You’ve just spent ages on your hands and knees scrubbing the inside of your oven, and it’s now beautifully shiny. But then, you’ve gone to turn it back on, and it’s tripped the power out!
What Causes an Oven to Trip the Power?
Any electrical device will trip the power if there is a risk of serious harm due to an electric shock. If the appliance or device in question develops a fault that is potentially dangerous, the device will trip the RCD, or fuse, as some people call it.
A common cause in electrical appliances is because of a short or earth issue. Either of these issues will cause the RCD to trip each time the appliance or device is turned on.
Sometimes the power won’t trip the second the appliance is turned on but will instead trip when a specific feature is used. In this case, the problem is usually down to a faulty component.
Now you know more about why a trip happens, we can look at how this can happen following cleaning.
Cause 1: Water ingress tripping the power
The most common cause of an oven tripping the power after cleaning is water or moisture ingress into a component. If this happens, this will cause a short-circuit and trip the power out to reduce the changes of an electric shock.
Some people may find that if they leave the oven to dry for a few hours or even overnight with the door open, this problem will sort itself out.
If you need to use the oven sooner, make sure that the power is turned off, and dry the inside of the oven using a hair dryer or fan heater.
If the oven still will not turn on without tripping the power after drying the inside, it’s possible that you have a damaged component.
Cause 2: Damaged component
Damaged components tripping the power out after cleaning are most common in older ovens. Damaged heating elements are going to break eventually, and it’s possible that cleaning just sped up the process a little.
If the heating element was old and damaged before cleaning, for example, it is possible that in cleaning, something was knocked causing a short, or that the cleaning chemicals worked their way in.
In this situation, you should consult an engineer or the manufacturer of your oven rather than attempting the repair yourself.
Self-Cleaning Ovens Tripping After Cleaning
Self-cleaning ovens are convenient, but that doesn’t mean that they are free from problems. Ovens run very hot to clean themselves, and if any components are damaged or this is run really frequently, it can cause a problem.
Once the cleaning cycle has finished, you should always let the oven cool down before turning it back on. Some ovens with this feature will just flag an error telling you that the oven is too hot if you do try to turn it on too soon.
If you find that the oven is tripping the power after finishing the self-cleaning cycle, let the oven cool down completely.
Turn the oven on and off again at the mains, and if after a few hours it still won’t turn on without tripping the power, it could be down to a damaged component or due to the thermal fuse tripping.
If the display on the oven works and then it trips out when you try to heat the oven up, it is likely that the thermal fuse has tripped. Most thermal fuses are designed to be single-use, and once it trips, it will likely need to be replaced.
Contact either an engineer or the manufacturer of the oven if you suspect the self-cleaning cycle caused the thermal fuse to trip.
Lover of coffee, painting, and all things cute and fluffy. I’m always on the lookout for easier, more gentle ways to tackle awful household chores.
