Broken Heating Element – How to Spot, Test, and Fix It

Heating elements are the heart of many appliances – ovens, water heaters, dryers, even dishwashers. When they quit, you get cold showers, lukewarm meals, or sticky laundry. The good news? You can often tell what’s wrong before you call anyone. Below are simple steps to diagnose a bad element and decide if a DIY fix will do or if you should call a pro.

How to Diagnose a Bad Heating Element

First, listen and look. A sputtering oven or a water heater that clicks but never heats? That’s a red flag. Next, check the power. Make sure the appliance is plugged in and the circuit breaker isn’t tripped. If the breaker keeps flipping, the element may be short‑circuiting.

Grab a multimeter – it’s cheap and handy. Turn the appliance off, unplug it, and locate the element’s terminals (usually two screws on the side of an oven bake element or a metal coil in a water heater). Set the multimeter to the “ohms” setting and touch the probes to the terminals. A healthy element reads between 10 and 30 ohms. If the meter shows infinite resistance (or lights up “OL”), the element is broken.

Don’t forget the visual check. Look for dark spots, cracks, or a broken coil. In a dryer, a broken heating element often shows a broken wire or blistered insulation. In a fridge’s defrost heater, a melted plastic sheath is a giveaway.

DIY Repairs vs. Calling a Pro

If the element is clearly damaged and you’re comfortable with basic tools, swapping it out is usually straightforward. For an oven, remove the element screws, pull it out, disconnect the wiring connector, and slide the new part in. Re‑attach the wires, tighten the screws, and you’re done. A water heater is similar but may require draining the tank first.

Safety first: always disconnect power at the breaker, and for gas‑powered appliances, shut off the gas supply. Wear gloves and safety glasses – a broken coil can be sharp.

When you should call a professional:

• You can’t locate the element or the wiring looks overly complicated.
• The appliance is still under warranty – DIY work might void it.
• There’s a persistent breaker trip after you replace the element, suggesting a deeper electrical issue.
• The appliance is a built‑in model with limited access, like a wall‑oven or a sealed water heater.

Pros can also run a full diagnostic, checking thermostats, relays, and control boards that might be causing the element to fail. That saves you from replacing parts you don’t need.

Bottom line: a broken heating element is usually easy to identify with a multimeter and a quick visual scan. If the part is accessible and you have basic DIY confidence, a replacement can be done in under an hour. For hard‑to‑reach elements, warranty concerns, or recurring electrical problems, calling Bridgewater Appliance Fixers guarantees the job is done right and safely.

Keep a spare element on hand for the appliances you use most. It cuts downtime and prevents panic when the next cold shower hits. And remember, regular cleaning – clearing dust from oven elements or dryer vents – can extend the life of the heating element and keep your appliances humming longer.