Unlocking A GE Self-Cleaning Oven

• If the electrics work.
• Emergency mechanical workaround

Abstract

I hate to admit it, but I'm an old guy and the brain cells I still have work less and less reliably. I'm retired and being the one to stay home means doing housework, apparently, such as oven cleaning. Ours is a 22-year-old GE Microwave Cooking Center. The base has a broiler/oven under a range top, with a face-level microwave up above. The controls for all cooking functions are located on a combined panel to the right of the microwave. The oven cleaning function depends on a solenoid-latched safety interlock that keeps the door closed when the oven is hotter than 600 degreees. The oven cleans at about 900 degrees. Opening the oven at that temperature will probably peel your face off, hence the interlock. There are a specific pair of sequences to starting and stopping the cleaning cycle.

Recommended method if the electrics are functional

There are 6 controls that you have to operate in a particular sequence to start the GE self cleaning cycle:

1. Start timer knob
2. Stop timer knob
3. Oven Set switch
4. Oven Temp knob
5. Latch Release button
6. Cook-Clean lever

Starting the GE self-cleaning cycle goes like this:

1. Remove everything from the oven, and shut the oven door.
2. Turn the Oven Set switch to "Clean"
3. Turn the Oven Temp knob to "Clean" (usually all the way clockwise until it "clicks")
4. Press and hold the Latch Release button - you should hear a click and "hum" as the interlock latch solenoid unlatches the Cook-Clean lever.
5. Move the Cook-Clean lever above the closed oven door from the "Cook" to the "Clean" position (usually all the way to the right).
6. Release the Latch Release button.
7. Set the Stop timer knob to 2 hours later (clockwise) than the Start timer knob. It is not necessary for the timer knobs to be reading the correct time of day.
8. Wait for the cycle to complete. When the oven has heated over 600 degreees, the (usually) red "Cleaning" lamp will be illuminated, and the Latch Release button will have no effect.
9. When the "Start" timer knob rotates by action of the internal clock to the time set on the "Stop" timer knob, the Stop timer knob will pop out, deactivating the oven temperature.

You will not be able to use the Latch Release until the oven cools below 600 degrees, indicated by the "Cleaning" lamp going out. When that happens, DONOT do what I did and return all the knobs to the original conditions (Oven Set to "Off", Oven Temp to "WM" or minimum, etc.) Instead, use this procedure to regain normal use of the oven as soon as the Stop timer pops out:

Unlocking:

1. FIRST THING: Press and hold the Latch Release. You should hear the solenoid actuate.
2. Move the "Cook - Clean" latch lever to the "Cook" position, unlocking the oven door.
3. Release the Latch Release button.
4. Turn the Oven Set knob to "Off".
5. Turn the Oven Temp control to "WM" or its minimum setting.

(In other words, in order for the Latch Release button to operate the solenoid, the Oven Set and Oven Temp knobs must both be in "Clean" position.)

Workaround for dead electrics

If you turn the Oven Set switch to "Clean" and the Oven Temp control knob to "Clean" (all the way clockwise so it "clicks") and the Latch Release button has no effect, that most likely means the latch solenoid is defective. In this case, you have to use extraordinary measures to regain use of the oven. Once the oven door has been unlatched by this method, you will not be able to and should not use the self-cleaning function until you have the stove repaired.

You will need a wood wedge about 3 inches wide, 6 inches long, tapering from nothing to about 5/8" thick, a small utility or dentist's mirror on a rod, a flashlight, a screw driver with the last inch or so bent at a right angle, and a helper to hold the flashlight.

Here's how to force the latch to release.

1. SHUT OFF POWER TO THE STOVE AT YOUR BREAKER PANEL.
2. The range top is designed to lift for service and cleaning. Pry up the range top so you can insert the wedge just above the oven door at approximately the "Cook" position of the latch lever, about 3/4 of an inch from the inside front of the stove. The lever is, of course, stuck in the "Clean" position. You need about a 1/2 inch gap or more to work through.
3. Insert the mirror to the left of the lever, angling it down and to the right so you can see where the solenoid latch contacts the left edge of the latch lever. On our stove it was a darker color than the latch lever. Have your helper shine the flashlight from your cheek right at the mirror to get light in there.
4. Using the bent screw driver, push down on the solenoid catch. Put down the mirror and with that hand move the latch lever far enough to the left that it misses the solenoid catch.
5. Now you can move the lever all the way to the "Cook" position, remove the wedge, and resume normal operation.