If Salvador Dali did oven elements...

[John Rumm]

On Friday I had a call from a former next door neighbour; "help my circuit breaker is tripping!"

So I went round to investigate. When I finally managed to convince him that he was not overloading the circuit by using the exact same load he has had on it for the past decade, and it was nothing to do with what he had plugged into what socket, we managed to establish it was actually an RCD trip, and the cause seemed to be the cooker which has an electric oven. (that also tied in nicely with with the circumstantial evidence of the half cooked fish supper!)

So I explained the problem with mineral insulated heater elements, and told him it probably had a small split in it and was likely on its way out. I told him all the usual stuff about you might be able to get a bit more use out of it if you can get it hot enough for long enough to dry it out. Said he ought to get it replaced though, because once leaky it will never be quite right again.

So (inevitably) then he asks if I can replace it. I said "possibly if I can find out what model oven it is or what the part number of the element is".

Anyway, while stooping down on the floor to look in the oven to see if I can find model number printed somewhere, I glanced at the top element:

Seems a fairly safe bet that was shagged! (Still I was right about it having a split in it ;-)

Local spares shop had one in stock, so grabbed on on Saturday, and put it in... problem solved.

[Tim+]

Isn't that a grill element rather than an oven one? In my fan oven the element surrounds the fan behind the oven back plate. Just wondering if it's shagged because he's always using the grill rather than the fan element?

Tim

[Bob Eager]

Sometimes it doubles as a second oven. I had similar...a Hotpoint 'second oven' where the element drooped so low it scraped the food!

Nasty to repair - the casing had to come off almost completely (I left one corner where I'd have had to remove a load of stuff), and lots of very sharp edges. Even the push-on connector didn't want to come off.

[John Rumm]

Its a dual top element - hence the four connections. It can run either

1800W or 2300W depending on which bits are on.

Its a dual fuel cooker, with the single oven powered from a 13A socket.

(this is the same cooker that long term readers may recall featured in a previous RCD tripping story, when it finally transpired someone had got a bit squirt happy with the kitchen cleaner, and filled the plug up with liquid!)

Although the oven had the traditional circular fan enclosure at the back, it did not appear to have the circular element more traditionally associated with fan ovens.

According to the lady of the house, the grill capability had never been used.

[John Rumm]

This one (an Indesit) was actually quite easy to be fair. 8 Screws to remove the back panel, then pull off 7 spade terminals (4 on the element, and earth, and a pair onto a temperature sensor), undo another two screws, then refit.

[Chris Bartram]

Very similar to my cheap-and-nasty Teba oven (and the element looks similar). In mine it's a combined grill/oven element.

[Brian Gaff]

I used to have one that buzzed very loudly. the trick was to thump the cooker in the right place to stop it. Brian

[DerbyBorn]

"Brian Gaff" wrote in news:nmkks9$vo5$1@dont- email.me:

If he is using the grill element (and I feel sure that is what it is: - to heat the oven then he is not having any thermostatic control. The grill is meant to be used with the door open. Certainly is like that on my Electrolux.

[Tim+]

Agreed. That looks more than normal "wear and tear" and suggests to me that the element is greatly overheating. Either through misuse or a failing/failed fan.

I know that some ovens have pictograms that are far from obvious for controlling the oven and it's easy to select the wrong setting.

Tim

[Tim+]

This kind of thing leaves me scratching my head. Goodness knows what older folk make of it.

Tim

[dennis]

Fan fan + grill top heat + bottom heat fan + top + bottom heat grill off

no idea what B is unless its a cleaning cycle.

You don't need a manual for any of it except B and I can probably tell by turning it to B.

how old is older? I have retired now.

[Bob Eager]

That doesn't really follow. There could still be a thermostat in there.

The Hotpoint I mentioned used an under-floor element in the top oven/ grill as well as the exposed top element. Both for oven use, top one only for grill. And it was thermostatically controlled.

[spuorgelgoog]

I'd have been ashamed to ask someone to look at that oven. I've seen worse, but not in any house I've lived in for longer than a week.

Owain

[Robin]

In my experience your views may well change if you (a) cease to be capable of DIY cleaning on an oven which is just above the floor and (b) don't have enough disposable income to pay others to clean your oven. That's why plenty of older people switch to a table top oven like the Belling MK318 when they struggle to bend. Can often be picked up second hand for a *lot* less than a fitted oven and with much less disruption.

Besides, the neighbour probably knew that John is unshockable ;)

[Nightjar]

...

I wonder if they turn the cooker off at the wall after use, as some people do, without waiting for the fan to stop running.

[RJH]

On a similar tack, a friend asked me to look at a non-water heating dishwasher. It'd been stood for 3 months. Revolting.

[Brian Gaff]

I hate to think what might happen if Picasso did electric fires then. Oh hang on a moment that might be a new market for Dysan. Brian

[John Rumm]

I think they forget there is even a cooker isolator switch!

[John Rumm]

The fan is running fine.

This one has three settings - Oven with fan, oven no fan, and grill. It then has a separate temperature control. The grill setting is interlocked with the door ISTR.

[John Rumm]

Oddly enough she did say she would like a high level oven, on the grounds she can't clean the existing one easily. She was also suggesting getting a pro in to give it a full going over.

(to be fair the photo made it look worse than it was in reality)

Never mind older - I find getting down to low stuff is not always easy - especially in confined spaces (one of the down sides at starting off

6'3" up!)

I expect "he" would not have been worried at all as long as he got his dinner. She on the other hand would likely be horrified - but I did not shower her the photo close up ;-),