Electric Cooker Faulty

Bigphil1474

We've got a Smeg dual fuel cooker that was in the house when we bought it. I think it's about 9 years old. I was cooking yesterday, and the circuit it's on tripped off with the main RCD going off for that circuit. We've got 2 main circuits on the consumer unit. After about half an hour working out what the issue was (as we had quite a few things on the go), it's definitely the cooker causing the RCD to go off. Fortunately it's on a clearly marked sub RCD of it's own, so it's currently switched off and no further electrical issues.

I'm just trying to see if anyone might have any idea why it's causing the RCD to go off. When I reset the RCD for that circuit , everything comes back on. The cooker comes back on in some sort of safe mode. The clock flashes, and AIUI needs reactivating before anything else works. It's when I try to reactivate it that the circuit goes again. Just prior to going off originally, we were using the grill function. We don't use that very often, but I had a couple of nice gammon steaks that needed grilling. The grill does cause the control panel to get very hot, but it has always done in the 2 years we have lived here. Could it have melted something?

It's similar to this model. The main oven is also the grill so you can only use one or the other. We did use the oven on Monday no issues. I've had an oven trip RCD's before but that was when the oven bulb blew. Tbh, we were thinking of getting it replaced anyway, but the kitchen needs remodelling to make the gap wider so might have to get it fixed.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6686175/electric-cooker-faulty

What were you using on the cooker when it tripped?

First thing to check to me would be the heating element assuming you were using the oven or grill at the time.

Bigphil1474

We were using the grill , which is the top heating element within the oven space. Unfortunately, I can't check it as I can't get the oven to come back on to see if that is no longer working. At our old house we had a Cannon range cooker, and when a heating element wasn't working, that element just wouldn't come on, but the cooker would still fire up.

Woodstok2000

Get an oven technician out to look at it. If it's just the grill element it'll be cheaper than a new oven!

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6686175/electric-cooker-faulty

Fortunately it's on a clearly marked sub RCD of it's own, so it's currently switched off and no further electrical issues.

RCD not a MCB or RCBO?

The common fault with cookers is a breakdown of the insulation in one of the heating elements. This could also be a neutral-earth fault, so not necessarily the element which was in use at the time the fault first happened. An appliance repair person should test the insulation on all the elements before swapping any over.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82163189#Comment_82163189

We have a Bosch, and when the fan heating element went, it just stopped heating the oven, but otherwise nothing else happened. So sounds like it is more than just a heating element failing.

victor2

SMEG offer a fixed fee repair service with "no-fix, no-fee" and up to £400 worth of parts included. It's for appliances up to 10 years old, so might be worth a look.

WIAWSNB

Hi Phil.

Almost certainly it's as said above - an 'earth-leaking' element, which may, or may not, have actually fully failed. Ie, it might not be visibly obvious that the element has failed, and some can continue to heat up to some degree, but a failure of the insulation layer inside the element will allow a power leakage to the casing, and so trigger the RCD. Also as said above, the 'leakage' can run via a shared neutral, so the suspect element - in this case the grill - might not actually be the guilty party. But, chances are it is…

So, power offski, and make sure t'oven is cool. Stick yer 'ead inside with a torch, and closely examine all of the casing of the grill element. Also run your fingers along it. Chances are you will detect a 'bulge', and possibly even find a complete split or breakthrough. Both shout 'guilty'.

Also surf for how to swap this element - hopefully it's an easy one to do, and from fully within the oven cavity. (Mine, unbelievably, was secured with a bolt, and the nut on the other side of the oven was not captive, so it required an whole oven outski job, and removal of the rear panel.)

If you can detach the element, you should be able to check it for continuity. If 'zero', then clearly the element has blown. However, the element might still be 'ok', but is just leaking, and to test for leaks is tricky.

Can you confirm - if you turn off every control on the oven, the RCD can be reset? Or does it trip the RCD as soon as you reset the clock?

Anyhoo - carry out a visual inspection of the grill element. Are there two, one inside t'other?

jackieblack

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82163258#Comment_82163258

Not necessarily - we have a Rangemaster (was there when we bought the house) and when the element/s went it tripped the RCD.

Heedtheadvice

Sorry Albermarle, "So sounds like it is more than just a heating element failing." is poor logic in this case Section62 has it right.

Most frequently it is a heating element that is causing low insulution making the RCD trip. Moisture can be another problem but it can be failures elsewhere. Very easy for a competent person to eliminate the element issue or repair ( if the element is still available ) or delve further if necessary.

A local electrician or appliance technician should be competent to do the work.

Bigphil1474

Thanks all for your comments. I've got Jim the local appliance repair guy coming out tomorrow. Unfortunately the buttons on the clock panel aren't working (possibly melted) so I can't really test anything. Hopefully just the heating element as suggested.