Oven broilers are the heat sources at the top of a Viking oven: an electric element on electric models, and on gas ranges an infrared burner that heats a metal screen until it glows.
as used by Viking Appliance Repair Edmonds, (206) 210-3547
05 Care Handbook
Broil Element and Infrared Broiler Care
An Edmonds owner who knows which broiler the Viking has knows how to care for it, and what a broil setting that produces nothing most likely means.
| What you are looking at | Normal | Watch | Call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas infrared screen on broil | Glows evenly across its face | A patchy glow, or slow to light | No glow and no flame |
| Electric broil element on broil | Glows red along its full length | A darker stretch, or slow to glow | No glow, a blister or a visible break |
| Broil and bake on a gas range | Broil lights once bake is off | Broil slow to light while bake is quick | Bake lights every time but broil never does |
Two kinds of broiler
On Viking’s Professional gas self-clean ranges the broiler is an infrared burner at the top of the oven that heats a metal screen until it glows; the glowing screen does the searing. Viking’s electric wall ovens use a broil element, and the VESO5271 family offers Hi, Med and Low broil on the selector.
Care for each
Viking is plain about the gas infrared broiler: no special care, no adjustment, and no attempt to clean it, because its own heat burns off whatever condenses on it. Care goes into the pan and grid, washed after every use.
An electric broil element needs no cleaner either: let it cool, lift away any loose food, and keep sprays off it.
When broil does nothing
On a gas range, a broiler that neither glows nor lights is an ignition question: the glow igniter and its gas valve, or the direct-spark control on the VGSC306, VGSC366 and VGSC486 generation. If there is a smell of gas, switch the oven off, get everyone out, and phone the gas utility or 911 once outside.
On an electric oven, a dead broil setting usually means the element, the selector or the control. The cold-element signs are the same as for bake elements. An electric element is priced in the bake or broil element band, and the diagnosis that decides it is part of Viking oven repair.
Oven broilers: questions owners ask
- How do I clean the infrared broiler in a Viking gas range?
- You do not. Viking's guide for its Professional gas self-clean ranges says the infrared broiler needs no special care, cannot be adjusted or cleaned, and burns off deposits as it runs. Clean the pan and grid instead. If the screen stops glowing, call Viking Appliance Repair Edmonds on (206) 210-3547.
- Why will my gas range not broil while the oven is baking?
- By design. The same Viking guide explains that the infrared broil burner and the bake burner cannot run together, for control and for safety. Turn bake off, then select broil. If broil still will not light, Viking Appliance Repair Edmonds can trace the ignition side on (206) 210-3547.
- Is a broil element priced like a bake element?
- An electric broil element sits in the same published band as a bake element, shown on the cost page for that work. A gas broil burner is a different part and is quoted after the diagnosis. Viking Appliance Repair Edmonds confirms which applies on the $89 visit, booked on (206) 210-3547.
- Signed
- Hollis Yamada
- Specialism
- Service technician — refrigeration and cooking
- Years in practice
- 21
- Holds
- EPA Section 608 certified
