Honey-Do: Item #1
HW discovered two burners on our gas stove suddenly stopped working. The burners are integral to a single component that plugs in to the stove top. Diagnosed the problem with a multi-meter – bad spark controller. That, and the igniters on the burners could have been bad, I couldn’t say for sure. Hauled the entire component to an appliance parts store in Anchorage, one I rather like and have used before. I went in thinking the entire component would likely be an FRU.
Spoke with a nice man.
“Got another one of these?”
“Nope. But we can probably order you one.”
Part numbers on the box were entered into the computer. Searching....
“Yessir, found it. Jen-Air replacement part. We can have it here in a week or so.”
He points to it on his computer screen.
“What?! $395.00!”
For a shoddy piece of metal, two stamped burners, a spark controller and two igniters. WTF?
“Look here, all I really need is a new controller and two igniters. Can’t we search for just these parts?”
The nice man feels my pain. Click click on the keyboard he goes.
Eventually, he locates a detailed parts list for the entire component. He zooms in and sure enough, there it was – we both ah-ha’d the second we saw it – the controller and igniter, with individual part numbers!
On a different web site he enters each number. Searching...
Bingo. He’d found what I needed, and only what I needed.
Including shipping, delivered to my doorstep – $84.
Big Shout-out to RepairClinic.com
Of course, I had to disassemble the damn thing to replace the parts. To say it was “cheaply made” would be a compliment. It was one of those deals where everything had to be oriented and connected just right before fitting the top into the base. Make just one mistake and the whole thing had to be lifted out and everything done over again. Having hands the size of a four-year old’s would’ve helped.
Finally got it right, screwed it up tight and snapped it back into the stove top. Slowly turned the knob… tic tic tic tic … Poof! Viola!
I give it a year or two, maybe more. Bookmarked the site.
Moving on to Item #2 this weekend.