Oven door lock stuck

April 4, 2005 1:40 PM

I just moved into a sweet new apartment which houses a Whirlpool Gold Super Capacity 465 Electric Range. The oven door will not open. Help!

Last week I went to cook a meal, programmed the cooking information and watched as the preheat came on. After 30 to 90 seconds the range would throw an error and stop heating up. I'd open the oven door to find that indeed, the elements had stopped glowing.

I called Whirlpool and was only given the suggestion to unplug the unit to allow it to reset.

I did this, plugged it back in and entered the time, then entered cooking instructions and all seemed better. Then I tried the door. Curses, it was locked. It's stayed locked all weekend.

I've tried to run the self-clean cycle, which locks the door, but it throws an error (I'm assuming because it's smart enough to realize that the door is already locked). I've tried to unplug it repeatedly. No go.

I've been on hold with Whirlpool for a while now, but I'm at work and keep getting interrupted.

Anyone have a similar problem and solve it? Any suggestions?

FYI: Landlord just bought the place and is a friend, so I'm going to more trouble than I probably would otherwise because I know it's not in his name as yet and he has no documentation on it.

posted by FlamingBore to home & garden (4 comments total)

Some ovens have Sabbath features which override the regular oven functionings. Not quite sure if this is your problem, but it's thought.
posted by Constant Reader at 1:53 PM on April 4, 2005

I tend to go to appliance411 to figure out why my kitchen stuff is broken and how to fix it. There is a FAQ there on locking oven doors that gives some tips for when this happens during a self-clean and gives some good information about door locks. If that doesn't help, I'd head over there with your full serial number and post this question there. Sounds like your problem is not terribly unusual.
posted by jessamyn at 2:07 PM on April 4, 2005

that sabbath comment was a joke, right?
posted by andrew cooke at 4:39 PM on April 5, 2005

oh. try googling for "sabbath mode oven". it's not a joke.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:59 AM on April 6, 2005