20RJ736H Hotpoint Range - Instructions

Successful repair to Our GE range, manufactured prior to 1965 (when installed in house). Pulled range from wall, unplugged, removed burned-out broiler element. Previous check with GE to make cross reference of range part number to Part-select part number for this nearly 50-year-old range. Obtained new part and installed. Works. Range has self-cleaning oven, accidentally destroyed thermal switch attached to element mounting bracket, difficulty with frozen mounting nut. Self-cleaning still works; thermal switch locks out a solenoid which defeats door latch; prevents premature opening of oven door when oven too hot to open safely. Internet search did not find GE part but there are generic devices of the same type available; will consider installation later.

After ordering the proper part with the help of the phone customer service tech, I moved the stove from the wall, unclipped the connector, removed the two screws holding the sensor in place, and removed it. Reversed the above to put it back, and the oven holds perfect temperature.

Removed sensor from back wall of oven by removing 2 screws from flange. I could not pull the wire-nut connections out through the small hole and thought I would have to pull the whole oven out of the wall to acess the connections from the back so instead I clipped the wires close to the old sensor and connected the new sensor with the small wire nuts provided, then enlarged the hole in the oven wall, being careful not to pinch the wires then pushed the wire nuts and extra wire back through the hole and put the screws back in the flange.

First I removed the two screws in the back. then I removed the two screws attached to the brace at the top. pulled the old element out. Removed the screws that attatced the wires to the element. Attached the wires to the new element. Pushed the wires back in. Pushed the element in and attached the screws. Reattached the support. Turned on the broiler. The element smoked for a few seconds before getting red hot. It is working fine.

Pull the stove out from the wall and unplug. Had to remove back of stove, the aluminum sheilding and the duct work to get at wires use nut driver. Then used nut driver to remove nuts from broiler unit inside stove. Take the front overn dover off first. The new part did not match up with the wires so I used a needle nose to spread the wire clips just a tad so they would fit over the tabs of the broiler unit. Do all of this behind the stove as you do not have eough wire to do this effectively from the oven side. After I had the tabs fitted to the broiler unit. I removed them and fed wires back through the stove. I then went back to the front of the stove and put the broiler back in and put support bar back in to ceiling of stove and the two nuts back on to affix broiler to back of oven. Put the aluminum baccking and duct work back onto the back of the stove and plugged it back in. Pretty easy job.

Turned off power at panellboard. Disconnected mounting hardware from inside oven chamber. Pulled failed heating element with wires attached into the oven chamber. Disconnected wiring and reconnected them to the new heating element. Tightened screws while holding connectors with pliers. Applied electrical tape to connections. Pushed wires back into opening and secured heating element back into place. Restored power nad verifed proper operation. The other heater purchased will be used when the bake element finally fails,

(1) Turned off power source.
(2) Removed rust on screw heads before attempting to loosening them up.
(3) Pulled the element out to expose the connections.
(4) Disconnected with phillips screw driver, taped off wires to prevent mixed-up during re-installation.
(5) Re-installed new element using new screws provided.

When the new element arrived, it was an inch too short between the wall plate and the terminals. The oven is so old, the manufacturer does not make it any longer , so it was an aftermarket part. I had to mount the temperature limit switch between the element rods without the mounting clip or it would have been touching a live terminal. It was a very tight fit and so the clip wasn't really needed anyway. It works fine.

Simple repair that was complicated by not being able to remove the oven door, leaving a long reach to the element connections in the back of the oven. Other than the accessibility issue, the repair is easy. Remove two scews, pull the element out about 3 inches to access and unscrew the screws holding the wires to the element. Then reverse the process with the new element. But, because of the long reach, there were alot of dropped screws and cussing.

First removed oven door, according to Reader's Digest repair manual, then removed two screws holding element. Pulled element out several inches, then removed one side of bracket holding up front of element so that bad element could be pulled further out. Then disconnected two red wires from one side and two light blue wires from other side. Removed old Element. Attached two light blue wires to one side and two red wires to other pole, inserted element back into rear wall and attached with two screws, Re-attached bracket holding up front of element. Re-installed door. Tested and it worked fine.

Broiler element arrived at my door 3 days after ordering which was nice. Apparently the billing dept. is out of the USA so don't be surprised, like I was, to find a suspicious looking charge for a currency exchange fee (mine was 42 cents). I had to drill two new screw holes in the base of the new element in order for it to fit my oven. I also had to use heavy wire snips to cut off about an inch of the top of the new element base. The female electrical connections also had to be spread out with needle nose pliers since the new element connections were slightly thicker. With all of the issues I had I was frustrated and it took about two hours. On the other hand, the part works perfectly and was priced right. Hopefully it will fit perfectly out of the box for your oven.

I removed the unit easily with anut driver, however the unit also supported the thermo-link. I had to use the hack saw to relieve a small opening for the thermo-link to pass through. No real problem. Then a few holes to be drilled to attach the 'link' to the base of the broiler unit.

BUT-I went into the website listed on the box. GEAppliances.com Guess what? Their price was twice yours!!

I looked on Youtube for a how to video. It was accurate but the screws in my oven were NOT phillips head screws, they turned out to be sheet metal screws. I used pliers at first which was a PAIN but then I borrowed a socket wrench from the neighbor that was MUCH better!! I had wanted to do it myself to prove to my husband and son that I could but I ended up needing their help because the screws were so tight.... But we did the repair ourselves!!!

turn off electricity to stove and simply remove the screws from the heating element and put new element back in place .put screws in and turn power back on and test.

First I shut off the circuit breaker for the oven then removed the screws that hold the element in place. The element was pulled out about 3 inches and unscrewed the 2 screws to disconnect the two wires. Upon receipt of the new element, I simply reversed the above process and the oven performed like new. Very easy, very quick and very grateful to have the oven operating again and it was a very inexpensive fix.