FIXED KitchenAid electric wall convection oven no longer heats to above 175F

[Yu Gnomi]

Model Number

KEBS147DB

Brand

KitchenAid

Age

More than 10 years

The KitchenAid wall oven at my parents place no longer heats to above 175F, after an incident a little over a week ago. Food was being cooked in the oven, the oven door wouldn't open until someone yanked it open (to keep the food from being burnt). The oven is currently de-powered (circuit breaker manually opened), mainly to keep the oven lights from burning out. As it is now, the "Oven Door Open" light is always on when the oven is powered and it is set to bake food, which I guess is why it only heats to 175F

As it happens I recently started working in appliance repair (~1 week ago), and might have access to the sort of dolly/cart used to remove wall ovens by this weekend, as well as other tools. I would like to make the oven functional for baking food again, but fixing or replacing the latch is not a priority, or even a goal. My parents claim they never use the self-cleaning function, but I think maybe they accidentally set it to self-clean while trying to make food. They won't miss the door latch or self-cleaning, and won't want to buy a new wall oven.

Any help or advice appreciated

 

[Dan O.]

Model Number KEBS147DB

That model number is incomplete (eg. KEBS147DB _ _ ). Please get the complete model number from the appliance's model and serial number tag on the appliance.

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Food was being cooked in the oven, the oven door wouldn't open until someone yanked it open (to keep the food from being burnt).

Oven doors will often lock automatically once the oven reaches a certain temperature thinking a self clean was initiated. It may have been the oven was overheating (ie. malfunctioning) at the time.

As it is now, the "Oven Door Open" light is always on when the oven is powered and it is set to bake food, which I guess is why it only heats to 175F

I doubt that. The oven doesn't shut off when the door is opened. There is likely a problem in the oven now. It may be some part of the control system or an oven element is now defective. It will need investigation to determine which.


Dan O.

 

[Yu Gnomi]

Model# is KEBS147DBL6, though the 6 looks like it could be a G.

I was wondering if just splicing the wires connected to the door switch together, could fix it. I did read your reply, but I'm not sure what else to investigate. Also, it is likely I won't be able to get an oven cart this weekend, and the switch is something I might be able to access without one.

 

[Yu Gnomi]

I should add, that in the "Use and Care Guide" that came with the oven, in the section on dehydrating, it does state "Do not try to dehydrate with the door open. The fan and elements will not operate."

Assuming I can access the backside of the door switch, I am considering buying ceramic wire nuts, and just splicing the wires to the door switch together. Any tips/advice on accessing the relevant area of the oven, would be appreciated.

 

[Dan O.]

in the section on dehydrating, it does state "Do not try to dehydrate with the door open. The fan and elements will not operate."

Was it set to dehydrate? You never said.

I was wondering if just splicing the wires connected to the door switch together, could fix it.

It depends if that's the only problem but also if it has normally closed or normally open switch contacts and what position they are supposed to be in when the door is closed.

If as you said you just started in the appliance repair field why not try to determine and repair the problem first rather than jumping in and looking to bypass things tight out of the gate.

Any tips/advice on accessing the relevant area of the oven, would be appreciated.

The door switch appears to be on the door latch mechanism. I can not tell you how to access it but on some models it's accessed from behind the console.

g/l

Dan O.

 

[Yu Gnomi]

wasn't able to do the fix last weekend, did it today instead. Removed screws and trim until I could pull it out a few inches, and had access to the top of the oven (behind the display). I also removed the oven door. I removed the 2 wires for the door switch, initially I taped their connectors together and then turned the breaker on. When I returned to the oven, it still thought the door was open always, and wouldn't bake.

I opened the breaker, and separated the wires, and taped them up individually. I closed the breaker, returned to the oven, and it now thought the oven door was closed (even though I had removed it), and would bake - the element heated up and the fan turned on. I cancelled the bake, and turned the breaker off again. For each door switch wire, I removed the tape, cut the connecter off the end, and screwed on a ceramic wire nut.

I pushed the oven back in to it's wall socket, re-attached the display and trim, and put the door back on. After closing the breaker, the oven now bakes as it did before, except it no longer recognizes the door being open. The door is always shut as far as the oven is concerned.