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JohnLori · 03-21-2011, 09:12 PM

Tonight I made dinner, baking an item at 450 for about 20 min. I noticed the fan didn't run as much as usual afterward. Then later during kitchen cleanup, I noticed that when I wiped the door exterior with a damp cloth, there was "steam" coming off the door. I still didn't think much of it. But now, I just went to use it to heat some tea and found no lights, nothing works. Checked the outlet...it works.

Did we fry the oven? Has anyone replaced theirs? with the same oven or ???

Is this a hard DIY job?

TIA

Dave and Jaime · 03-22-2011, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnLori

Tonight I made dinner, baking an item at 450 for about 20 min. I noticed the fan didn't run as much as usual afterward. Then later during kitchen cleanup, I noticed that when I wiped the door exterior with a damp cloth, there was "steam" coming off the door. I still didn't think much of it. But now, I just went to use it to heat some tea and found no lights, nothing works. Checked the outlet...it works.

Did we fry the oven? Has anyone replaced theirs? with the same oven or ???

Is this a hard DIY job?

TIA

Don't know about your specific oven but my GE profile oven in my brick and mortar house recently went "dead" during the middle of a high heat, self cleaning cycle. Totally dead. Repairman came out and replaced a very simple in-line fuse that was behind the panel. He said that this was very common and caused by the high heat. Oddly, he said that if the oven gets above 550 for extended periods, the fuse will go out but that the cleaning cycle was much hotter than that. His advice: don't use the cleaning cycle. Don't you love a manufacturer that designs a product with a feature that can't be effectively used as intended because they also throw in a fuse that will fail if you use the feature?

I watched him do the repair (all 10 mins) and it was simple. I am confident I could do this any time in the future HOWEVER, getting the correct replacement fuse would be the real problem. I have checked online sites and parts manuals and could not locate a source (I wanted to have a spare on hand). So, if your GE Profile incorporates the same technology, I am guessing it is a simple, user replaceable fuse -- but good like finding a source. I kept my burnt out fuse as an example. I may go to an appliance store that sells GE and see if they can "match" it.

Wayne R · 03-22-2011, 05:07 AM

John, replacing the unit is easy. Remove the top plastic vent (mine was held up with Velcro). After it is off you will see a couple of screws going up into the ceiling. Remove them and the oven will pivot down from the wall. It take a bit of muscle to lift it off the wall plate.

EngineerMike · 03-28-2011, 06:43 PM

John- if its the fuse, I found them available online. I have the Advantium, but expect all GE models use the same setup for wiring and have the fuse. Now if I can only remember where I packed the fuse when I finally need it...

JohnLori · 03-28-2011, 08:38 PM

Thanks Dave and Wayne and Mike.

It turns out there are actually two fuses inside the microwave--and both checked out ok. I guess it must be the thermal cutout, but then what caused that to go? I think it might be like Dave's oven, as Lori was baking at the time, and several other on-line comments I have read mentioned over-heating problems during "normal" operation.

But it's now officially beyond my abilities (I really can't reach it), so we'll call an appliance repair man at our next stop, Palm Springs.

JohnLori · 03-31-2011, 05:05 PM

Well, the problem turned out to be the "cavity overload" protector, according to the repairman. It is actually a thermostat which is located in the ducting to protect against an over-heated microwave interior. That is what I suspected in my last post.

Lori would have me testify that she did not burn anything, but apparently cooking my tater tots at 450 degrees makes the "cavity" too hot.

Never-the-less, it's a simple replacement of a $41 part ($18 part on-line), with no oven removal necessary.