Cooker tripping RCD when plugged in.

monz87

Hello,

My son had an accident and spilled a whole lot of water over our Cannon gas cooker. Since then, every time the lead is plugged in (to get the display and spark) the RCD trips immediately. We are currently using the cooker with the electric off, just turning the gas on and lighting it with a flame. It has been several days now and it still does it, trips the main RCD instantly when it is plugged in and turned on.

I've tested the lead on a different socket as well as tested the regular cooker socket with a toaster and have come to the conclusion that it is definitely something to do with the cooker.

Any ideas guys? I am generally quite capable and confident at opening things etc.

jk0

Have you had the oven on though?


You really need that sort of heat to dry out wires.

monz87

jk0 wrote: »

Have you had the oven on though?


You really need that sort of heat to dry out wires.

Not yet, I've just turned the top one on though, and will leave it on for a while.

Can't turn the bottom one on, I don't have to push the knob normally for the gas to come out for the bottom oven and as soon as I turn the knob it keeps clicking and the flame comes. I couldn't hear any gas coming out from the bottom and obviously there's no clicks. With a flame from a cooker lighter nothing happened. Lets see if the top one can dry anything out. Although I would have thought a few days would be enough time to try by itself.

monz87

Right, to my surprise, the cooker is actually working now after about half an hour of the top oven at full and an electric fan heater blowing in to the bottom oven for about 15 minutes (not sure if that made any difference). Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!

Nilrem

The spilled water will have seeped into the electrics on the hob/controls creating a short by the sounds of it to the case of the cooker hence the RCD tripping (doing it's job as that could have been nasty, if it had been a short between live and neutral it could have fried the electrics in the cooker or blown a fuse/tripped the breaker)..

By running the oven you've basically forced the water to evaporate faster, clearing the short.

The good news is that by the sounds of it the cooker is working now, but it could affect the lifespan of the cookers electrics (as it could lead to corrosion over time), I'm slightly surprised the oven wasn't proofed against water ingress as it's not exactly uncommon for pots to boil over etc.

Keep an eye on it and remind your son to be careful (I say this having done something similar, fortunately without tripping the RCD).

monz87

Yes and I am so glad it all seems to be working just fine. My 12 year old son was also happy and said he’s glad he wont have to pay to have it fixed... lol. I think he may have learnt his lesson!