Poor electric burner performance

[Shel_B]

Yesterday I experienced something quite strange: the burner that I most frequently use wouldn't boil water. I was making some spaghetti in a skillet, and it seemed that the water wasn't quite coming to a boil. Later on, I tested my observation by using plain water in the skillet and taking the temp with the Thermopen. The water never got above 210-deg F, and took a very long time to even reach that sub-par temp.

I did some checking and learned that the heating elements can degrade and wear out. I never knew that. So, I took the rarely-if-ever-used element from a back burner and swapped it for the poorly performing front burner, and I was amazed at the difference. The element heated very quickly by comparison, and got the water up to temperature faster than any time in recent memory.

So, a cautionary tale: electric burners degrade and one might do well to check and replace them every now and then. I didn't know that until this incident, and perhaps others here are just as uninformed as I was.

Additional comment: I was cooking some onions in a Le Creuset pot earler today, and had the heat set to medium, where it's usually been for as long as I can remember. Surprise! The new burner was strong enough that I had to turn down the heat to prevent scorching.

 

[Jetronic]

Glow plugs for diesels are the same thing, only a bit higher power density. They also wear out and get lazy.

 

[Shel_B]

Glow plugs for diesels are the same thing, only a bit higher power density. They also wear out and get lazy.

I discovered that on my 7.3 Powerstroke and didn't know what the issue was until talking to a Diesel tech.

 

[skyactiv]

The range in my first house was a Whirlpool coil electric. Had the same issue on the main front right burner. The prongs on that burner got dark/burnt. Cleaned them on a wire wheel and it worked good for awhile. Had to replace the receptacle eventually and replaced the range with a GE smooth top convection oven ordered from Sears online.