Gas oven control panel fried?
February 28, 2015 8:12 PM   Subscribe

Is the control panel on my gas oven really completely fried after switching the breaker on and off? How can I prevent this in the future?

This afternoon I was replacing a fluorescent light ballast so I turned off the circuit breaker for the kitchen. I turned on the circuit breaker, the light worked fine, woot!

But the oven control panel is now completely dead. The display doesn't work, the buttons don't cause beeping, etc. There is no error code on the screen. I used an outlet tester on the outlet and it is totally fine. I took off the back of the oven and used a no-contact voltage detector to check that power was actually getting to the circuit board. It was. The stove (which has electric ignition) works fine). Everything else in the kitchen is fine. There is definitely no GFCI involved.

The oven is only about a year and a half old. It's a Frigidaire/Electrolux fancier model. The only thing I can think of is that turning the circuit breaker back on caused a small power surge that blew up the power control circuitry on the circuit board. It's a $200 part, plus probably another $200 to get someone to come out and replace it (unless I do it myself).

Does that make any sense? I can find tons of stuff on Google about oven control boards dieing (and it's happened to other people I know), but nothing specifically about it happening after a circuit breaker is turned back on. It seems like a horrible design flaw since circuits trip all the time.

How do I keep this from happening in the future? Should I be plugging my gas stove into a surge protector like a computer? Should I shell out for restaurant-style non-electric ovens?
posted by miyabo to Home & Garden (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Oh, and I spent about half an hour hunting around for any blown fuses inside the oven. It has no fuses.
posted by miyabo at 8:13 PM on February 28, 2015


Best answer: I doubt that cycling the circuit breaker damaged the circuit board (though it's a remote possibility). My in-laws recently moved into a house that had been foreclosed, presumably the power had been shut off at some period. We couldn't get the control panel to do anything other than display "off". The guys who delivered a refrigerator figured it out. They said sometimes there's a reset switch under the burner panel, but this one they reset by pressing the cancel button for several seconds. Google the model number + " reset" or look for a manual online. I would also try contacting the manufacturer to see if they have a reset method. Good luck!
posted by coldhotel at 9:54 PM on February 28, 2015 [5 favorites]


Best answer: I called Frigidaire tech support. They were pretty clear that it could only be the control board. So I ordered a new one on eBay for $170, and put it in myself. It works perfectly. I'm extremely annoyed about having to do this, but glad I didn't spend another $200 to have a professional come out and tell me the same thing.

I suspect a large inductive load on the circuit (like my fridge or the aforementioned fluorescent lights) caused a power surge when I turned on the circuit that blew out the oven control board (which is incredibly shoddily designed).

The oven is now plugged in to a surge suppressor, and I suggest everyone do the same if it's physically possible in your setup!
posted by miyabo at 10:04 PM on March 6, 2015


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