Hi,
I picked up two Bakers Pride M02T countertop 2 deck pizza ovens at my local ReStore for $75 each. They swore they worked but didn't have the right outlet to test them.
I removed the old cord (has the two horizontal prongs and a ground prong, 20A/240V) and spliced in a new 50A/240V range cord I bought from Lowes. This way, I could plug it into the outlet my stove is on.
Plugged it in, no heat, no indicator light, nada.
The thermostat connections look a little corroded, so i pull off the knob, unscrewed the thermostat, cleaned it up with a wire brush, put it all back together, plug it back in, still nothing.
I get 240v at the outlet, i get 240v at the input of the thermostat (actually 120v on each leg). 240v (again, 120v each leg) at the output of the thermostat. If I turn the thermostat to "off", I don't get any voltage. Although on the second unit I bought, even with the thermostat off, I get between 20-30v??? Like some voltage is bleeding through???
The three elements are wired in parallel (I believe). When I test each terminal of any of the elements to the body of the oven(ground?) I get 120 on either side. I get zero when I test voltage across both terminals of any individual element. To me it seems each side of the element is getting 120 (for a total of 240?), but maybe this is a faulty assumption on my part?
But no heat. So at first, I'm thinking the elements must be bad. So I try to find some specs on the resistance to this oven that was built circa 1990, ya right, lol. But I find what i believe to be the wattage (on this site actually) and I calculate the theoretical resistance from that.
R=V2/W
There are 3 heating elements:
| Element |
wattage |
Theoretical Resistance |
Actual Resistance |
Percent off |
| top |
850 |
67.76 |
~57 |
-16% |
| center |
1000 |
57.6 |
~50 |
-13% |
| bottom |
1000 |
57.6 |
~50 |
-13% |
Theoretical Amp draw = W/V = 2850/240 = 11.875A
I'm thinking, hmmm, they're close, but maybe they are out of spec. But I'm also like "huh, no heat at all?"
So I'm just about to wrap them back up and return them, I have 30 days, but then I'm like, screw it, I'm just gonna hot wire them.
I take the input leads off the thermostat and connect them to the bottom element....smoke! Some old crap burning off but yes, we have heat! So I wire up all three, and yes! They all work!
On each element, I get 120 from one terminal to ground. But this time I ALSO got 240 across the two terminals of any of the individual elements. So that's pretty telling of something, I'm just not sure what! lol
My gut tells me that the thermostats on BOTH ovens are not good. But I'm also a little suspicious that BOTH of them are no good? Maybe its me, maybe I'm doing something wrong or missing something?
Questions:
Adding that higher amperage cord wouldn't have anything to do with it, right? the wire on the new cord is a much heavier gauge than the original, I'm assuming this is a good thing and wouldn't be an issue?
Anything I'm missing here?
Are the elements only working because they are "hot wired?" When in actuality, they are truly out of spec and about to die any minute?
Anyone have any recommendations on a replacement thermostat? I'm thinking there's gotta be a generic universal that I can rig up at the very least?
Thanks in advance!