Oven Won't Heat Or Holds The Wrong Temperature?
March 11, 2025 · Alliance Appliance Repair
Bake elements, igniters and temperature sensors drift long before they fail outright. Here is how to tell which one is causing your baking problems.
An oven rarely dies all at once. It drifts — and your baking gets worse for months before anyone connects the two.
Electric ovens
A bake element that has burned through is obvious: you will see a break or a blister. A weak element is subtler — the oven heats, just slowly and unevenly. The other common culprit is the temperature sensor, a thin probe in the back wall whose resistance drifts with age and throws the calibration off by 25 to 50 degrees.
Gas ovens
Gas ovens use a glow-bar igniter that must draw enough current to open the safety valve. As it ages it still glows, but it no longer pulls enough amperage — so the oven preheats slowly, or lights with a delay and a loud whoomp. That is the classic sign of a tired igniter and it is a routine repair.
After self-clean
Self-clean cycles run near 900°F and commonly kill thermal fuses and control boards. If your oven quit right after a clean cycle, that is why, and it is repairable.
Testing your oven
Put an oven thermometer on the center rack, set 350°F, and read it after 20 minutes. More than 25 degrees off means it needs calibration or service.
Call Alliance Appliance Repair at (405) 200-1490 for oven and range repair.