Are special screws required inside an oven?

Question

I am replacing the oven grilling element in my Inglis Citation Programmable Cooking Self Cleaning Oven stove model IUP 37500 because it burned out. I have a two-part question.

1. The OEM element was mounted to the oven roof using a combination bracket / shield. The new element does not align to this bracket / shield for mounting. Does the shield serve any other purpose that warrants retaining it, such as shielding the exterior top of the stove from the oven heat? Is it important to retain it?

2. The OEM mounting bolts and screws are no longer snug / tight when screwed in with the new element's roof and rear brackets. I had to drill a new hole for the roof bracket. I plan to replace these with new machine screws. Do I need a special type of screw that is rated for self-cleaning oven temperatures and that won't trigger galvanic rusting with the existing oven wall material (steel with coating)?

Original burned out oven grilling element in situ showing combination bracket / shield:

Answer 1

Use stainless screws, and not just because of rust.

Zinc plated steel (silvery but less so than stainless, slow to rust) give off toxic fumes at even cooking temperatures let alone self cleaning temperatures.

If you somehow evaporated all the zinc without inhaling it, you'd then have screws that would rust very easily.

Black nickel screws would be OK, except they rust quite quickly; they're less common in consumer quantities than zinc plated.

Answer 2

"Does the shield serve any... purpose that warrants retaining it...?"

Whether or not its purpose is apparent to you (or anyone else), it would be prudent to retain it.

"Do I need a special type of screw..."

Use stainless steel screws, so they won't rust. Should be no concern with galvanic corrosion (steel-on-steel).

Answer 3

Retain the shield.

It is there to significantly reduce the heat flow towards the top side of the oven.

It is important for the fire safety of the whole thing.