Pro tip: Don't ignore a rattling fan in your oven like I did

Had a weird noise coming from my oven fan for like 2 weeks and I kept putting off looking at it. Then last Wednesday while I was roasting chicken thighs at 400, the fan blade just snapped off completely. Loud bang, smoke everywhere, ruined a $15 pan of chicken. Had to order a new fan assembly for $45 and spend my Saturday taking the whole back panel off to fix it. Anyone else learned this lesson the hard way or just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

joelt708d agoMost Upvoted

Opened the oven one time to a smoke show because I ignored a clicky igniter for months.

joelt708d agoMost Upvoted

First place I'd look is the bake element. Those things can crack and arc without you ever noticing until the gas buildup finally catches. Igniters click but sometimes the real problem is the element itself getting weak spots from years of heating and cooling. Pop the back panel off and run the oven in bake mode, watch that element for any orange glow or sparks before gas even kicks in. Had a GE oven that would click fine but the element was basically welding itself apart inside, just never saw it until the big smoke show happened.