repair of double electric wall oven

Growing my own food, harvesting rainwater, using a well are part of being self sufficient, and so too is maintaining and repairing the house, automobiles and appliances.  So when, a couple weeks ago,  the wall oven showed no sign of life, no beeps, no noise, no lights, nada, I began thinking why.  And with me about to leave for Australia and the Thanksgiving meal fast approaching, I felt pressured.

Usually there are warning signs before a shut down,  but not in this case.  I checked the fuse box – it was fine.  I located the paperwork – purchased October 1999 and the control panel was replaced within a year of purchase under warranty because of intermittent problems.  And since then, for the past 14 years, it had been fine.  I checked current prices and figured a new one would cost >$1,800.  I scoured the internet and concluded the problem must be with the power supply to the control panel or the control panel itself.

Before I go further – WARNING -this can be dangerous stuff – the oven uses 240 volts which is lethal so if you are not competent with electricity, leave well alone.  I noted that there was 120 volts at the panel, so power to the panel was ok.  A panel operates on 24 volts and often there is a transformer separate from the panel which steps down from 120v to 24v, but there was no separate transformer.  I noted that the transformer was located on the panel.

So probably the transformer or the connections had failed.   If I was not leaving for Australia within 4 days and if Thanksgiving was not less than 3 weeks away I would have tried to locate and fix the problem myself.  But I did not have this option.  Buy a new one?  No such luck no new panels were offered anywhere on the internet.  And then I found an interesting website “fixyourboard.com” where they specialize in repairing control panels.  Lots of good references supporting their work.

My panel model # was not listed on their website so I emailed and within a few hours they replied they could fix it for a flat fee of $190 which included a 2 year warranty and return shipping.  The day of my departure to Australia I sent it off via UPS, 2 days later they emailed they had received it, and within 3 working days they emailed it was on its way back.  I received the panel today (mailed Tuesday and received Friday of the following week).  It was accompanied with an analysis stating their diagnosis (failure in power supply circuit), and that they had replaced additional components “shown to be failure prone as a preventative measure” and had fully tested the control board.  I attached the cables, reinstalled and switched on at the fuse box and it works.  And the atmosphere of dread in the house has lifted.