Is your oven element shooting out sparks when you try to turn it on? As you can expect, this is a pretty serious issue, which can lead to a fire if you aren’t careful. If your oven is sparking, you should take note of what I’m about to tell you.
What To Do When Your Oven Elements Sparks
After noticing your oven element sparking, you should immediately turn it and the circuit breaker off. You would be surprised at just how many fires are caused by sparking oven elements each year. If a spark makes its way to a cotton towel or rag nearby, it can catch fire and start a chain reaction that’s difficult to put out. In severe cases, sparking elements can cause the control board to blow up, making repairs more difficult and complex. When it comes to the safety of family members living in your house, you can take any chances.
Causes of a Sparking Element
Unfortunately, it’s difficult to say what exactly is the cause of your oven element sparking without looking at it. Sometimes the problem could be as simple as a piece of tin-foil or food particles stuck down inside the element. When you go to turn it on, the food or debris catches on fire and begins to spark up. If this is the case, you can simply turn your oven off, remove the eye and clean the debris out of it. Obviously, this is the easiest and most simple solution for a sparking oven element.
Oven elements sparking is usually a sign the element has gone bad. All these are is small metal rods used to transmit electricity to the eyes. When they break or go bad, your oven may spark when turned on. Depending on your specific make and model oven, replacing an element could be as easy as removing a few parts, or it could be a labor-intensive task that takes several hours. If you don’t know or aren’t comfortable changing the element, call a professional to come out and do the job for you.
Yet another possible cause for a sparking oven element is bad wiring. If the electrical wires become corroded, stripped or damaged, they could likely cause sparking or even fires to develop. Shine a flashlight behind your oven to try and identify any problematic wires. Remember, though, most of the electrical wiring for an oven is located inside the actual unit.
