[SIZE=3]Greetings – My 15 year old GE (models JKP64G0P4B6) wall oven has begun behaving badly. It is taking much longer than usual to preheat and won’t stay at the proper temperature. Iwould like to try my hand at repair if it is something straight forward but, don’t know how to diagnose which part might need to be replaced. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]If I heat the oven to 350 it will slowly come to temp but not go back on to stay at temp correctly. I can see how the temp changes by turning the oven off then back on. When it turns back on it displays the current temp.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Is this symptom typical of any particular part failing?[/SIZE]
First I would check that both elements work.
Most units either turn on both elements during pre-heat or switch back and forth between the elements.
If one of them does not get hot then odds are it is burned out.
To check it.
Remove power from the unit.
Undo the screw/s holding the element to the back of the oven.
Carefully pull the element into the oven.
Remove the wires from it and check it with a meter.
Should be around 20 ohms.
Sometimes you can actually see where the lement burned out but usually you cannot.
It is a good idea to clip something (clothespin etc.) to the wires so they do not disappear into the back of the unit while you are checking the element.
Turning the power off is very important because on most units there is still voltage to one side of the element even when it is turned off.
If you do not own a meter, I would suggest you purchase a one. You can get a decent digital multimeter for under $20.00. You do not need fancy though it is nice if the leads are a couple feet long.
If it saves ordering one unnecessary part it has paid for itself and you end up owning a useful tool.
Most places will not let you return electrical parts so if you order it, you own it.
A couple things to watch when measuring ohms and continuity
Always remove power from the machine otherwise you could blow your meter.
Always disconnect at least one side of any device you are checking. This eliminates the possibility of measuring an alternate/parallel circuit path.
When checking for closed contacts and continuity use the lowest scale (Usually 200 ohms). Then try higher scales. This scale is 0 to 200 ohms so if the device you are measuring is 300 ohms this scale would show an open circuit which it is not, you are just measuring outside the scale’s dynamic range.
When you start always short the meter leads together. This will tell you that the meter is working and if there is any 0 offset.
There is a good STICKY at the start of this forum about it’s use.