How do I know if my oven bake element is bad?
The easiest way to tell is a visual inspection. Open the oven door and look at the bake element (the flat element at the bottom of the oven). If you see a visible break, hole, blister, burn-through, or deformed section in the metal sheath, the element has failed — replace it. If the element looks intact, turn on the oven to bake at 350°F and watch the element (keep the door slightly open). A working element glows evenly red across its entire length within 1–2 minutes. If it doesn't glow at all, it's burned out internally. If part of it glows red while another section stays dark, it's partially failed. If it sparks, arcs, or glows bright white at a spot, it's shorted — turn off the oven immediately and replace the element. You can also test with a multimeter: disconnect power, disconnect one wire from the element, and measure resistance across the two terminals. A good element reads 20–50 ohms. An open reading (OL) means it's broken internally. If the bake element is dead but the broil element works (oven heats on broil but not bake), that confirms the bake element has failed — the oven's electrical system and control board are fine.
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