Direct answer: If your Samsung oven broiler is not working, the most common causes are the wrong cooking mode, a weak electric supply leg, a failed oven broil element on electric models, or a weak oven igniter on gas models. Start with the simple checks first, because a dead broiler and a dead oven are not the same problem.
Most likely: Most often, you are dealing with a broil setting issue, a tripped breaker that left the oven with partial power, or a broil heat source that has visibly failed.
First separate what kind of failure you have: no heat at all, slow weak broiling, or a broiler that works in one mode but not another. Reality check: broil is supposed to cycle on and off, so brief glowing followed by a pause is normal. Common wrong move: replacing the oven sensor just because the oven temperature seems off, when the broil element or igniter is the real problem.
Don’t start with: Do not start by ordering a control board. Controls do fail, but not nearly as often as a burned broil element, weak igniter, or power problem.
The display accepts the broil setting, but the top of the oven stays cold and food does not brown.
Start here: Start with settings, door closure, and the house breaker. Then look for a failed broil element on electric models or no igniter activity on gas models.
Food eventually browns, but much slower than normal, or only one side of the broil area seems hot.
Start here: Look for a broil element that is only heating in spots, a weak gas igniter, or a door gasket leak that is dumping heat.
The oven still bakes, but the top heat never comes on in broil mode.
Start here: That usually points to the broil heat source itself, its wiring, or a broil-side control failure rather than a total oven power loss.
It heated normally before, then stopped after a pop, spark, breaker trip, or self-clean cycle.
Start here: Check for a tripped breaker, a visibly split broil element, heat-damaged wiring, or a component that failed under high heat.
Many broil complaints turn out to be a setting issue, delayed start, or a door that is not latching closed enough for the oven to run the cycle normally.
Quick check: Cancel the cycle, set a fresh broil cycle, confirm the door closes fully, and listen for the oven to respond within a minute.
An electric oven can still light up and seem alive on 120 volts while the broil element never gets full 240-volt power.
Quick check: At the panel, look for a double breaker with one side tripped or sitting between ON and OFF, then reset it fully once.
A burned broil element often shows blistering, a split, rough burned spots, or it stays completely cold in broil mode.
Quick check: With power off and the oven cool, inspect the upper element and the wire connection area for breaks, burn marks, or loose terminals.
If the igniter glows but the broil burner never lights, or lights late and weak, the igniter is a common cause.
Quick check: Start broil and watch through the broiler area. A healthy ignition sequence should move from glow to flame fairly quickly, not sit glowing for a long time with no flame.
You want to separate a simple setup issue from a true heating failure before pulling panels or buying parts.
Next move: If broil starts heating normally, the problem was likely a setting issue, a door not fully closed, or a temporary control hiccup. If the display accepts broil but there is still no top heat, move to power and heat-source checks.
What to conclude: A broil-only failure usually points to the broil circuit, not the whole oven.
Electric ovens commonly lose one leg of power and act half-alive. That can leave lights and controls working while the broiler stays dead.
Next move: If broil comes back after the reset, you likely had a power interruption or nuisance trip, but keep an eye on it. If nothing changes, the problem is likely inside the oven or, on gas models, in the ignition side.
What to conclude: A breaker that will not stay set points to a short, grounded element, damaged wiring, or another electrical fault that needs repair before more testing.
This is the fastest way to catch the most common physical failure without tearing the whole oven apart.
Next move: If you find a visibly broken broil element or a glowing-but-no-light gas igniter, you have a likely repair path. If there is no visible damage and the behavior is still unclear, keep going before ordering anything.
If the heat source looks intact, the next likely issues are a bad oven sensor reading, a loose connection, or heat-damaged wiring. Controls are farther down the list.
Next move: If you find an open broil element, a loose burned connector, or damaged wiring, repair follows that finding rather than guessing at the control. If wiring looks sound and the heat source tests good but broil still will not run, the remaining likely causes are the oven sensor or the oven control side.
By now you should know whether this is a straightforward heat-source repair or a higher-uncertainty control problem.
A good result: If the broiler heats strongly again and cycles normally, the repair path was correct.
If not: If the new heat-source part does not fix it, do not keep swapping parts. Recheck wiring and move to a professional diagnosis of the control circuit.
What to conclude: Broil repairs are usually straightforward when the element or igniter clearly failed. Once you get into control-side faults, wrong-part risk goes up fast.
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That usually means the problem is limited to the broil side of the oven. On electric models, the oven broil element or its wiring is a common failure. On gas models, a weak oven igniter is high on the list. A full power loss usually affects more than just broil.
With power off and the oven cool, look for a split, blistered spot, sagging section, or obvious burn mark on the upper element. If you remove it and it tests open with a meter, that strongly confirms a failed oven broil element.
Yes. A glowing oven igniter can still be too weak to open the gas valve reliably. If it glows for a long time and the broil burner does not light, or lights much later than normal, the igniter is a common fix.
It can, but it is not the first thing to suspect. Go after the obvious heat-source and power checks first. The oven temperature sensor moves up the list when the broil element or igniter checks out and the oven's temperature behavior is clearly off.
Not first. Control boards are expensive and often misdiagnosed. If the breaker is good, the settings are correct, the oven broil element or igniter has been checked, and wiring looks sound, then control diagnosis becomes more reasonable.
High heat from self-clean can push a weak oven broil element, igniter, sensor, or connector over the edge. If the failure happened right after self-clean, inspect for a burned element, weak igniter behavior, or heat-damaged wiring before blaming the control.