My lovely wife decided to make me nachos in the oven this afternoon as a nice treat while I brought the groceries in. When I got the last of it in, she came out of the kitchen, white as a ghost, and says "there was a big flash and then oven isn't working anymore".

A quick inspection revealed that the broiler element is toast (something I saw frequently with my electrician grandfather in the 60s). The burners and the oven light are fine. What surprised me is the display is dead now too. Is it possible that a surge could have fried the board when the element blew?

I'm quite capable of replacing the parts myself, but after checking Maytag Canada's site (too bad you don't ship to Canada), I'm looking at $275+taxes+shipping for the element and board. Am I looking at replacing the harness as well? Any checks I can make before I go ahead and buy parts? If I have to replace the harness as well, I'm looking at over $400 in parts (w/shipping and taxes), which may mean a visit to the appliance store.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Joel

The fuse would be an idea.
The problem is that a transistor or an integrated circuit will blow much faster than a fuse will when hit with a voltage spike so in your case it probably would not have helped.