Oven doesn't heat up - UPDATE: Fitted a new element and something blew!

PeteW

Hiya, my new element arrived today so I just tried fitting it.

I got it in OK, and then turned it on while the back and front panels were off and it was out of it's kitchen unit - and it worked fine!

I then screwed everything back together, put it back in it's unit and turned it on again - and there was a big bang and a flash of light/sparks came out of the top of the oven!

Now nothing works! Previously the grill and fan/light were working, but they don't any more!

Any ideas what I've done and how to fix it??

Pete

Thanks

whowants2brich

At best, you've tripped the fuse box or isolation switch for the cooker, and lost electrics to the entire cooker or kitchen, depending on how it's wired. most cookers will have their own fuse isolation switch so the fuse in there needs to be replaced before you'll get the fan/clock/light going...

But before you replace the fuse, take out the new element, otherwise you'll only blow it again. If the light comes on in the oven, you can see what you've done wrong. If the light doesn't come on then it'll be a case that you've blown the oven and need to replace the whole oven...

Let us know and I'm sure someone will advise once we know if the oven still works or if, literally, you've blown it!

PeteW

There is an isolation switch for the cooker, but this hasn't been tripped as the extractor fan still works (which didn't when the isolation switch was off).

Should I try the fuse on the cooker's plug?

whowants2brich

PeteW wrote: »

There is an isolation switch for the cooker, but this hasn't been tripped as the extractor fan still works (which didn't when the isolation switch was off).

Should I try the fuse on the cooker's plug?

Yes. Find a spare fuse of the same rating, and make sure it works in another appliance, before swapping it. Take the fuse out of something which you know works, put it in the cooker. And put the cooker fuse into the appliance. Then you'll know which fuse has gone, if at all...

The aim is to work out if the fuse has gone, which should be the case, or if you've fried the electrics in the hob, which is possible but unlikely...

If you can put a working fuse in and get the fan or light working, you're lucky and might yet be able to get it working, as long as you haven't blown the new element, which we'll possibly never know...

Just be extra careful and unplug everything else on the isolation circuit, and keep others away when you plug the oven back in, in case it blows again...

ormus

looks like something moved and or touched when you reinstalled it.
or a connection came adrift.
you need to take care when sliding them back in. some of them are very very close to the hob above.
the cables can get caught and snag.

Red_Cat

I had a similar issue last year. I thought it was the element as well and replaced that, but the oven still didn't work.
Turned out to be the control switch/knob. On my oven, it's a rotating knob on the outside to set temps, grill, oven op, bottom etc. Behind the facia, the knob has a load of contacts along it's shaft. Some of these had become damaged, breaking the circuit.

PeteW

OK, I replaced the plug fuse, took everything out and started again - checked all the wiring, everything seemed OK. Put the case back on (carefully!) and it's all working just fine! Yay! Thanks for your help!

ormus

good job. saved yourself 50/100 quid there.