Cheap, easy and safe oven heating element replacement
- My favorite favorite way to fix an appliance – you don’t have to waste your time in a big box store asking someone who isn’t much help where something you need is and then they probably charge too much even if they have exactly the part you’re looking for which they probably don’t and you wasted gas for the trip and your time
This story goes back to the January- February 2011 timeframe when had just experienced the third in a set of three bad things. They began in January with our kitchen sink leaking water due to a poor sealant job I did when I installed a new faucet the previous July. Then a week or two later the dishwasher stopped washing dishes. Then one Sunday in February I turned on the oven and once it got hot enough to put in dinner a corner of the element just went POP! I looked at my wife and we were both pretty surprised as we had not seen anything like that before. I thought my wife would be sad or that I would start cussing but my wife was the first to say “well that’s number three and that should be the end for while”.
That was a good attitude to have and I’m glad I picked up on it. The last thing I wanted to contemplate was replacing a whole oven due to a broken element and figured that it should be easy enough to repair but I just wasn’t sure where to look for a new element. So I put dinner on hold and went to Google where I searched for “Shit! My oven heating element just burst now what do I do?” Sure enough the search resulted in in I’m sure what was a long list of links but the only one I remember and went to was PartSelect.com
PartSelect.com is an awesome site. It had help right from the first page. I just had to punch in the model number of my oven and the resulting page was complete with every part and instructions for each. I only had to click on the heating element link and was presented with replacement options, prices, and instructions. Regardless of appliance the results are the same for any appliance search. Even if you’re not in need of parts just having access to the instruction manuals is a valuable and free resource.
It didn’t take long for me to decide that $35 and three days of waiting to get a new element form PartSelect would be the best option. I looked at a few other websites which I always do for comparisons but could not find a solution that compred to PartSelect.com. I conferred with my wife and she agreed that although waiting would not be fun we could still use the stove top and it would also give us a chance to practice some of our ability to live without a convenience.
I placed the order selected normal shipping. I think the total cost was about $41 and sure enough within 72 hours I had the heating element waiting for me when I arrived home from work.
My family was gone for a little while and I thought I would surprise my wife by replacing the element before she returned with the children. The instructions were simple enough and the first thing I had to do beside get a Phillips head screwdriver was to turn off the power to the oven at the circuit breaker. Within about 15 minutes I had pulled out the old element and put in the new one. I went and turned the breaker back on and turned on the oven. It worked like a charm and has been ever since. My wife was pleasantly surprised when she returned home and the whole episode made me feel useful and it increased my home care knowledge a little bit more.
PartsDirect.com also has plenty of advice for how to fix my dishwasher but I’m pretty sure it was a cheap model and trying to assess the problem and order new parts was not an option that I pursued. To this day we still have not gotten a replacement dishwasher and we try to make the children help more with cleaning the dishes especially after dinner. But we do miss the convenience and I’ll probably break down for a new model someday soon.
But the important thing to know is that PartSelect.com is there for us and it offers solutions that involve us and help to save money, time and the frustrations of finding someone else to do simple appliance repairs. So before you call a repair person for any appliance for to PartSelect.com and find out what it eally takes to fix your appliance.
It’s easy fixing your appliance with http://www.partselect.com
- Ease of making an order
- Fast service with very reasonable and fast shipping options
- Online instructions make repairing your own appliances a possibility at a savings that can’t be ignored.
The Russian honey bee hive
- Removing strange cell structure
cross comb - Why I need to get stung more often
- Setting up an improved watering option
new watering system but it was short lived Last Friday July 1 I acted on some advice I had received from one of the BeeSource.com forums. BeeSource.com was started in 1997 and from there it has grown into a wonderful and reliable source of information as well as a viable community of bee keepers and associates. The forums are easy to access and search for topics or pose your own questions as I have. ToDoListHome.com serves as a good place for to me to continue to keep track of things I do around the home including beekeeping. So I was able to post pictures and and questions on my website and then refer the BeeSource forum to them in my questions regarding how things are going in the hive.
During inspections 5 and six I noticed a strange cell structure being built on one of the frames and it turned out to be cross comb containing drone or male larvae and needed to be removed before it caused much of a problem. So that’s the advice I received and I took action and scraped off the comb on July 1. I also learned from the forum as well as direct replies to my website that my queen is doing well. That I should not be concerned about adding a queen excluder when I add a honey super and that I need to take my gloves off when inspecting the hive. Getting stung more often than I have so far will continue to build immunity which can only help as the season progresses.
Prior to opening the hive on July 1 I changed up the watering station because the week before I noticed that mosquito larvae were swimming around in the 5 gallon bucket of water I had in place. Although I was replacing the water every week it was not often enough to prevent one of nature’s scourges from forming. I immediately stopped using the bucket and placed the plastic feeder I had filled with water at the hive entrance. This was a good short term solution but I didn’t like it as it seemed to block too much of the entrance.
I proceeded to some research on the BeeSource.com forums and found watering ideas from the simple to the elaborate. The one thing I learned that most participants on the forum experienced was that their bees mostly ignored any watering solution and seemed to thrive by finding water on their own. I was still interested in a solution and opted for one that involved placing a towel in the bucket half filled with water and covered with nylon screen to prevent mosquitoes from landing on the water to lay eggs. The towel wicks up the water and remains wet and the bees I saw on a youtube video seemed to enjoy it very much. I have yet to see any bees on the system I placed for them but at least it’s there and there is also a rain water run-off stream not 100 yards in the back of my property.
Gardening chore
- This is the time of year for making the effort to garden pay off in dividends
- My chores at this time are mostly concerned with placing compost and mulch to help the plants keep cool and nourished
- I also spend a lot of time tying up and pruning my tomatoes and other plants
- It’s also about this time of year I make plans for what I will plant for fall and next spring harvests
This is the time of year for making the effort to garden pay off in dividends. My latest video on ToDoListHome.com is titled 19 Gardens in less than 4 minutes. Take a look there or at my youtube channel Tokyo 73. If you go to the website ToDoListHome.com you’ll also see a recent post where I list what I’m harvesting these last couple of weeks and what is blooming. We have been harvesting about 3-4 baskets a week of fruits and veggies like raspberries, blackberries, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, peas, beans zucchini, yellow squash and lots and lots of garlic and green onions. We also harvesting herbs such as a Japanese mint called Shiso, basil, oregano, thyme and cilantro. One mistake I made was not planting any parsley this year. I thought last year’s plants would produce another crop that would last all season. A second crop was produced but ran out after one picking in April.
My chores at this time are mostly concerned with placing compost and mulch to help the plants keep cool and nourished. I have also had to spend time moving some plants around to get better sunshine. The peas had a great season as I planted more seeds than ever before and they came up very well. After I cut off the dead plants last week I planted a lot more edamame in hopes of getting an extended crop. Having a Japanese family makes growing and enjoying several edamame harvests a must for us. Edamame are soy bean and they are wonderful steamed or boiled.
I also spend a lot of time tying up and pruning my tomatoes and other plants. It’s not too bad as I employ the use of nylon nets strung on tall PVC pipes to help my gardens grow vertically. This works wonders to provide full production and reduce pest infestations. This is especially important this year as I have not yet provided any assistance to my plants other than water and compost. I used to use neem oil mixed with dish soap pretty regularly in past season but because of the bees I am not taking any chances. What you see is all naturally grown.
It’s also about this time of year I make plans for what I will plant for fall and next spring harvests which actually means that I have to be putting new plants and seeds in the ground again starting next month. We will be planting garlic, peas, spinach, endive, carrots and daikon radish. More on those plans later.
Song of the Day – Cage The Elephant – Shake Me Down
Disclaimer: Neither this site or its owner are in anyway providing anything other than a personal story of what was required to replace a broken oven heating element. No responsibility is to be attached to the owner or site for what you actually do with the information provided.
