I'm sure this is probably a stupid question....but

[Cheri]

I was using my oven a little while ago, and heard this loud pop, and saw that the element was flashing white and burning in a spot. Turned the oven off, and it continued to burn. I went outside and turned it off with the circuit breaker and it immediately stopped burning. My question is, why did it continue to burn after the oven was off, but didn't stop until the circuit was turned off. Shouldn't the circuit breaker have tripped? I removed the element and there is no burn behind it or anything, but it puzzles me as to why it kept burning. TIA

Cheri

[Speedy Jim]

First, a sincere salute to you for having the presence of mind to think of tripping the breaker off. Most folks would still be running around like a chicken with no head :-)

Appliances live by different rules. The built-in controls (like the thermostat) are allowed to open only one side of the 240V Line. When an element develops an internal short to the (grounded) sheath, current will continue to flow even though the control says plainly "OFF".

Jim

[Cheri]

Thanks so much for the answer Jim. That makes sense to me.

Cheri