oven, or to order parts, click here.

Dacor ERD36 Range Troubleshooting, Disassembly, and Other Repair Goodies

Got you one of them fancy Dacor ERD ranges with an F1 error code? Or maybe some other type of problem? Well, urine luck, budrow, ‘cuz Dacor is one of the enlightened manufacturers who makes all their service information freely available to everyone on the Web! And, special bonus, Dacor products are made ratcheer in Ameedica. Lots of repair goodies for the Dacor ERD36 range are linked in the Scribd doc below:

Yessir, the Samurai likes Dacor. Yeah, Dacor products are high-end and sell for big bucks. But we professional appliantologists like appliances we can fix. And you can’t fix broken appliances if the manufacturer restricts access to their service information to either the big service companies, like Sears and A&E (owned by Sears), or to independent servicers who’ve signed a sucker’s contract with the manufacturer saying that they’ll do their warranty work for slave’s wages; GE and Viking are the worst offenders in this regard. So, if you’re wantin’ high-dollah, high-end appliances for your kitchen, Dacor is the brand to go with.

 

To learn more about your range/stove/oven, or to order parts, click here.

Tech Sheet for the GE JT915SFSS Electric Oven

Richard the Merkurmaniac wrote:

I have discovered the secret plans to GE latest electric oven that even now, is plotting the next appliance revolt in my house. Said device is a JT915SFSS. It may have been sent from the future to drive me insane with its warnings of F9 and locking me out of my own oven. Here is the schematic that I found within its metallic bowels. You can use them to help you defeat future models of this recent soldier in the Electric General’s army.

Domo for your contribution to this emporium of appliantological wisdom, Richard! Other victims of this insolent range can download the tech sheet for this range here.

To learn more about your range/stove/oven, or to order parts, click here.

Samsung Appliances?

Dennis wrote:

We are looking to buy a Samsung smoothtop range (convection oven) and when we went price shopping, another local retailer told us to NEVER buy a Samsung range as you can’t get parts for them if something happens. We are in Canada. Is this true or was buddy BSing us to try and get a sale in HIS store with the product lines that he carries?

Ahh, Grasshoppah, see this post for an example of the kind of lobotomized engineering that Samsung inflicts upon their refrigerators:

All Samsung Refrigerators have a Lurking Defrost Nightmare Problem: An Uncool Haiku

I have seen similar nightmares with their other appliances.

Some manufacturers compensate for their shortcomings in product design by making their technical information readily available to both servicers and customers. Sadly, Samsung is not one of them. So you get the worst of both worlds. For more info about kitchen and laundry appliance brands, see this post:

What Brand of Kitchen and Laundry Appliances Would the Samurai Buy?

Alas, it appears that the pot-bellied, curly-headed Buddha doth not grin down upon Samsung.

the pot-bellied, curly-headed Buddha is displeased with Samsung.

How to Test the Infinite Switch on an Electric Range or Electric Cooktop

An infinite switch is what “they” call the switch that’s attached to the knob you use to turn on the stove burner. It’s called “infinite” because you can set the heat from low to high and everywhere in between, so it’s (theoretically) infinitely adjustable as opposed to the “Low-Medium-High” switches that have only three heat settings.

A typical condition you’ll see when an infinite switch goes bad is that the surface element won’t heat or it will just go to high heat no matter what the setting on the switch.

Depending on your appliance type/model, access the infinite switch using one of the following methods:

  • For most standard models, remove the back panel.
  • On models with front-mounted controls, the panel is attached with screws on both ends. Remove the screws and tilt the control panel. They’s a whole mess o’ wires in there so be careful not to let the wires pull out from the components.
  • For models with a removable backsplash, lift the backsplash, rest it on the cooktop and remove the screws to access the components.
  • If you are working on an eye-level range, remove the control panel by opening the door and removing the screws that secure it. The screws may be located under the front of the exhaust hood or below the control panel. If the control panel is hinged, tilt the control panel towards you.
  • On some models, you have to remove the rear panel and front panel before you can get to work.
  • If the front control panel is glass, remove the screws holding the glass-retaining trim.

If you’re unfamiliar with your range, come ye and review the interactive appliance breakdown diagrams to hepya visualize your repair experience.

Danger, Will Robinson! Before you even turn the first screw to begin disassembly, you gotsta kill power to the appliance. You can do this by turning off the circuit breaker or pulling the fuses at the fuse box or by simply pulling the plug. Use your light stick to make doubly-woubly sure the power is off before proceeding. A jolt from 220 volts can fry yo ace, so make sure that sucker is dead before going in.

Awwite, after you’ve killed power to the range or cooktop, we’re ready to break open a can o’ whupass. So, let’s begin…

Testing an Infinite Switch

Legend:
L1 – Line 1 – 110 volts
L2 – Line 2 – 110 volts
P – Pilot Light – 110 volts
H1 – Heater 1 – 110 volts
H2 – Heater 2 – 110 volts

Checking the Infinite Switch:

Set meter to the Rx1 scale, zero your meter, and check the switch with wires unhooked. (Mark the wires before you remove them.) For help using an ohm meter to check resistance and/or continuity, see this page.

With the infinite switch turned to the on position you should read…

  • L1 to P ==> Continuity
  • L1 to H1 ==> Continuity
  • L2 to H2 ==> Continuity

Now, with the switch turned to the off position, you should read…

  • No continuity from L1 to P
  • No continuity from L1 to H1
  • No continuity from L2 to H2

If you get something different than what’s listed above, you got yerself a bad switch! Now you’re ready to replace it. Remove the infinite switch by removing the screws or nuts that hold it in place and install a new infinite switch by following the disassembly instructions in reverse order. Be sure to follow the wiring diagram and install the wires to the correct terminals.

If you need more help, come start a new topic in the Kitchen Appliance Repair forum.

To learn more about your range/stove/oven, or to order parts, click here.

PF Fault Code in a Whirlpool Direct Spark Ignition (DSI) Gas Range

JIM wrote:

we are trying to repair a model gw395leps03 gas range.the control panel went dead so we bought a new one,installed it and it now shows pf code which means power fail.we turned breaker off and waited ands turned it back on still the same pf. we called whirlpool tech line and told them of the problem the said they have never heard of that happening and will get back to us in 3/5 days. can u figure it out? thank you

Looking at the tech sheet for your range, I see that you are another victim of the infamous direct spark ignition system. Personally, I’m not a big fan of these because they have a history of being finicky. I much prefer the good ol’ hot surface ignition system because of their simplicity and robustness. But, we can’t always pick our battles. So let’s unsheathe our katanas and kick some insolent appliance butt…

I’m surprised the Whirlpool tech line didn’t tell you that this is known problem with these DSI ranges. Whirlpool even put out a tech bulletin on this very problem waaay back in aught-two. Turns out one of the unique problems with this ignition system is that the spark module is susceptible to noise on the electrical line.

Transients, spikes, and harmonics are the more common types of garbage on household electrical circuits today. These power quality problems are increasingly common today due to the prevalence of computers and other devices that crank out electrical noise. But that’s a topic for another post, which you can read more about ratcheer.

Fortunately, there’s a reasonably simple solution to this problem… at least in so far as it affects your range. Whirlpool recommends that you install this noise filter kit.

To learn more about your range/stove/oven, or to order parts, click here.

Kenmore Gas Range, Oven Won’t Fire Up

nancy sheeley wrote:

i was given a kenmore gas range with solid stae ignition ,it worked before but since we hooked it up and plugged it in the pilots won’t work, i can light the top burners with s match but the oven won;t come on becouse of the electric ignition, i don’t even know where to find a fuse and i can’t light it with a match

Gas ovens with electric ignition come in two flavors: hot surface ignition and direct spark ignition (DSI). Since you didn’t give a model number, I have no way of knowing which type yours is. But don’t you fret none, li’l darlin’, ‘cuz the Samurai has posted pearls of wisdom on each type of electric ignition system used in gas ovens today. Just click the links below and grok on.

Hot Surface Ignition Systems

Direct Spark Ignition Systems

To learn more about your range/stove/oven, or to order parts, click here.