I have a GE XL44 Model JGBS20WEA4WW oven. Now the oven won’t come on at all. Every once in a while we would turn it on and nothing would happen, but you could turn it off and then back on and it would work. The problem became more frequent, until now we can’t get it to come on at all. Problem? Easy repair? No experience with ovens.
Thankspdl2
bump bump bump
magician59,
how do i tell ??
thanks,
pdl2
Select a bake cycle and open the door. Look to see if the igniters are glowing. The broil igniter is at the top of the oven and should be clearly visible; the bake igniter may be concealed under the bottom tray inside, but if it glows, you should still be able to see if it is glowing.
magician59,
I tried and didn’t see anything in the oven or through the bottom little door.
pdl2
It isn’t real likely that both igniters are out at the same time; although it is posssible. You may have a bad control board.
magician59,
I’m afraid to ask what that means…
pdl2
It doesn’t have to be as bad as you might imagine. Do you have a meter? Can you do a couple simple electrical tests?
I can get a meter from work and do it this evening. Should I have turned on the oven and watched? I turned on the oven and went back 10 minutes later to check.
thanks,
pdl2
magician59,
I didn’t turn it on broil, i just turned on the oven.
pdl2
If you didn’t notice any rise in temperature after 10 minutes, it doesn’t matter that you didn’t stay with it. The igniters do cycle on and off, but when you select a bake cycle, BOTH igniters will come on to speed up the preheat.
That’s why I suspect the control board. The electrical test will require that you pull the oven out and access the wire connections for the igniters; but it isn’t difficult to do. You just need to be very careful, as you’ll be working in the presence of live voltage.
ok, do you happen to have a diagram or picture? Like I said I wont be able to do it till after work. How much does the control board cost?
pdl2
Here’s a parts breakdown of the oven section. Unfortunately, GE isn’t generous with technical information; but with patience you can figure your way around the assembly.
Here’s the CLOCK, which is also th eoven control. It’s under $100.00
From the drawings, it looks like you only have one igniter to worry about; The broiler is the drawer under the oven. To access the igniter all you need to do is remove the racks in the oven and lift out the drip tray (it’s secured by two thumb screws at the rear inside).
So, just put the meter on the two wires of the ignitor and see if I get anything? With oven on or off?
pdl2
With the oven on, and a bake cycle selected. If you get 120VAC at the igniter wires, but no glow from the igniter, it is bad.
If you don’t get the voltage, you either have a broken or disconnected wire somewhere, or the control is bad.
Ok, I will post later to let you know what I find. Would the oven working one time and not the next, then working and finally nothing lead you to believe the control board or the ignitor ? just curious
pdl2
It would make me want to check all the more carefully, but igniters can glow and STILL be too weak to allow the gas valve to open. So it may look like the problem is elsewhere. That’s why a voltage check is needed. Igniters can go bad gradually; usually circuit boards fail suddenly.
Ok, will post around 5:00 est
thanks,
pdl
what is the easiest way to check the wires? im trying to check from the front and am having no luck
pdl2
Look and see if you have access from the rear of the range. The last one I worked on had to be nearly dismantled entirely just to get to the connector for the igniter. An easier way is to cut a hole in the rear panel, at the bottom, in the center. I was unprepared (would have used a dremel or a hole saw, for a neat access hole), but was able to make a crude hole by snipping with a cutting plier.
You may get lucky and find an access panel to remove.