RBS245PRQ02 Whirlpool Wall Oven - Instructions

I did some research on blogs and identified the thermal fuse as likely culprit. Ordered part from PartSelect.com, but had to call the 800 number because the parts diagram doesn't show this fuse, just the thermostat. The fuse is located on the back of the oven, so it must be removed from the cabinet, but that wasn't a huge project. There are a bunch of sheet metal screws holding the top and back covers that must be removed. The fuse is held on by two screws and has two wire connections. Getting the stove out and disassembling is the hard part, but not really difficult if you take your time. I used a foot stool that was about the same height as the bottom of the oven and just slid the oven out on a piece of cardboard. Make sure you turn the power off before starting.

I watched a video on line about how to do the baking element. I did not want to take the door off so it made it more difficult to get to the back where the connections are located. The broiler element has screws holding it up where the over element is resting on the bottom. The video said that you should test the conductivity but I did not have the object needed to do that. It was supposed to solve 99% of the problem to just replace it. When it was removed, I could see that it had a hole blown out on the coil. Problem solved without a repairman needed which would have cost alot more and I still would have needed this part.

I followed the step-by-step instructions from Steve on the part select videos posted on Youtube.

Visited PartSelect.com and ordered the element. Talked to a really sweet lady who assisted me at the company by ordering the part. Received the part and my husband cut off the electricity to the stove, took off the old element, got the sockets and after pushing on the new element, and he screwed the screws back on, cut on the electricity and we cut the stove on and it was ready to go. VERY, VERY SIMPLE TO REPAIR.

After reading other repair reports and talking to a representative, I ordered the thermal overload safety thermostat. Relatively easy to install after removing the oven from the cabinet, only it did not work. After going over the wiring with a voltage meter, we discovered there was no power to the upper oven, only the lower oven was working. Took the panel off the top of the oven and found a wire which was not attached to anything. Never needed this part at all. This oven was purchased from a second-hand store and was used in a remodeling. $52 for part and $100 for serviceman to make the oven operational.

I found several posts about Whirlpool/KitchenAid ovens having this problem and most of the time this required a replacement of the thermal fuse. Other than the large number of screws to remove the oven and the sheet metal coverings, replacing the fuse was mostly about waiting to get the part. If I had a local dealer with the fuse, I probably could have been baking Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake that same evening. Even so, this particular repair should be left to those familiar with doing moderate-level handyman type repairs. You have to make sure the breaker is off and beware of the sharp edges on sheet metal. Fortunately, the fuse was easy to find using online documentation for my model. Part Select was very helpful when my original order did not arrive. Their customer service was great!

I followed the instructions given and it was very easy

replace thermal safety switch on back of oven

Remove the door from the oven by rotating the two hinge locks. Place on soft working surface with inside door facing up. Remove screws from side , bottom and top of door. Place screws in groups as they were removed, the heads are different. Do not mix screws. Rotate door so outer Glass front is now on top. Slowly remove inner panel by sliding the outer glass panel towards bottom of door. Carefully remove inner portion of door with the two inner glass panels. Remove inner broken glass from innermost panel. replace with new glass and reverse operations to reassemble door. Make sure the white filler maaterial is back from edge of inner door glass or you will be able to see it from the front after reassembly.When all assembled, slide door back onto hinges relock hinges and you are ready to go.

Not difficult, but there are several layers of glass, metal, and insulation inside this door. Keep track of where the screws go and have room to lay out all the layers. You'll reach the cracked inner glass last.

Turned the circuit breaker off, removed trim and the oven screws, pulled oven out, and placed on a stand in front. Electrical cord was just long enough without disconnecting. Removed the back panel, installed the old thermostat with the new one the same way. Used the same phillips screwdriver for the operation. Installed the oven using reverse order. Turn circuit breaker on, back in business. Prior comments definitely helped me a lot. Thanks.

1. REMEMBERED TO SHUT OFF THE APPLICABLE 240V BREAKER. 2. Carefully removed the 2 screws holding the element to the oven structure 3. Carefully extracted the 2 wires from the holes at the rear. 4. Carefully removed the wires from the old element 5. Attached the wire sockets to the new element. 6. Carefully eased the wires back through the holes at the rear 7. Attached the 2 screws through the element holding clamp to the rear wall of the oven. Everything went better than I had expected.

Had to screw off old terminal block & screw on new one

re thermostat/fuse breakage after cleaning: I replaced the part a 2nd time within a year, both times after a cleaning cycle and after 10 years of no similar problem . This time, when putting the oven back, I cleaned all around the door frame and noticed the exhaust grill was heavily filled with dust strands. It's possible this reduced the exhaust enough to overheat the oven during long high temp cleaning and blow the thermo fuse. Just a thought.

A generic video on Youtube was actually very helpful as it showed how to remove the door from the oven for easier glass replacement. The only tricky part is getting the panes of glass in the correct order during reassembly,as there are actually 4 pieces in the door. Only the piece that faces the oven's interior was cracked on mine. The two inner pieces between the two outermost pieces are the ones not to mix up. This little repair also gave me the opportunity to thoroughly clean all 4 pieces of glass that had become rather dirty over 12 years. Now the oven door looks like new!