Has anyone else had or heard of anyone having problems with GE / Hotpoint
ranges that get some kind of short in the broiler which causes it to
suddenly light up as bright as the sun and start sparking & flaming, like a
road flare, right at the electrical connection on one end at the back wall
of the oven? And when you turn the oven control knob "off", and the
electric "power" light goes off, but the broiler stays energized and you
can't turn it off?

We had this happen today. It happened all of a sudden. We had the oven
(not the broiler) turned on on our GE / Hotpoint MODEL#: RB757 range (7
years old). It had been on about 4 minutes preheating. Then it made a loud
POP and lit up bright as the sun inside the oven compartment as sparks and
flames shot out the place where the broiler coil connects to the electrical
contact in the back wall of the oven.

When the fire trucks arrived and the firefighters rushed in, they kept
spraying it and it just kept hissing and smoking but stayed lit up real
bright at that one point and on fire (I had turned off the control knob and
assumed maybe there was some food stuck on it that was causing it to still
burn, but they said no, it's still energized.). As soon as I switched off
the breaker, the bright light and fire and hissing immediately ceased.
There was no food on the element.

They dragged the range out the front door and onto the concrete driveway and
doused it, and said I should contact the manufacturer, which I will.

But first I want to see if this has happened to others. I looked for any
evidence on the web of this happening to anyone else; all I found is one
person said she got "E2" or soemthing error code displayed on her range and
the broiler would come on even with the knob in the "off" position, and had
to turn it off at the breaker. But she didn't have the sparks and fire.

Any evidence of this not just happening to us is appreciated. Thanks,

- Bobby & Susan