Why doesn't the oven bake?

WARNING!

To avoid personal injury or death, disconnect your appliance from its power source before you start any troubleshooting or repair work. Use caution when working inside any appliance.

Range Knob

When there’s no heat at all in the oven, the first thing to check should be the timer controls. An automatic cycle setting could be preventing the oven from lighting. If you have a self-cleaning range, make sure the door is in the unlock position. You will also want to check that all knobs are in the correct positions. If you have an Electronic Control, you can try unplugging the range for 30 seconds or so before you plug it back in. This can reset an Electronic Control. Make sure the gas is on to the range.

Most times when an oven won't bake, it's because the bake ignitor has gotten weak or it’s just burned out. The ignitor is a small round or rectangular device located near the burner. The ignitor is wired in series with the gas safety valve.

When the ignitor is cold, it has a lot of resistance, meaning it gets most of the electricity in the circuit. As it heats up, its resistance drops. This allows enough electricity to heat the bi-metal strip in the gas safety valve, which then allows gas to be released to the burner assembly. The gas then gets ignited by the glow-bar ignitor. The ignitor glows the whole time the burner is on, keeping the gas safety valve open. The thermostat senses when the desired temperature is reached, and cuts off electricity to the gas safety valve and ignitor.

Range Thermostat

If this ignitor is weak or burned out, it won’t heat enough to lower its resistance to the point where the bi-metal strip gets enough electricity to heat up and allow the gas safety valve to open, and it will not release gas to the burner assembly. When this happens, you may have to replace either the ignitor or the gas safety valve. Many times it’s the ignitor that is to blame, and cheaper to replace.

The gas safety valve does precisely what the name implies. It prevents gas from being introduced to the burner when there’s a possibility that it won’t get ignited properly. There are a few different variations in their operation, but the purpose is always the same, to prevent accidents. If the glow-bar or spark systems are in proper working order, you may have a faulty gas safety valve. Check it for continuity. A faulty selector switch or thermostat could also be your problem. Check the selector switch for continuity between pairs of contacts. If none, replace the switch. For the thermostat, consult your wiring diagram when testing it for continuity. If there is no continuity at any of the contact terminal points, you must replace the thermostat.

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Common Repair Problems and Solutions
1. Why doesn't my gas range work at all? 2. Why do I smell gas? 3. Why doesn't the oven bake? 4. Why does it take the oven so long to bake? 5. Why should I pre-heat and how important is it? 6. Why doesn't the oven broil? 7. Why doesn't the oven bake or broil, even though the top burners still work? 8. Why won't the oven light in my range? 9. Why is the oven too hot on the outside to touch? 10. Why does the cooktop get so hot while I'm cooking? 11. Why is there a red glow in my oven, but it isn't heating? 12. Why is the oven temperature incorrect? 13. Is it safe to adjust my thermostat?		14. Why does my oven temperature seem too hot or not hot enough? 15. Why doesn't the burner work? 16. Why does it take so long for the burners on my gas stove to light? 17. Why do all of the surface burners spark when I turn one on? 18. Why does my electronic ignition or spark module only work intermittently? 19. Why has the oven light stopped working? 20. Why won't the door close or open properly? 21. Why doesn't an indicator light work? 22. Why has the clock stopped working? 23. Why does the time keep changing on my clock? 24. Is it normal for my range to make a noise when I use the oven? 25. Why does my oven smell so much during self-cleaning?		26. Is it okay to use oven cleaner on my self-cleaning oven? 27. Why does my oven door feel soft and spongy when I close it? 28. Why do I see water droplets inside the oven on the glass? 29. How can I get foods to bake evenly in my oven? 30. How do I keep foods from burning when I want them browned? 31. Can I get the stains off the burner drip pans? 32. What can I do about my rusty cast iron burners? 33. Why was there an odor and smoke when I used my oven for the first time? 34. Why does my oven smoke so much when I broil foods? 35. Why are my baked goods burning on top? 36. Why are my baked goods burning on bottom? 37. Why do I see a fault code and what do I do about it?

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