Any Electricians? - Oven Problem?!

markfj

Hi all

well, bought a cooker 3 years ago

We werent using it for abou 1-1.5 years due to broken main knob,, got that fixed a few months ago...

Other night was cooking tea, oven had been on for about 5 mins, when it made a loud bang and sparked a fair bit, 1st thing I did was turn the knob off... but the oven stayed on, lights were flickering and smelt of burning... so I had to turn off at mains

so, decisions are:
To get a Cannon engineer to have a look
Replace it

does anyone know what this could be and if so, is it safe to replace or best of with a new one? Though its had hardliy any use since I have owned it and it cost £650

totalsolutions

Worth a call to Cannon support. Sounds worse than it is, might be a faulty batch out there.

Mr_Oink

It could be the energy regulator (aka 'knob'), it could be a blown element. Without being there and taking it apart it is hard to say. The elements are quite common, but judging by your description of a control issue, with no ability to shut it off on the control my initial though would be energy regulator.

withabix

Obviously a lot of cooking done in your house. Not!

Faulty 'knob' if it wouldn't switch off the oven - melted something and shorted across the potentiometer (the innards of the knob).

Mr_Oink

They don't tend to use potentiometers as such. They tend to be rheostats (unless they are electronic based, which usually means they won't normally go 'bang' and blow up in your hand)

JasX

*deleted, didn;t read the original post well enough

-a 3 year old £650 cooker if its in good condition otherwise should be worth getting repaired

markfj

withabix wrote: »

Obviously a lot of cooking done in your house. Not!

Faulty 'knob' if it wouldn't switch off the oven - melted something and shorted across the potentiometer (the innards of the knob).

we have a small halogen oven and the top oven of doube oven worked, so we got by I a a chef by the way, plenty of cooking

appreciate the advice

nembot

I'd go with Mr oink's suggestion (replaced a few for friends and family) it'll probably be the heating element, which comprise of a coiled wire surrounded by an insulating material, which is inside a tube. If the insulation breaks down, the high resistance wire inside can earth out to the tube with a resulting bang, burning smell and no more heat.

Something like this possibly



They're generally between £10-£40 to buy, are usually easy to fit.

Any competent DIY'er should be able to replace, please ensure the electricity is switched off at the fusebox/consumer unit before replacing.

Mr_Oink

I'm not convinced it is the element as the OP says the oven stayed 'on' and there was a loss of control. So I would ?query? the energy regulator first - but I'd mega the element out and look at it for signs of 'blowout' at the same time. One could have cause a Diana Ross {chain reaction.....}
I'll get my coat...........

As for fitting the element, they are really easy *provided* you can get the securing screw(s) out easily. It's not uncommon for captivators to spin and a simple job becomes a nightmare. Glad I've not had to work on that stuff since the 80's myself :-)

markfj

Ok Cheers guys

Well, as someone who knows sod all about ovens or DIY in general, what d you think are my best options:

1. Get a quote from cannon directly, they say it is a fixed price regardless of work, part and time taken (minumun is £105)

2. find someone more local and hope they are genuine? I am guessing most people will expect paying for coming to look?

Mr_Oink

My personal choice would be to use Cannon directly. Their engineers should know the intimate details of your appliance inside out making diagnosis accurate and quick. It would also be logical to assume their access to genuine parts from stock should be quite good.

http://www.cannonservice.co.uk/hs/pages/index.do

This is a money saving forum, and there may well be other local appliance repair businesses that can do this for you. Some are very very good, some are utterly appalling. You may save a small bundle, you may throw money up the wall. I'm not going to write off independents, lots are really good, but unless you have a solid recommendation from someone you trust I would exercise caution. Sometimes it is just more cost effective going to the 'main dealer' because they usually know, right away, what they are doing.