Cooker Not Working. Cheapest Way To Diagnose?

RealGem · 6 August 2018 at 12:22PM

Hi, I live in a council flat, and my cooker stopped working yesterday.

This does coincide with me cleaning the top of the cooker, and water remaining on for a while, whilst it soaked up the burnt-on muck. I didn't think this would damage the cooker, as they are designed to allow pans to boil over. But now it seems a strange coincidence that it stopped working straight after I cleaned it. No water went went down the back, as it has a panel on the back.

And it was off at the mains when I cleaned it.

Nothing works. It does not have a clock or digital display, but none of the parts work; none of the rings or either of the two ovens, and the two ovens' switch/knob lights don't come on.

Nothing on the fuse board apears to have been tripped. I did turn all the switches in the electric cupboard off and back on again, but it didn't work.

I don't know where the fuse is on a cooker. That would be the first thing I'd try, but all the online searches have taken me to complicated websites.

This person had a similar issue to me:

https://www.mybuilder.com/questions/v/17208/cooker-switch-or-cooker-not-working

and when he called his social housing landlord, they said they would charge him a callout fee if it turned out to be the cooker that was faulty.

So if that is the case with my council, would a call out fee be cheaper than getting a private electrician to diagnose it?

I don't fancy using a device that tells you if the electricity is working. I hear you have to be experienced to use those or you can cause damage.

I just want to know the cheapest way of getting a diagnosis please.

Thank you

Farway · 6 August 2018 at 3:12PM

Is you cooker permanently hard wired in, or does it have a plug into a wall socket?
I'm guessing hard wired in as you mention 2 ovens

Can it be pulled out? Try and see where the main supply cable form the cooker goes, it will probably go to a cooker connection unit. If it does, is there a switch there that has been knocked into off position perhaps

Connection unit looks something like this
https://www.screwfix.com/p/crabtree-2-gang-45a-dp-cooker-switch-13a-dp-switched-socket-white/63376

RealGem · 6 August 2018 at 3:36PM

Farway wrote: »

Is you cooker permanently hard wired in, or does it have a plug into a wall socket?
I'm guessing hard wired in as you mention 2 ovens

Can it be pulled out? Try and see where the main supply cable form the cooker goes, it will probably go to a cooker connection unit. If it does, is there a switch there that has been knocked into off position perhaps

Connection unit looks something like this
https://www.screwfix.com/p/crabtree-2-gang-45a-dp-cooker-switch-13a-dp-switched-socket-white/63376

Hi, yes thanks, it is hard wired into the wall.

I wired the cooker in myself when I moved in, after my Dad told me to make sure the big red switch is off - it's much like a 3 pin plug - just bigger!

The two large and small electric switches are like that link, but separate from each other.

The big red switch is over the worktop, so I always turn that off when the cooker is not in use.

Do you know where the cooker's own fuse is please?

thanks

robin58 · 6 August 2018 at 3:49PM

I would also check the wiring in the socket. Could have come lose over time. wire could have expanded enough to losen it.

Could also be a faulty switch. Switches do fail after awhile if they are switched on and off many times.

Farway · 6 August 2018 at 3:50PM

I don't know where cooker fuse is, you would need to post make & model to enable it to be looked up.

I'm not sure cookers even have an internal fuse, but make & model should enable a Google search

grumpycrab · 6 August 2018 at 4:09PM

RealGem wrote: »

Nothing on the fuse board apears to have been tripped. I did turn all the switches in the electric cupboard off and back on again, but it didn't work.

I'm not an electrician BUT you really need to know which fuse on the board corresponds to your cooker AND check its off when you do any work.

Robisere · 6 August 2018 at 4:11PM

When you wired up the cooker, did you strip the socket faceplate to access the wiring? Did you spot a fuse? Usually that's where the fuse is.

D_M_E · 6 August 2018 at 4:37PM

If you have a gas boiler, make sure it's correctly powered down and turned off before you do this:

Go back to the mains incoming fuseboard - if it's more modern will be a switchboard - turn off the mains switch then pull out all the fuses or turn off every switch, depending on your board.

If fuses, examine every one then put them back where they come from if they look as if there's no broken wire, then turn on the mains switch.

If switches, turn on the mains switch then turn on each switch one by one.

Don't think the cooker itself has an internal fuse but could be wrong.

RealGem · 6 August 2018 at 4:58PM

Farway wrote: »

I don't know where cooker fuse is, you would need to post make & model to enable it to be looked up.

I'm not sure cookers even have an internal fuse, but make & model should enable a Google search

Thanks it's a Tricity Bendix Double Oven 4862W which I cannot find online at all. The model number is only written on the back in marker pen! The ink on the official sticker is worn off.

The nearest cooker I can find online that looks like mine is the Tricity Bendix SE402

I downloaded a manual for this and it only mentions a fuse on a circuit board.

grumpycrab wrote: »

I'm not an electrician BUT you really need to know which fuse on the board corresponds to your cooker AND check its off when you do any work.

Thanks, it clearly says Cooker, so I will make sure it's off.

Robisere wrote: »

When you wired up the cooker, did you strip the socket faceplate to access the wiring? Did you spot a fuse? Usually that's where the fuse is.

I will have another look, thanks.

D_M_E wrote: »

If you have a gas boiler, make sure it's correctly powered down and turned off before you do this:

Go back to the mains incoming fuseboard - if it's more modern will be a switchboard - turn off the mains switch then pull out all the fuses or turn off every switch, depending on your board.

If fuses, examine every one then put them back where they come from if they look as if there's no broken wire, then turn on the mains switch.

If switches, turn on the mains switch then turn on each switch one by one.

Don't think the cooker itself has an internal fuse but could be wrong.

Thanks,

The switch on the circuit board says Cooker - I only just noticed. I will try and look at the wiring and the Terminal Block, whilst the boiler and breaker switch is off.

Thanks everyone.

RealGem · 6 August 2018 at 6:43PM

No fuse in the socket or big red switch, and both seem fine.

I will try the Terminal Block tomorrow, as it's low down on the cooker and my back is killing me.

macman · 6 August 2018 at 9:49PM

Have you looked at your consumer unit to determine which circuit the cooker is on? A hard wired cooker will normally have it's own dedicated radial circuit, and the fuse or MCB should be marked as such.
Your symptoms indicate that no power is reaching the cooker. If you don't know how to continuity test or test for power at the cooker connection unit safely, using a multimeter, then get a sparky or white goods engineer in, because you are potentially dealing with a 32A circuit here.

Cooker Not Working. Cheapest Way To Diagnose?

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