one for electricians..........?

Question

we bought a range cooker,and had it about 2 weeks.it was proffessionally installed???
now last night we were using the fan oven,no problem at all,then the wife turned on the other conventionall oven,there was an almighty pop..(bang) and everything went off on the cooker that is. i checked the fuse board and it had tripped the 32 amp breaker its on.we turned off the conventionall oven and i reset the breaker.and power was restored to the cooker,however not touched the other oven again.its under guarentee and will be phoning them monday,but what i want to know is have any of you any ideas at all as to what could have blown.its a flavel aspen 100 range.cheers.

the wire is from cooker to socket,and from socket to breaker is 6mm cable,which i think is pretty acceptable,and im ruling that out as the fault.

thanks to all so far,i dont know whos t/d but it aint me.

Answer 1

There must be either a nicked/trapped wire in the controls wiring which is shorting or earthing internally. It's probably blown through now. It would seem to be a manufacturing fault, so contact their service department.

If it gave a bang, it is NOT an overload. A 32a breaker is normally enough for a range.

Answer 2

The bang leads me to suspect that there is a short circuit to earth in the conventional oven's heating circuit.
This could be due to a manufacturing fault e.g. faulty heating element, a loose or broken wire or a distorted connector or damaged insulation on a wire.
Through normal use, it could also have occurred through e.g. burned or carbonised food spatters bridging a live conductor to earth.
When the control is switched off, the live conductors for the conventional oven are disconnected from the supply and this large shorting current cannot flow through the breaker to earth.

If checking any of this out for yourself, to work safely, you must first remove power to the cable supplying the cooker by switching off at the breaker. I agree it's best left to the repairman to check this out under guarantee.

Answer 3

Sounds like an overload rather than a fault. try each unit separately to see if they work. If it doesn't trip then start switching on all the oven units together. I think you'll find that with all units on it will trip, this indicates that the breaker is too small and may need uprating but first it's important to make sure that the cable size is adequate for the increased breaker(trip) There may be a plate on the back telling max current or it may tell you in the manual if in doubt ring the manufacturer

Answer 4

It's either a short or your wire is under-guaged. In any event, the professionals were not very professional.

Or perhaps there are way too many circuits on that breaker even before the range was installed?

Answer 5

Seems like a short on the oven element, need to do an insulation check on the cooker.

Answer 6

THE WIRE FROM THE RANGE TO THE BREAKER IS TO SMALL. PROB. 12GA-AWG. FOR THAT KIND OF HEAT YOU NEED TO INSTALL AT LEAST 6GA-WIRE TO THE BREAKER AND A 50 AMP BREAKER FOR THE RANGE. I'M SURE THE THE OLD SAYING IS THAT THE TOASTER BLEW THE DRYER? OF CORSE. BREAKERS ONLY HANDLE 75% OF THE LOAD NOT ALL OF THE LOAD. SO IF YOU HAVE A 15 AMP BREAKER IT WILL TRIP AT 10 AMPS AN SO ON. A EASY REMINDER IS THAT THERE IS 300 WATTS TO EVERY 2.5 AMPS. THANKS FOR GIVING ME SOMETHING TO TAKE UP MY BORDEM.

Answer 7

sounds to me like the breaker had too much of a load on it. now, I'm not a professional electrician, buy my dad and brother are both licensed. i would talk to someone in person and ask if you need a larger breaker for that circuit.

Answer 8

If you are not a professional electriction then don't touch it and leave it to the professionals. Get a certificate for any work done on it.

Answer 9

Ignore the USA answers. Jayktee is your man there in the UK.