Trip Switch after cleaning oven

Lisa marsh

Cleantalk Member
Hi everyone I cleaned one side of a large range Britannia oven today and once cleaned I went to switch the grill on to burn off the element and the switch trip. I've cleaned the oven once before and as soon as it tripped I remembered that this oven had done the same thing the last time I cleaned it. Everytime we stitch the fuse back as soon as you turned the oven on it trips again so we are leaving it over night to see if somehow moisture has go into the oven and it needs to dry out.

Has anyone got any advice if this has happened to them before

Many thanks
 

Paul Dennis

Cleantalk Member
Dont get wet in the electrics and it wont happen , if you did it last time may be change what you are doing or you will do it one day and it wont come back on and that will cost you . stick a hair dryer in there to dry it out .
 

David Lynch

Cleantalk Member
If I see an element thats warped or looks bad before I start I always point this out to the customer pre warning them that the element is is in a poor condition and wil need replaced soon. I had a range clean last week where I startded up both ovens to dry off. They both heated up OK , but when I turned them off the trip went. The culprit was the upper element in the small right oven. It was tracking to earth when hot, then OK once cooled down. Heated the oven up again around 20mins later and it worked. Switched off and tripped again. I explained to the customer who had just moved in that the element was faulty and was tripping to earth once hot due to something expanding inside the element. I told her that if she paid for the part I would fit which was a reasonable compromise on both sides. There was a big commotion on FB in my area a few months ago regarding an unnamed oven cleaner who refused to clean above the grill element. He got flamed by the FB EXPERTS and there were people teling the woman to go out and get some OVENPRIDE too. Its one area of the job where you get held to blame for a faulty component as "IT WAS WORKING BEFORE YOU CLEANED THE OVEN".
 

Duncan McIver

Cleantalk Member
Hi Liza, there is several reasons why this happens, most common is as previous said by other members ,water/moisture on the element although there are various other reasons.
You should find yourself a domestic appliance engineer, give out his number out every time you encounter a problem . Clean his oven and get him to come to your rescue everytime you have a problem.
Its the best advice I have ever had, I have used the same engineer for all my time.
As with everything you will get the blame from the customer, even if its not your fault
 

Steven Johnson

Cleantalk Member
Hi lisa

I doubt very much it is anything you have done in your cleaning process as it would happen all the time.

It's more likely the element has a crack in it and moisture is effecting this. If they cleaned the cooker themselves it would no doubt happen to them which is what I would say in a nice way.

As mentioned above try and strike a good relationship with a good local electrical appliance repairer. It's worth its wait in gold when you have the odd problem like this. Mine always starts by saying he gives independent advice

Good luck
 

David Lynch

Cleantalk Member
Had an element failure after a clean yesterday. Tried the hairdryer but dead in the water, kept tripping to earth. The element didnt look in too bad a condition and I was pretty careful around it, but £46 down the pan.
 

David Lynch

Cleantalk Member
You woz right @Daniel Nailor. Went round on Saturday morning to fit a new upper element and the original powered up without tripping. The problem with this, is that once this occurs your customer doesnt have a working oven and you feel under pressure to put things right ASAP. I told her I would hang onto the part for a couple of days to make sure all was good before sending back for a refund.
 

John Bolton

Cleantalker Veteran
David,

I would have said something like:

"You have a faulty element which will fail again at any time, possibly half way through cooking a Christmas dinner." "Though the wear-and-tear of the outer tubing allowed some moisture in whilst it was being cleaned moisture can also come from food being cooked and this too can lead to a short-circuit and your breaker tripping".

"Since I have located and purchased a replacement element, as a goodwill gesture to a good customer, if you wish I will change it for you without charge for labour if you agree just to pay for the element itself"


With air getting in, the element will burn out quicker than usual and you don't want to get another call next month or so, so that would be the best course for you both.
 

David Lynch

Cleantalk Member
Good advice @John Bolton. I havent returned the element yet, so will give her a call and explain what might ensue if the element has an issue. Her son is a sparky, so she can run it past him too and I'm sure he will agree with your advice.
 

John Bolton

Cleantalker Veteran
Lisa,

Thanks for the update.

Very often we get no feedback on advice given so the advice is not validated.
 

Steven Johnson

Cleantalk Member
Hi lisa

As I said in my reply before it very rarely will be your fault. Most times it's usually on the way out anyway.

Glad you found a local repair man as I and others suggested. I personally think it looks better with a customer if you can get a professional repair man to explain it was not your fault.

Steve
 
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