magic chef range burned plastic smell

[odin]

My Magic Chef electric smooth top stove / oven started misbehaving today after several years of no problems.  This is model 6898VVV.  When I turned on the front right burner, there was a burned plastic smell and a thin column of smoke came out of the crack between the bottom edge of the stove top and the top edge of the front control panel.  The heating element did start to glow, but I turned it off worried there's a short in the wiring somewhere.  No error codes on the display, but I don't know if I need to go into some special test mode to see that.  All the controls appear to work fine, and the other burners work without any trouble.

I don't have any paperwork for it, and no manual.  I've been searching for a manual for this stove, but have only found parts diagrams online.  Anyone know where to find a manual for this, or have any suggestions on probable causes of the problem?  I'm hesitant to just throw the breaker and start dismantling without some sort of guidance.

Suggestions?

[Bailey]

You will need to lift the top and inspect the wiring and burner. The electronic control is for the oven so will not show codes for the burners. Open the oven door and look up where the top sits over the oven cavity. There are some screws that hold the top down. Once those are removed the top will lift up.

[PerrysRepair]

Switch the breaker off or unpug the unit before lifting the top for inspection

[odin]

Thanks for the tips, guys!

Couldn't find a manual, but decided to tackle this today.  To get the top off this unit, I had to pull it out of the surrounding cabinetry, and undo two screws in the back top, then push the top towards the back and lift the back up.  Tricky, but doable.

Luckily, it appears to be a simple problem.  One of the female spade connectors on one of the wires for the switch for that burner had fried - the plastic insulator over the connector had melted to a black mess.  Not sure why, although it looked like something had spilled down into that area at some point in the past, so perhaps it finally reached critical mass.  Went down to the local Fry's to get a new insulated connector, snipped off the old, attached the new, reassembled, and it seems to be working fine now.

Scary bit -  the circuit for this stove does not have a circuit breaker in my breaker box.  Tripped all the breakers, but it still had power.  Managed to reach the power cord and unplug it after I'd removed the lower drawer below the oven.

Tips for amateurs like me:

1. Raise the unit - if your stove has a lip that goes over the edge of the surrounding countertop, and you have adjustable feet on your unit, give each foot a few turns before you slide it out.  It will be gentler on your counter top since the lip won't be resting directly on the counter top while you're wrestling it out.

2. Beware the marble - if you have marble countertops, be gentle.  I thought I was being gentle, but apparently not, and broke off a section of what I'll call "under-lip" - the lower half of the rounded front edge of my counter.  Now I have my next project...

Thanks again!