If your oven or cooker has a problem it is usually either the fan element or the grill element has stopped working. The grill element is generally fairly simple to replace, particularly if you are good with mechanics and confident to do it yourself. If not, however, you will need the services of a good local engineer. This will obviously cost you more, but it is better than paying out for a new element and then breaking it because you weren’t sure exactly what you were doing.
Type of Element
You will need to identify which type of grill element is used in your make and model of oven/cooker. Check in your manufacturer’s handbook, as this will help you to identify the replacement part you need.
There are two main elements, infra-red and non infra-red. It is fairly easy to identify them as the infra-red glows red when in use and non infra-red doesn’t – not rocket science is it. Grill elements simply heat by using the current running through the oven. They are fairly basic components, which means they either wok or they don’t
Selecting the right spare part
As stated above, you should be able to identify the correct part from your handbook, but if you have lost this, the make and model should be sufficient to identify the correct part. In some cases it is necessary to also have the serial number as well, sorry to say this is found behind the oven housing, which means you will have to pull the oven out first.
With more common parts, such as grill elements, there may be many on offer on the internet, and you may find a really good deal. As with most things, if the price is much lower than all other quotes there may be a good reason for this, and it could be that this is one of the many poor quality copies flooding the market. Try not to go for the cheapest, but go for a supplier that you have used before and have some confidence in. Read the online reviews as well, as this may steer you away from buying a poor quality part. Read more here