Help needed please. I have a GE Profile Oven (JTP18BW1BB). Over the past several weeks my wife and I have noticed that dishes are not cooking properly as per the recipes. I placed a TC probe from an external digital thermometer inside the oven, closed the door, and set the oven on bake at 350F. over the next 30-45 minutes, I observed the temperature on the external thermometer swing from about 325 to about 380F several times while the oven displayed 350F.
I understand the oven has a sensor probe that connects to the control panel and switches the elements on and off. I feel this 55F swing is a little excessive for an electronic control oven. Am I correct? Is this a common problem? Can anyone suggest a troubleshooting procedure? Also, does this oven use the lower and broil elements to maintain the temperature?
elmo123 said:
…I placed a TC probe from an external digital thermometer inside the oven…
…I observed the temperature on the external thermometer swing from about 325 to about 380F several times while the oven displayed 350F…
Where exactly did you place a TC probe inside the oven? What is the main purpose of the digital thermometer you used?
The temperature inside the oven cycling within 30°F range is a little bit more than it suppose to be but it is not critical. Also it’s depending on the accuracy of the thermometer.
Gene.
P.S. You can adjust the temperature within 35°F range as described in the Owners manual (page 23).
Gene,
I placed the external probe on an upper rack making sure the tip was not touching anything.
The digital thermometer is just a generic cooking thermometer with a braided wire and a probe at the end. Nothing fancy but it responds quickly to temperature changes and seems fairly accurate (boiling water test).
I did note that you can adj. (cal) the oven temp., however, it is the 55 F swing that concerns me. Is that an acceptable range? I was thinking more of +/- 10F. I am willing to change a couple of parts if it will improve the temperature control. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Your statement: "it is the 55°F swing" is not accurate when you are talking about oven temperature. If the set temperature is 350°F and it goes up to 380°F and down to 325°F then we are talking about a 30°F range.
Place the probe in the middle of the oven. Read the temperature 10 minutes after the oven got preheated. This reading will show more or less the real cooking temperature.
Gene, I guess my definition of a temperature swing is from max to min which in my case would be the 55F. Your definition is a +/- 25 or 30F around a setpoint (350F). Regardless of which definition is used, should the oven be able to maintain a tighter control around the setpoint? I have tried relocating the external temperature probe to the center of the oven and I still observe similar readings. I have read and understand that the oven should maintain an "average temperature" around the setpoint, however, are the readings I’m observing within acceptable limits? I called GE service to inquire about this. They said that they would expect better temperature control but would need a service technician to check it (of course). Again, am I chasing a true problem or is my oven just a poorly designed GE oven? Maybe it is time to buy a brand that performs better. Thanks
I just got off the phone with the GE answer center. The representative was kind enough to research my question in more detail and informed me that the temperature controls for my oven, by design, should provide a +/- 12 degree F control around a setpoint. This confirms that I probably do have a problem. I suspect that the clock/oven control board is probably bad. If the sensor was bad, it would probably fail completely. Is this a correct assumption? Thanks for all the help.