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mom2sulu

Continued Issues with Bosch Double Ovens---HELP please!

6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

I am hoping that I am not double posting since this was already on here a few minutes ago and then disappeared—the website seems extremely glitchy today.

So to recap:

Purchased Bosch 800 Double Ovens summer 2015:

While they did "bake," it was uneven where I have to rotate my pans. I didn't like it, but I could deal with it.

Fall 2018--

Major issue began--losing temperature while baking--I would just realize it wasn't hot anymore. I would switch to the bottom oven--it would hold temperature for awhile and then also lose heat. Weird thing--it is sporadic. I would have 6 days that it would work and then on the 7th, it would start this all over. Sometimes the bottom would heat up, sometimes not, to save me. Occasionally I could change temps or baking modes in the top and then it would work. But overall, it would work more than it wouldn't, but I never knew what I would get.

--Called in Bosch approved technician--very professional, but baffled by issue due to no diagnostic warnings that showed up and, of course, it worked normally while he was here. He called Bosch directly and together, he and the Bosch technician decided that it was to do with the "brains" of the oven and $600 or so later (outside of my warranty :( he installed a new "motherboard/keypad."

--October 2018

--I had the same issues within a week. Technician came back. He called Bosch--and they said, again, motherboard issue. I was confounded because how could the new board be bad? Quality control issues?? Anyway, because this motherboard was new, this one was covered by warranty, so it only cost us $165 to have a 2nd motherboard put in. I was skeptical that it would work. The technician advised me to purchase an inside oven thermometer to watch my temps so I did. Surprisingly, the oven did work until Thanksgiving of this year so maybe it is a motherboard issue? (However, I have to point out that I am a light cook and that oven wasn't really used beyond heating up breakfast rolls and baking cookies much this year.)

Thanksgiving week 2019

--Same issues, heat failing again. Again, I tried all modes. It would heat up, then lose heat. It took a lot of messing with the oven for an hour and a half to get my Thanksgiving dressing baked. I have to admit I was pretty angry Thanksgiving day. It was great to have the inside thermometer because it did reveal that the heat was always 100-150 degrees too low. It failed three times that week, but it is now working just fine…or so it seems. I haven’t baked anything over an hour.

Bosch Customer Service

My first attempt was through email and disappointing. I basically was asking if they knew of issues with the motherboard or if it could be something else because I didn't want to keep fixing something that wouldn't work, or would just work for a limited amount of time. I also questioned that they had diagnosed it correctly if it is still failing? I received a form response back saying they couldn't do anything without a diagnosis. Sigh, that's the problem, people.

Second attempt-- phone call. The man I spoke to was sympathetic and professional and passed all my concerns, issues to his manager for review. The manager's response was that they will give us 20% off the new parts needed but that we again need a diagnosis. Double sigh.

Summation

So here we are. What do we do?

  1. Cut our losses and move on. New brand, new ovens—not Bosch obviously.
  2. Continue to try to salvage these ovens. They were $2,700 new and we have already put in close to another thousand. I’m guessing we will be looking at another $600-800 to repair them again.
  3. Overall, it was just a disappointing experience with Bosch. I was hoping they would recognize that we are going around in circles here. I don’t really think the diagnosis has ever been accurate. I mean three motherboards failing in about a year’s time? Doesn’t make sense to me and according to the reviews out there, it doesn’t seem that others are having this issue. Also, we have followed Bosch's directions on what to do/repair. If they can't get it right, who can?

Thank you for reading this lengthy post. I welcome any thoughts/suggestions/advice. :)

Comments (21)

  • 6 years ago

    I had something similar last year and then realized I needed to use the multi rack option for heating if I was heating up more than one item. Have you tried that?

    mom2sulu thanked cpartist
  • 6 years ago

    Thanks for your response. :)


    I have used the multi-rack option in the past with cookies, and it worked fine when I needed it.


    This heating issue is usually with just one item. It seems to be more prevalent when I go over 30 minutes of baking time, but not always. It is very irregular. The technician last year also suggested that I videotape what I do/try so I did do that this Thanksgiving week. There is really no rhyme or reason to any of it. One time it works/next time, no. And it does affect top and bottom ovens--convection and regular baking modes, but not all the time. Sporadic failures.

  • 6 years ago

    Sounds more like a bad temperature sensor than a bad motherboard. Something has to send readings to the motherboard. How has the oven been cleaned? Could it not be seated fully?


    https://partsdr.com/part/00642855-oven-temperature-sensor?gclid=CjwKCAiA58fvBRAzEiwAQW-hzbyE0Dq0W4wcduN0q9Wuz5d8gYHjXtrhVGZspsCBrZAnvSZvrb-2BRoCxCoQAvD_BwE

    mom2sulu thanked User
  • 6 years ago

    Honestly, it hasn't been cleaned--it's not dirty, again, light use.


    I don't know anything about how it is seated--I do know that the tech pulled it out, put it back and said everything looked good.

    I believe they went down the route of motherboard because it affected both ovens. Also, the keypad always reflects what the temp should be and doesn't show that it is not up to the correct temperature.

    Sorry I am mechanically clueless--but I did always feel that the "motherboard" was not the accurate diagnosis. But how do you argue with your tech and the Bosch tech? The Bosch tech was the one adamant about the diagnosis. My in home tech was puzzled because he felt that the oven looked/acted correct always and nothing would ever come up in diagnostics. It always worked perfectly when he was here. It just made me look crazy. lol. That is why I videotaped it the last time--to have proof. :)

    I saw the link--wouldn't that be even nuttier, if it was such a simple/inexpensive fix. Ugh!


    Thanks for chiming in!! I appreciate it.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    It’s a super simple DIY attempt at a fix. And it’s a common issue with many ovens. I’d at least attempt it rather than calling a service tech back.

    mom2sulu thanked User
  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    This seems to be what I see when a hidden bake element fails.

    During preheat the oven mostly heats using the broil element. After preheat the bake element becomes the primary element and the broil element only comes on for short cycles to aid in browning.

    If a hidden bake element fails this means that only the broil element is working and the short cycle of the broil is not enough to maintain the heat in the oven. This means the oven temp will fall off about 150 degrees.

    mom2sulu thanked Jakvis
  • 6 years ago

    Jakvis,

    Thanks for weighing in! Is it possible that both the top and bottom ovens would have this issue? I mean, it would be two bake elements, right? Each oven would have one?


  • 6 years ago

    A loose connection in the main harness could be the culprit and cause both ovens to react similar.

    mom2sulu thanked Jakvis
  • 6 years ago

    Thanks for your extra advice!

    I made another ham yesterday. I was able to get it baked by turning the oven off and on about 7-8 times. It seems that once it reaches about 15-20 minutes at temperature, it begins to fall off.

  • 6 years ago

    Turning it off and on resets the preheat mode which is mostly the broil element doing the heating. Again this is indicating that your bake elements are not working.

    mom2sulu thanked Jakvis
  • 6 years ago

    Thanks again--it sounds like an easy fix. Why they went down the other route, I'll never know?

    Thanks again to you and Live Wire Oak--you both are such assets to the Gardenweb!

  • 6 years ago

    If you have a tech come again the only way to properly diagnose this is to pull the oven completely out of the cabinet and check the power coming to the elements themselves and then trace backwards if they don't have power. Could be something as simple as a high temp cutout or similar.

    mom2sulu thanked Jakvis
  • 6 years ago

    Thanks again--it will be after Christmas, but I will let you know what they find!

  • 6 years ago

    Did your issue ever get resolved with your ovens?

  • 6 years ago

    Good to see that it finally did get resolved in a satisfactory manner but unfortunate it took so long and the frustrations built so high. Situations like these is where manufactures lose customers and potentially would be customers as well.

    mom2sulu thanked cue003
  • 6 years ago

    Mom2sulu - can you please clarify - when you said you got a replacement oven, is it the same make and model? Or a different brand altogether? Or still a Bosch but a different model? Thanks!

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    We replaced it with the exact same model--the 800 series Bosch double ovens.

    Honestly, it came down to sizing. It fits our custom cabinets perfectly where other brands would have required some additional adjustments.

    Also, I scoured the reviews for these ovens, and it does seem to get overall great reviews. We just figured we got a lemon initially.

  • 6 years ago

    Mom2sulu, your Bosch double ovens have the lights in the upper left and lower right of the oven cavity pointing out towards you... does it have lots of flo are if trying to look in on food with the door closed? I am deciding between the 800 and the benchmark since the benchmark lights are on the side walls vs the back wall. Not sure it make any actual difference.

    Bosch wouldn’t let you go up to the Benchmark for the replacement?

  • 6 years ago

    Honestly, we didn't ask for the Benchmark--we were just happy to have anything new at that point especially considering that really thought we were going to be entirely stuck with totally replacing it at our own cost.


    Are you asking if the lighting is adequate--couldn't tell from your post? If so, yes, it is good--no issues with that.

  • 6 years ago

    Sorry autocorrect messed up my ask. I was asking if there is glare coming from the lights because they are behind the food facing directly out at you.