Stupid Beeping Dysthermic Oven
Great. I’ve known for almost a year that my oven (nearly new when I moved in two years ago) is afflicted with premature preheated-announcement syndrome, sometimes as much as 100 deg F too soon. Okay, so I bought an oven thermometer and told myself that this happens to every oven now and then, and it’s no reflection on my cooking or my oven’s ovenliness. It gets there eventually; you just have to aim for more than you really need it to be, and assume it’ll take twice as long to get there as it normally would.
That was until tonight, of course. I was trying to roast some veggies for lunch tomorrow; everything was going well and I had sat down to my actual dinner when the oven alarm went off. It was one I’d never heard before: just single beeps. “F2″ was flashing on the display, which wasn’t a whole lot of help because I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the oven manual, and just made me think, “Well, eff you, too. What the hell is wrong?”
By jabbing at various buttons randomly, I finally managed to get it to shut up, though the “oven on” light kept flashing. Oddly enough, the temperature had dropped from the 450 deg F I’d almost managed to get it to reach (quite a reasonable roasting temperature, I thought) down to 350, though I hadn’t adjusted the knob. (I checked again just now, and it was down to 300. Time to give up; at least the veg are cooked, if not properly roasted.)
According to Bob Vila.com* and Appliance 411, it’s probably either my oven temperature sensor or the electronic temperature sensor. I’m assuming it’s one of those two things; I am not sure of the exact model I’ve got, though, so maybe mine has a different disorder even though it displays the same symptoms. (It is a Kenmore, though, as the other two in the linked posts are.) Where does one look for model numbers on ovens, anyway? Don’t tell me they’re on the back panel. I will be supremely annoyed if that is the case.
Especially given that the cheaper of those components is probably going to run $65-75. (I know — much cheaper than buying a new stove, or, oh, say, getting your roof repaired. Still going to sulk, though.) That’s assuming I can find the correct part without the oven’s model number.
And trying to locate and replace either or both of those components is going to be an absolute picnic without an owner’s manual.
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*It never would have occurred to me that I would ever link to anything to do with Bob Vila, but there you go. Life is just full o’ surprises.
