When you are working with any electrical appliance, it is important to yourself and anyone around you safe. If you are finding the job hard then we would recommend calling in a professional.

Have a look at our Find A Domestic Engineer page, for a list of local engineers that repair household appliances.

Common Oven and Cooker Problems

The Oven will not turn on

The first thing you need to check is that the oven timer is not on auto if it is turn it on to manual.

No heat in the Oven

If the fan is running and the thermostat light comes on but you get no heat (or just the thermostat light on in non-fan ovens and cookers) then the probability is that the fan element or oven elements have failed.

The Oven is totally dead

Check the electricity supply and make sure it is okay.

The Oven overheats and burns everything

This is a simple thermostat failure which would manifest itself as this symptom

The Oven door isn't closing properly

This will be faulty hinges or the hinge runners. Find door hinges here

The Oven door fell off!

This will be faulty hinges or the hinge runners. Find door hinges here

The Oven or Cooker cuts out after it's been on for a while

This is an overheating problem which can be caused by the main oven thermostat or a faulty safety thermostat. It can also be caused by a failure of the cooling fan, where fitted, but usually these go noisy before failing. Safety thermostats are used to prevent the oven or cooker overheating and will shut the oven down.

The Oven or Cooker is noisy

The fan motor and cooling fan motor are the most obvious causes where fitted.

Fan runs after I switch the oven off

This is a cool down period and can vary massively from appliance to appliance but if it stays running then you normally have thermostat fault or sensor fault.

The Light inside the Oven is faulty

Normally this is simply a case of replacing the bulb. Find Oven lamps here

The Grill Element in my Oven or Cooker doesn't work

This would usually indicate that the Grill element is faulty. Find grill elements here

There's smoke from the Oven

Invariably spillage except on a new installation or when a new element has been fitted OR you are an incredibly bad cook!

The Oven does not come on, but Hob works but I can't get the Oven to come on

The timer has been activated, possibly when the controls were cleaned. There are so many types of timers used that it would not be possible to go through every one, but if you have the instruction booklet, that will tell you how to turn it off. Normally it is just a case of pressing a button or turning a control knob.

Electricity trips (RCD) when I turn the Oven on or Element

This is normally an element that has gone to earth, a well known fault with electric ovens. The insulation breaks down in the elements and trips the RCD, best way is to stick a meter on each element and check they have not got earth leaks on them.