Someone explain this to me.

[naomikritzer]

I decided to clean my stove this evening, including scrubbing the drip pans under the burners and those metal rings that hold the drip pans in place. I discovered that the drip pans (which have been in bad shape for a long time anyway) have now rusted through in spots. No problem, I thought, I'll cover them in aluminum foil like my mother always did when I was a kid.

Ed wasn't sure this was a good idea, so I googled it. It turns out that Ed is correct: covering your drip pans in aluminum foil, while common, is not recommended. Apparently the aluminum foil can create a short circuit. Now, if the drip pans were ceramic (on some stoves, they are) or some other insulating material, I could understand why the aluminum foil might create a problem, but my drip pans are metal (hence the rust). So why would aluminum foil create a short-circuit when the metal drip pans don't?

(I also discovered in my Googling that drip pans are available for about $2 each, so replacing them is not honestly that big a deal. But I'm still baffled by this.)

Comments

Not trying to be blunt..

[slystick.livejournal.com]

Drip pans are engineered by People Who Know Stuff(tm) and the assembled stoves are tested and certified extensively both inside and outside their manufacturers, and you just might be pulling a length of foil off a roll and pressing the other side down to make it shiner? Who might have a better chance at avoiding possible short circuits?

Re: Not trying to be blunt..

[naomikritzer]

I'm not going to go wrap them in aluminum foil. (And I wasn't thinking of doing it to make them shinier; the problem is, there are these lacy-looking holes in all my drip pans now, thanks to the rust, and I wasn't going to run out and buy new drip pans at 9:30 at night.)

I just want to know why aluminum foil is a hazard when the metal drip pans themselves apparently aren't. Not to mention all the metal implements I use while cooking. (Admittedly, it's not like I routinely jab the shish-ka-bob skewers down into the inner workings of the stove while it's on. But still.)

Re: Not trying to be blunt..

[slystick.livejournal.com]

The you wasn't particular, it was universal. Think lawyer, "Someone's going to exceed the parameters by wadding stuff into the mechanism, which will break -- write a disclaimer, now!"

>> Admittedly, it's not like I routinely jab the shish-ka-bob skewers down
>> into the inner workings of the stove while it's on.

Exactly. My point. Which I'm glad you got.

Re: Not trying to be blunt..

[naomikritzer]

Ah, okay. Gotcha.

[lexiphanic.livejournal.com]

I suspect it has to do with aluminum being more conductive than whatever metal is used in the pans. Also, since it isn't rigid, it moves around and might get into problem areas more readily than the pans. If that's not it, then you got me, too.

[naomikritzer]

Also, since it isn't rigid, it moves around and might get into problem areas more readily than the pans.

Yeah, that makes a certain amount of sense.

It's because

[halspacejock.livejournal.com]

The drip pans should have a cutout to allow the heater elements to pass through without touching the metal edges. If you put foil in the pans you could easily cover that cutout, run the foil up to the element wires and ZAP. Even if you got it right but the foil moved during an enthusiastic cooking session you'd still cause a short.

Re: It's because

[naomikritzer]

See, I would have followed the lines of the drip pan, if I'd done this, and not covered up holes, cut-outs, etc.

But, this jives with Slystick's comment, above: People are idiots, and all instructions must take this into account. (And in any case my foil could potentially get knocked loose, even if it had initially been wrapped tightly around the drip pan.)

Re: It's because

[halspacejock.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Instructions are now written for people with the mental abilities of a six year old, just to avoid litigation. And that's being insulting to most six year olds.

It's a result of the society we live in. Competitions on the back of cereal packets used to say things like 'Send in an SSAE with the correct answer', and now they need a four page website and a sixteen page legal disclaimer. Each clause is the result of some successful court claim, necessitating yet another loophole-closing maneouver. These days, nobody can stub their toe and say 'My bad' - no, it's the paving contractor or the lack of signage or whatever.

Give me back the old days, please, when we could put knives in toasters and ride bikes without helmets (NB: statements are for comic/satirical effect and are not to be taken seriously. Injuries resulting from enacting the suggestions in this comment are your own stupid fault.)

Sorry to sound off. It's annoying sometimes ;-)

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

We always put aluminum foils in our drip pans when I was a kid. No one got zapped.

We don't do this now because we are veggies and nothing really drips.