Does anyone here know a lot about stoves?

Post Reply New Topic

Don't throw out that buzzing burner - just tighten or discard the centre disk, because it has no relationship to the working element.

When removed I noticed the plastic insulation next to where it plugs in was cracking.I didn’t think it was safe to continue to use.One of the previous replaced burners actually sparked before it died,all the insulation was all broke off,it went in the trash.
If it happens with any of the new ones I will take your advice on it.
I found replacement GE on line for a reasonable price.

It is really hard to shock yourself with a stove. Things are designed to fail in a safe way. The terminals on an element are held with a safe separation even without insulation, and if anything does go bad, it just hits the steel enclosure and blows a fuse.
BTW, I once did my cooking for half a year on a salvaged stove element held in my bench vise. Using two extension cords, I could get it to either full or half heat. An electrician on another list tried to convince me that the same trick was not possible, while I used it to run a European 220 V monitor in Canada to read his stuff.

Don't you just love the split phase system giving the 220 volts between line conductors on different phases.

Yes, but initially it confused me that it was called single phase. After I learned about three phase power, I went to the head office of Ontario Power, took the elevator to the engineer's floor, and asked one if "two phase" might be more correct. He agreed.
People get spooked when I tell them about my 220 v extension cord trick, but all you have to know is to plug it into two different outlets, and you'll either get 220 or 0. Also, unplug it before anyone works on the wires, or at least tell the electrician it is there.