|
Hi Ryan, Your description doesn't make it clear to me where you measured current. Specifically, I'm not sure what you mean when you say "terminals."
All the oven elements I've changed had bayonet type connectors on the two ends which went through the back wall of the oven. The wires which connect to the element have the female ends that fasten to the male ends on the element. Being a 240 volt appliance, the oven does not use the ground as a return. The two hot lines each furnish the return for the other. When the oven is turned on and heating (before it reaches the temperature it is set for and the thermostat turns off the element) you would get a reading of 120 volts across either hot line and the ground, or 240 volts across the two hots. The thermostats of 240 volt electric baseboard heaters are either single pole or double pole. A single pole thermostat opens to interrupt only one line to the heater while a double pole thermostat interrupts both lines. This means with a single pole thermostat, there will always be 120 volts to the heater when the thermostat is "off" and you can measure 120 volts between one line and the ground. This current is available to the heater but does no work (make heat) because it has no return as long as the thermostat keeps the other line broken. The situation you describe sounds like what you would find if the switch was a single pole type---as they are not supposed to be. This would not wear out the element any faster because current to only one side of the element would not make it do any work, but it would represent a dangerous situation. A person who touched the hot wire and the grounded chassis of the stove (a not unlikely event) would conduct 120 volts and might be electrocuted. I could be wrong about the oven switch normally being double pole. I usually unplug ranges when I work on them and, come to think of it, that's what you should be doing too. All the best, Stan
| 
