Hi, this evening while heatng up the over, it got really bright in one corner(like a light might of been turned on brightness), then it fort of fizzled out in the over, now it wont heat up past about 125 degress and the heating element does not turn red, is it probally just the u shaped elemt that i need to replace? model number is artc7511e. thanks

You don't say what model you have. That being said, I highly doubt it uses a pilot light. It most likely uses a glow bar igniter to ignite the gas. Take the bottom of the oven cavity off (remove the racks and you'll see a couple screws in the back on the bottom. Remove those and the bottom of the oven cavity should lift up).

Once you have the bottom cover off, turn on your oven and watch the glow bar. If it glows bright white, it's good and your gas valve is most likely bad. If it doesn't glow at all, or it's not very bright, or it has one bright white spot on it and the rest of it looks a little yellowish orange, then you need to replace the glow bar igniter.

Anyway, that's where I'd start.

Good luck!

could be a problem with the ignitor. take the racks out of the oven. remove bottom panel in oven. remove metal plate covering the flame spreader. the ignitor should now be visible. turn the oven on. the ignitor should begin to glow. if it doesn't glow bright white, or bright glow, ignitor is bad and needs to be changed.

You gave us good clues in information!-- Thanks!

Most modern gas ovens have a device called a Glow Ignitor to light the burner.
If this ignitor has filed, it will NOT left the gas valve open-- (Good thing, right? :-) )

You say the broiler lights fine-- so let's observe something when the Broiler lights:
Do you see a bright glow near the Broiler burner?
(Usually toward the top rear of the oven--)

Well, you should see a similar bright glowing near the BOTTOM rear of your oven, for the main burner to light off-- If you do NOT see this glowing-- then you need a new ignitor-

You can remove the bottom burner cover, and dig deeper into the repair if you like-
But a new ignitor needs to be exactly like the failed one-- the safety circuit is very fussy about the exact same ignitor-- or it will not allow lighting-- even with a new 'generic' installed.

How deep do you want to go into this repair?-- Maybe it is time to call the service people into do the job?-- You can tell them that you think the ignitor needs replacing-- and approx. what will they charge you for the service call and the ignitor?

I hope this helped.

Mack B

That could be a good analysis---

Here is an observation you can make thru the oven door:

When you turn the oven on to BROIL-- do you see the bright glow of the ignitor?
(It is almost like a light bulb was in there-- buy the burner!)

When you start the oven (on BAKE) setting-- do you see a similar bright glowing light?
(Tho down lower, near the Lower Over Burner)
If you see the bright light-- then the ignitor is apparently heating up--
If not-- then, YES-- you are likely right--
Ignitors are fairly common failure items-- and they can obviously stop the burner from lighting-

Make sense?

Let us know if we can help further.

Mack B

Possibly the ignitor for the main oven burner has failed--

An observation question:

When the Broiler 'lights' and comes on, do you notice the ignitor glowing bright, before the gas valve (to the Broiler) opens, and you get the Broiler lighting---

Now-- for the main burner to come on, -- there has to be a similar bright glow from the MAIN BURNER ignitor, before its main burner gas valve can open-- No Ignitor?-- No ignition, and not Main Oven burner!

Let me know what you need from this point on --

Mack B

Your lower(bake) element is going bad.
It must be replaced.

Hi,
The ignitor is not working right and is going bad....
have the repair man replace the ignitor, or DIY....
Check out this tip about your problem...

Oven not Working or Oven not Heating
http://www.fixya.com/support/r3663023-oven_not_working_or_oven_not_heating

Oven Problems Replacing the Igniter http://www.fixya.com/support/r4572625-oven_problems_replacing_igniter

heatman101

Hi,

The best way to test the igintor is with an amp meter. Connect a clamp on amp probe to one of wires going to the ignitor (either one is fine) turn the oven on, match the current you get from the amp probe to the rating on the gas valve to see if you have enough current. (typically you need 3.2 amps for most systems).

As ignitors get weak the resistance in them gets higher causing the amp draw to go down.

You can also get 'a feel' for the strength of the ignitor by how bright it glows, when working right, the orange will be bright almost whiteish in color. As it ages and weakens it will be more of a dull orange.

As a rule of thumb, if the ignitor is glowing and the burner will not come on the ignitor is bad.

I hope this helps

Kill the power to the stove. L2 is always hot to the element. If it welded itself to the frame whats left of the element stays hot. Easy fix but power needs to be OFF

the bake element shorted out turn of the power to the unit and replace the bake element or bottom cooking element that will fix it