Strange electrical problem with oven...

[tom foster]

I wonder if anyone could give me some advice about a problem with my parents' oven?!

A couple of months ago, the element went (the oven was only just over a year old) and I changed it for them. The other day, the electrics tripped out in the kitchen and it turned out to have been caused by the kettle, which was knackered. My dad reset the trip switch, but later found that the oven was once again not working. Presumably it's the element again, as the rest of it works, just not the lower fan oven.

The oven wasn't in use at the time that the electrics tripped, so this couldn't have caused the element to blow, right? It seems very strange to me that the two things happened at the same time, and obviously an element should last more than a few weeks...

Any ideas

 

[JohnD]

you mean the RCD tripped?

sometimes they trip when there are two faults, which together reach the trip current, even though one or both of the faults may have existed for some time, and when in use on its own, one of them might not have been enough to cause the trip.

Was the oven in use when it tripped? Maybe it had failed at some other time without being noticed.

Your oven elements don't seem to be lasting long

 

[Steve]

Does anything about the oven work? is the clock working?

 

[tom foster]

Does anything about the oven work? is the clock working?

Yes, everything works apart from the main fan oven, which is the same bit the element went in recently.

you mean the RCD tripped?

Yes - there's a separate RCD for the kitchen, next to the main fuse board. It was installed when the new kitchen was fitted a few years ago.

Was the oven in use when it tripped?

No, it wasn't in use. This is what made me think it was very strange that the kettle blowing could also cause a fault in the oven...

I guess I'll have to buy them another new oven element, I just hope it doesn't blow again in a few more weeks...