My oven temperature is off.....?

Question

I bought a thermometer and it says my oven is 550 when it should be at 375. I particularly don't care (we are renting) because we rarely cook in the oven. I was telling my mom what I am planning on saying to the owner, and when she heard that it was that overheated, she mentioned how once her element blew up, and her neighbors had also, and that they were both lucky it happened with the oven door closed or else they could have lost their faces looking as they know them.

Anyway, the question is, what would cause an element to blow up like that, and should I ask the landlord to fix it since I don't care that it is off (I just go by the thermometer).

Thanks, Emily

To the 4th answer---- Elements do blow up. 2 people I know have had it happen.

Answer 1

YES!! that is a hazard! Tell the landlord right away.
It could start a fire, even if you don't have a blow-up.
Oven fires are hard to put out, and dangerous (as any fire would be)

Answer 2

Neither one of these options is a good solution. Rather, RUN to your nearest supermarket and buy an oven thermometer. You can get the old fashioned ones that sit on an oven rack and put it to one side on the middle rack. They are very cheap and they will tell you the actual temperature inside your oven. With this measurement, you can tell how far off your oven temperature guage is and adjust accordingly. That is, if your oven gauge says 350 degrees, but the oven thermometer says 375, your oven is running 25 degrees hotter than the setting. If you want to bake something at 350, you set the guage to 325. This works just fine. You really need to know the actual temperature inside your oven, though, because it makes a huge difference when you are baking things like a cake, and can even affect how a roast, chicken or turkey turns out. Please buy this helpful kitchen tool!

Answer 3

Because the stat is out of adjustment the oven will get hotter than it is set for, however the element is designed to get even hotter and can be red hot for long periods without damage. Like everything, it has a life and it will eventually burn out. It may simply stop working or it may give a bang/flash and blow the fuse, which is probably 30 amp. This will dissipate a lot of energy, but I would not not call it an 'explosion', I have never heard of an element 'exploding' in 44 years in the trade. If you want to reduce the effect IF the element does fail, then fit a 32 circuit breaker instead of a rewireable fuse if you don't already have one.

Answer 4

I am not sure how an element would blow up. I am not doubting your moms friend but this sounds like an urban legend. What parts of an element are combustable? To create heat the element heats up by utilizing electricity, maybe something else happened in the oven that caused it to explode. And I think you should deffinetely tell your land lord. I am pretty sure that he is required by law to have insurance on the building so its not like he is going to have to fork out the money. And besides, its important for you to give him (the business owner) the opportunity to maintain a quality living environment for his customers. Good Luck -Alan

Answer 5

If your apartment was advertised with appliances furnished, it is your landlord's responsibility to have it fixed or replaced with a new one. PERIOD.

Never used a defective appliance. It can be dangerous. It is already overheating like crazy. Call the landlord first thing tomorrow.

Answer 6

the heating elements in an oven are chroma-lox heaters, IE a heating wire inside a ceramic case wrapped in steel,
and the can explode, actually they pop, a weak place will over heat, melting the area, then it will POP it too, usualy it trips the breaker, yes have it fixed,

Answer 7

First of all relax. It will only burn out. I do maintenance on 35 apartments, and we prefer the tenant tell us when something is wrong. If you mess with the stove. and something goes wrong you have accepted the liability to have it fixed.

Answer 8

There is an adjustment screw to syncronize the oven internal temperature with the temp. knob on tthe stove panel.
If you pull off the knob, you will see a tiny slot head screw inside. Turn it to agree with the thermometer placed inside the stove.
That's it.

Answer 9

Elements don't blow up. Use the thermometer.

Answer 10

I wouldn't even tinker with it. Tell the landlord about it and let him get it fixed. Its not worth the risk. There is something definitely wrong with it and you just don't need to chance it that it won't continue deteriorating.