Oven wall switch feels warm

fossman

I have just gone to turn our oven off at the wall switch and the switch is warm. I did notice this a couple of days back but just thought it was because the kitchen was very warm.

I have tried looking at the back of the switch but, when unscrewed, the switch will only move around 5mm away from the wall.

Do I need to get a professional in?

ThisIsWeird

I would suggest, 'yes'.

Oven switches are over-rated if anything, and I've never been aware of one becoming warm - mind you, I don't often touch them.

It isn't impossible that it's 'ok' - normal 13A plugtops can become warm under heavy, but acceptable, use, so why not an oven switch?!

What over do you have connected to it - just an oven, or an electric hob too? What amount of cooking were you doing? And could we have a pic of the switch, please?

stuart45

You could have a slightly loose wire inside, or maybe the switch is faulty.

Grenage

Worth checking the connecting are secure.  Oven cables are likely to be 6+mm, so much trickier to move around.  If it went in, it can come out.  A good time to replace the switch if it's not aesthetically pleasing. 

No shame getting a sparkie in if you're unsure.

Ayr_Rage

Slightly warm should not be an issue.

Too hot to touch, burning smells or sounds of arcing are warning signs.

Albermarle

fossman said:

I have just gone to turn our oven off at the wall switch and the switch is warm. I did notice this a couple of days back but just thought it was because the kitchen was very warm.

I have tried looking at the back of the switch but, when unscrewed, the switch will only move around 5mm away from the wall.

Do I need to get a professional in?

Is it possible it has always got warm and you only just noticed? Or are you sure it has only started recently? In the latter case then clearly something has changed and it needs looking at.

fossman

ThisIsWeird said:

I would suggest, 'yes'.

Oven switches are over-rated if anything, and I've never been aware of one becoming warm - mind you, I don't often touch them.

It isn't impossible that it's 'ok' - normal 13A plugtops can become warm under heavy, but acceptable, use, so why not an oven switch?!

What over do you have connected to it - just an oven, or an electric hob too? What amount of cooking were you doing? And could we have a pic of the switch, please?

It only has an electric oven connected to it, link to the model is below.

https://www.electriq.co.uk/p/eqovenm4steel/electriq-eqovenm4steel-built-in-electric-oven

The other day the oven was on for an hour but this morning the grill was only on for 10 minutes.

twopenny

It's interesting. When I moved into this place fitted kitchen had all appliance switches set into the tiles - and I noticed the hood lights over the cooker, that switch gets very warm. But with that I just switch off when not in use.

Other switches on the bank don't.

I think with the cooker one being more heavy duty I'd get an electrician to come and look if you can find one. They'd probably drop in on their way home from work being a small test.

stuart45

It's possible when the wires don't have much slack in them, that when kitchens are renewed and the wall surface is brought out a bit by having thick tiles etc.
and they just loosen the plate and replace with longer screws and not actually taking the plate off. This can put a bit of tension on the connections.

FFHillbilly

worth checking the terminals first, assuming you feel competent turn off the cooker circuit, remove the 2 screws and pull the switch forward enough to access the terminals. check they are all tight, if they aren't you've found the problem and tightening them will create a better connection and reduce the heating effect.
if they are all tight, the switch internals are failing and whole switch will need replaced, if left it will eventually burn out and fail

ThisIsWeird

fossman said:

It only has an electric oven connected to it, link to the model is below.
https://www.electriq.co.uk/p/eqovenm4steel/electriq-eqovenm4steel-built-in-electric-oven
The other day the oven was on for an hour but this morning the grill was only on for 10 minutes.

Ok, that's interesting.

That oven - if it's that exact oven - is a plug-in type, so rated at no more than 13A - ie, you could plug it into a normal socket if you wished. That red isolator switch will surely be a 20A+ jobbie?

It should surely not warm up, certainly not with only a grill - 2kW-ish - being used for 10 minutes.

It's not definitive, but I suspect that something is amiss with that switch, most likely a wire terminal being slightly loose.

If you look inside a base cupboard to the side of the oven housing, can you see the oven cable? If so, photo please.

That red switch may have appeared to only move forwards a few mm when you tried, but good chance the cables are being fed from the hollow wall behind it and were just sticking in the supply holes - a bit of wiggling, back-and-forthing, should make it come out much further, and allow you to check that the screw terminals are all tight, and that no plastic cable insulation is melted.

Of course, you only do this if you are competent, and you have isolated the power at the CU, and have checked that it's dead. Better it than you.