Whirlpool Broiler not working

Oven/Range/Cooktop Repair
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1

Hello,

I found this website on google while trying to find info and parts for my oven and it seemed to be a pretty cool site.

The broiler on my whirlpool GS773LXSB is not working properly. The broiler on this is at the top of the oven, not underneath in the drawer.

When I select broil from the control panel, the gas valve opens, ignitor clicks, and the broiler lights and stays lit for about 10-20 seconds, and then shuts off. Very rarely does it stay lit, but every once in a while it will work. I have noticed that most of the times that it does work (rarely) is when the oven is already hot from the bake function.

I am not that familiar with ovens, but I do tinker with furnaces, so I think I would be able to fix whatever is wrong. To me it seems like a bad flame sensor. I would assume that if the sensor does not detect a flame within a certain amount of time, it shuts off the gas supply so it doesn’t fill my house with natural gas, just like in a furnace.

On this site I have found two parts that are causing me some confusion. PN# AP4326911 is called a sensor (part#12 on the chassis picture) but does not look like what my oven has off of the broiler burner manifold. This looks like the sensor that is in the far left upper corner, which I assume is for oven temperature (accubake sensor?). I can not imagine that this receives enough direct heat to determine if the broiler has lit since it is about a foot away from the broiler manifold.

Part number AP2990525 is called an ignitor and looks exactly like what is coming off of my manifold and looks just like what a furnace flame sensor looks like. Does this ignite and sense if the burner has lit. I do see it sparking when it ignites, so the ignitor part is working.

Is there some other temp control sensor that can detect broiler function that I am missing, or perhaps something wrong with a relay or contact on the main board?

My oven is not showing any codes, although I am not sure if it will automatically show them, or if I have to go into some sort of menu to see them. If so, please let me know how to retrieve these codes.

Thanks for your help!

Guy

2

Ok, more info now…Perhaps this will help.

Today I tried to fire up the broiler again, and I noticed that about 10 seconds after it lit, the gas near the ignitor stopped burning, almost like it shut off or a breeze was inside my oven blowing it out. The end near the door kept burning for another 5-8 seconds, then the whole thing shut off. This happens everytime when the oven is started from room temp.

So just for testing purposes, I turned the oven on bake and get it up to 350* and turned it off, and then fired up the broiler. It worked perfectly, didn’t blow out the flame, and stayed on for good. So it seems that if the inside of the oven is already hot, the broiler works perfect, but when the inside is cold, it gets blown out for some reason.

Is there maybe too much gas flowing into the manifold or something else that would cause it to be sensitive to the temperature inside the oven on startup? Is the sudden heat from the broiler causing a high pressure area near the manifold that will not allow the gas to remain in the place where it needs to be? I am stumped

3

Hi,
I was wondering if you ever got any kind of response to this problem. I have the same model range and have been having the same problem since converting it to propane. It worked fine on Natural Gas, which is not available where I live now. Conversion has been done to it and checked by 3 different service people. Anyway, broiler shuts off just as you described and I thought I’d ask before investing $100 for a new regulator.

Thanks,
Alan

4

No, I never got any response nor have I fixed the problem. As for now, on the rare occasions I broil, I just warm up the oven first. I have an idea what is wrong, but I don’t want to replace it until I have a sure way of testing it or figuring it out.

I am assuming the the flame sensor on the broiler is bad and when it starts from cold, is not sending the proper signal (usually these sensors use resistance to vary a small amp load back to the main board to show that a flame is present) to the control board and cuts the gas off, but when it is hot seems to behave normally. That is just my best guess at what is wrong, but no one has been able to confirm that for me or give me a proper way/specification to test it.

The regulator could also be the cause, but since I have no idea how that regulator adjusts or meters the gas, I do not really know how to test that either. Again, to expensive to just replace it on a guess.

Please post any findings if you figure out what is wrong with yours. I wish you luck my friend:)

5

11 years later… Searching and find my exact problem. It seems that nobody every replied. This may be usual or not, but I bought my Whirlpool in 2005 so we are now 16 years old. I’ve never had an issue. Do I get it fixed or do I have to buy a new oven? I’ll give the “heat the oven up” try but really hope there might be an answer.