Whirlpool WP308180 Oven Bake Element OEM Part

My wife was using the oven and she shouted "emergency, oven fire" as i was half asleep in the reclining chair (I will be 86 in Oct.) As I dashed, well not quite, into the kitchen mentioning the fire extinguisher, she exclaimed "no, electrical fire, throw the circuit breaker"....which I very promptly did and the fire was no more; just a lot of bad odor. Removing the severed 32 year old bake oven element was somewhat delayed due to corrosion of the element mounting screws and electrical connectors. We put a stool to support the oven door while I contorted myself to reach to the rear of the oven to hook the element up. We ordered a replacement element using the range model number as there are no identifying data on the element itself. The very courteous person at the parts supply house was able to verify what we needed and the part #WP308180 arrived overnight, helping my gourmet cook get back to cooking. The replacement unit fit exactly in place and after electrical attachment and the two mounting screw, all was fine. The circuit breaker was in the off position while all of this work was being performed. I did notice that the new element is of smaller diameter than the original and the two legs that hold the element level to the mounting screws are not welded in place and were in fact loosely mounted. It is clear that corners have been cut to reduce the cost of replacement parts and appliance manufacture, making us loath to replace our robust 32 year old, made in the U.S. range with a new one with a cheapened build. When we powered up the oven we found that the actual measured temperature in the oven would fluctuate to + or - about 50 F as the controlling thermostat would turn the element off and on again. It would seem to me that more accurate cooking and a reduction in electrical consumption (measured 18 amps on, and very little when it switched off) would be achieved if the thermostat controlled the voltage to the element rather than just turning it off and on across a 100 degree spread. I can only guess what the cost of such a system would be, and one day I expect to explore this further to satisfy my engineering curiosity!

Symptom: Lower oven heat element overheated causing breakage and melting of element. Broken element shorted against oven floor causing smoke, cracking noise and potential for electrical fire. Turned off oven, opened circuit breaker switch (removing power), and removed food from oven. Possible causes: thermostat failure; internal wiring problem; control failure; element simply failed due to poor manufacture or other causes. It's never good to troubleshoot with parts, but as this was only $43, it's an inexpensive cost. Repair: Removed broken elements pieces. Cleaned inside oven. Restored power to Range/Oven. Tested range top elements and clock (satisfactory). Turned off circuit breaker (no power). Removed cross tip screws holding failed element in place in back of oven wall and pulled connector wires from back oven wall. Removed oven wire disconnector terminals from failed element with needle nose pliers taking care to not break wires from terminals and not allowing wires to retract back into oven wall. Removed broken element. Examined wires and terminals for browning (overheating), cracks or breakage. Connected new element to terminal connectors taking care to connect in same order. Tightened connector terminals gently onto element male connections with pliers to ensure no looseness. Slid wires and element ends into oven wall with screw holes aligned and element seated in proper place on oven box floor. Reinstalled original retaining screws. Tested: Restored power to oven at circuit breaker. Set to bake at 300 degrees. Observed element heat. Ensured thermostat cycled elements off at 300 temperature. Raised temperature to 400 degrees and ensured thermostat cycled off. Opened/closed door several times to observe and ensure element cycled on and off properly. All satisfactory. Likely causes of failure: (1) Failed element was 15 month-old non-OEM part (purchased elsewhere) and was possibly an inadequate replacement part. (2) We had placed aluminum foil over lower rack to help keep oven floor clean. This may have caused the lower element area to overheat because the thermostat may have not adequately sensed the temperature between the foil and lower element and cycled the elements off at proper temperature before the lower element overheated. Prevention: (1) Replaced element with OEM part from AppliancePartsPros.com (2) Removed aluminum foil from lower rack. Current status: Baked one food item satisfactorily evening of repair date.

We unscrewed the plate holding the wires and connectors in place. (2 screws). Pulled the connected wires out an inch or two. Pulled the connectors off the wires on the broken element. Removed the element. attached the connectors to the wires on the new elements. Pushed the wires back into the back of oven (about an inch or two). Put the plate back in place and put the screws in.

Watched YouTube video from Appliance Parts Pro, ordered replacement in the afternoon, it was here at 9:30 am the next day, unscrewed the old element, screwed in the new -- that's it! We had company coming the next day. My kids were amazed -- they thought I'd have to replace our 28 year old oven! Thank you APP!

Watched video on how to replace element on AppliancePartsPro website