Burnt out cooker switch

[Adam78]

Hi, I have neff electric oven and last night there was loud bang and when i went into the kitchen the red cooker switch with socket plug was all burnt out round edges.

Any ideas what could have caused it?

Is it going to require a new switch?

Any help appreciated.

 

[chivers67]

A loose wire inside it no doubt, maybe an earth or neutral

 

[Nozzle]

A loose terminal, leading to heating, leading to melted insulation leading to the eventual pop as it shorted out.

Nozzle

 

[bernardgreen]

maybe an earth or neutral

equally possible to be Live

And Yes a new switch would be advisable.

The explosion could have coated the switch with conductive "debris".. Carbon from burnt insulation and/or vaporised copper from the arcing that caused the explosion

 

[JohnD]

Those large, stranded cables need to have the terminal clamps re-tightened a week or so after fitting, because the soft copper deforms under pressure.

Hardly anybody does it.

It's surprising how un-tight they can be.

 

[Londoner2]

This happened to me once.

Just replaced it, had to cut back the cables a bit, never knew why it happened.

 

[johnny2007]

Shouldn't the rcb trip?

 

[chivers67]

Probably did!

 

[johnny2007]

I mean, before it bangs.
Not an electrician, just curious.

 

[JohnD]

no.

 

[johnny2007]

no.

Thanks, this explains it in details

 

[JohnD]

An RCD will trip when there is a leakage of current to earth.

An overheating connection that burns out is not leaking to earth.

 

[wundaboy]

Given the loud bang and blast marks around it, I'd wager that's on a BS3036 rather than a breaker of any kind.

 

[bernardgreen]

Information for the OP.

A BS3036 is a fuse like this

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

A loose wire inside it no doubt, maybe an earth or neutral

It could also be water running down those tiles, from cooking condensation which has shorted the terminals. Its a fair blast, it will certainly need the switch to be replaced, as an absolute minimum and perhaps some repair of the cables if they are damaged.