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Wondering why your Kenmore oven is not working? Below, we troubleshoot four possible causes so you can get back to baking again.
Kenmore has several gas and electric ovens on the market. They’re well-built appliances but can experience problems and stop working like any other oven. What’s important is knowing which parts to troubleshoot to fix the problem.
Your Kenmore oven will stop working if it has incoming power issues, like a lack of power or low voltage. Besides that, a blown thermal fuse or faulty temperature sensor can also prevent the oven from heating up. Lastly, the oven can fail to work if one or more of its heating elements are damaged. Without heat, an oven is useless.
Troubleshooting an oven requires an organized approach. This article will help you understand which parts to check first, how they might be affected, and what you can do to solve the problem.
Why My Kenmore Oven is Not Working?
There are several reasons why your Kenmore oven stops working. Therefore, when you troubleshoot the problem, not only should you spend time focusing on the most likely causes, but you should begin with those that are easiest to rule out first.
Doing so will save you plenty of time and effort. Plus, you’ll save money by not purchasing new replacement parts unnecessarily.
Here are the most likely reasons you’re facing this problem, starting with those that you can rule out quickly:
1. Incoming Power Issues
The first thing you must check when troubleshooting your oven is its electricity supply. Gas and electric ovens must have a stable and reliable power supply and be at the correct voltage levels.
A lack of power or low voltages will cause problems for the oven and prevent it from working correctly.
When troubleshooting your oven’s power supply, there are three things you must focus on:
- The oven’s power cord and plug
- The wall socket you use for the oven
- The circuit breaker for that wall socket
A problem at those three power supply components will prevent your oven from powering up correctly. For example, the power cord has suffered damage, or the plug might not be pushed fully into the wall socket.
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Meanwhile, your household socket could also fail to provide the oven with the necessary current.
Don’t forget to check for a tripped circuit breaker, which could stop all power from reaching the oven.
The solution: First, visually inspect the oven’s power cord to ensure it’s free from tears, rips, or other damage. The cord is replaceable, and you can purchase a new one from the manufacturer online, or at a local appliance repair shop.
Then, check that the circuit breaker for that oven is turned on. If the breaker has tripped, it could be in that halfway position between off and on. Turn the breaker all the way off, and then all the way back on again. If it trips immediately, you have another problem and might need to contact an electrician.
A wall socket is more challenging to troubleshoot. You’ll require an electrician’s help to ensure it’s working correctly. It’s possible to troubleshoot it yourself, but only if you have the necessary skills to do it safely.
Read: KENMORE Oven Is Not Heating? How To Fix It?
2. Blown Thermal Fuse
Your oven has several safety features built into it. One is the thermal fuse, which protects it from overheating and reduces your overall fire risk.
The thermal fuse is similar to a standard electrical fuse. It’s designed to destroy itself and break the circuit in dangerous conditions. However, thermal fuses, in particular, are triggered by excessive temperatures.
So, when your oven reaches a dangerous temperature, the thermal fuse destroys itself to stop the flow of electricity. Doing so shuts the oven off and allows it to cool down to safer temperatures.
The blown thermal fuse is only a symptom. So, before you solve the problem, you must consider what caused the overheating in the first place. That way, you’ll protect the new thermal fuse from blowing soon after.
The solution: Remember that a thermal fuse is a sacrificial component that destroys itself completely when the oven gets too hot. So, once it’s destroyed, you’ll have no option but to replace it with a new one.
Replacing the fuse is fairly simple, as you only need to disconnect the existing one from under the oven’s rear panel. Then, you can connect the new one to the same wiring and mount it in the same place.
Always disconnect the oven from its power supply when performing a part replacement or repair like this. Do not work on the oven while it is still plugged in.
Read: Kenmore Oven Shows F10 Error Code And Beeps. How To Fix?
3. Faulty Temperature Sensor
Another critical component your oven relies on is the temperature sensor. That sensor continuously measures how hot your oven is compared to the desired temperature that you set earlier.
The temperature sensor triggers the oven’s heating until it reaches the set temperature. Then, the sensor will stop the heating until it senses the temperature drops too low.
A faulty temperature sensor will not function that way. Instead, it’ll mistakenly sense that the oven is already hot even when it isn’t. So despite everything else in your oven working correctly, the faulty sensor prevents the oven from heating up.
The solution: The temperature sensor is another example of a component that’s not repairable. You’ll have to replace the sensor with a new one if it has failed.
However, you must first confirm that the temperature sensor is the root cause. You can do that by inspecting the thermal fuse (as described earlier) to ensure that it’s not the cause.
Then, you can test the temperature sensor for electrical continuity using a
Read: Why Oven Not Cooking Evenly?
4. Damaged Heating Element (Kenmore oven is not working)
Suppose your oven can turn on but not generate any heat. You’ll want to check the heating element after ruling out the other problems above.
With the oven turned off and disconnected from its power supply, disconnect the heating element to inspect it closely. You’re looking for signs of corrosion or physical damage like bends, breaks, and holes.
Simultaneously, look for burn marks on any particular part of the heating element.
Any of those signs could indicate the heating element is no longer in good working order, which means it can’t generate any heat for you to cook with.
There is likely more than one heating element in your oven, so don’t just inspect the one at the bottom. Depending on your model, there’s likely a heating element at the top of the oven cavity.
Additionally, ovens with a fan inside will have another heating element wrapped around that fan. The heating element is likely concealed behind the panel that hides that fan.
The solution: You can’t repair a heating element once it’s damaged. Plus, it would be unsafe to attempt to do so. So the only safe option is to replace the heating element with a new one.
Thankfully, that replacement is pretty straightforward to do. The heating element connects to the oven at two points, one on each end.
Carefully remove the element from both those ends and reconnect its replacement the same way.
Read: Oven Cooling Fan Noise. What Causes And How To Fix It?
Final Thoughts
Ovens can be affected by several problems that cause them to stop working. Due to that, you’ll want to check the problems in a very organized way.
Start by ruling out things that don’t take long to check. For example, check for incoming power supply issues. Then, you can check for a blown thermal fuse and faulty temperature sensor.
Lastly, be sure to check the oven’s heating elements for damage. Ovens tend to have more than one heating element, not just the one at the bottom. You must also check the heating element at the top and the one by the fan if your particular oven model has one.
Read: Why Frigidaire Oven Not Heating – Common Causes And Solutions
