Oven tripping breaker. Worth trying to fix?

Mitekey

I'm very much a novice at electrical stuff but in the effort of maybe learning something new I figured I'd toss out an oven issue. We are more than likely going to get a new one but I have a nagging feeling this may be something small. Issue is as follows:

Last week our single oven tripped its own breaker during cooking. By breaker I mean the one on the board with the switches for sockets/heating/immersion etc. It made an audible pop/bang noise and it turned off. Flipped the switch back on, turned on the oven and it happened again after 1 min or so. Next time it took 10 seconds, flipped the switch once more and this time the breaker would trip as soon as I turned on the wall socket cooker switch ie. as soon as power went to the cooker for the clock, I didn't even get to turn any controls on.

I had a read about and it was recommended to replace the element, which I did today. I noticed the oven light wasn't working now but the oven started. It lasted 25 mins at 180 before doing the same thing. Pop/bang, off goes the switch. I took at look at the connection for the element in case I missed something and noticed a black mark inside the case directly opposite where oven light wires come out. Its a round sooty mark about the size of the top of your thumb. I checked to see if anything was loose and one of the connectors on the oven light popped off. Its like a small rectangular plastic piece with a small gold circley thing at the connecting end. The small gold circle thing popped off and the connector fell away (should have taken a picture!) It feels like it could be put back in but I'm not sure. Rest of the case is spotless.

So now the questions since I've been poking around it long enough to be curious whats wrong with it. Could a dodgy connector on the oven light be enough to trip the breaker? Would disconnecting the oven light/removing the bulb be dangerous or worth trying? Or maybe the black mark on the case is a coincidence and the cooker is just fecked. Hardly worth the cost of calling a repairman vs buying a new one so I thought I'd ask here.

Sorry for the long winded post. Any advice/help/shouting appreciated, thanks!

2011

It sounds like the cable that supplies the oven light or the light fitting itself is shorting off the frame of the oven. The chances are the original element did not fail.

If I were doing this I would explore the following:

1) Can I replace this cable or light fitting ? A replacement cable would have to have insulation that is rated for the high ambient temperature that it will be exposed to. The same goes for a replacemnet light fitting.

2) If the faulty cable / light fitting can not be replaced removing it altogether may be the best solution. This would mean no more oven light, but it amy mean that the oven will work again.

An insulation resistance test should be carried out following the repair.

Rmemeber connections to the element should be tight!

Mitekey

Thanks for the reply! I took some photos of the back of the light and will have a look into getting it disconnected altogether. Looking at the pics I see now that it was the connector itself that came apart (the gold ring on the left side marked N popped out and the whole thing came away, I stuck it back in just to see if it would sit).

I'm surprised that a fault in the light cable and/or fitting would have such a strong effect on the breaker but hey, I'm learning something about electricity. If nothing else these posts may help someone in the future who is googling for a similar oven fault.

2011

Mitekey wrote: »

I'm surprised that a fault in the light cable and/or fitting would have such a strong effect on the breaker

Not suprising really.
The MCB for an oven is typically rated from 20 to 32A. A short circuit shuch as this may well draw several 100 amps for a very brief moment in time (until the MCB trips).