Electric Cooker Has Tripped My Electrics?
Hi, my power went off yesterday due to my electric cooker tripping the electrics. I wasn’t using the cooker at the time or even on that day. I had cleaned the kitchen a hour or so prior to this happening, could some moisture have caused this? And if so what should I do?
Thanks.
MORE THAN LIKELY OR A LOOSE WIRE
Well, did your power go back on and stay on. If so, I wouldn’t sweat it. If it happens a couple of times, you must use caution. Tripping a circuit multiple times could mean that wires are heating up….if they heat up too much, they could melt and touch together causing a fire. CHeers my friend!
If it is moisture in the cooker, AND you were not using the cooker (or socket on the side) at the time the RCD tripped, then it will be a neutral-earth leakage fault. All you can do is leave the cooker turned off at the wall until it’s dry inside; it’s a double-pole switch, (turns off both live & neutral) so you can use the rest of the circuits.
I can’t quite understand how if you weren’t using the cooker at the time you can blame it for causing the power to go off. The cooker wasn’t turned “on”, right? Had you cleaned with water around the electrical wall outlet where the cooker electrical supply cord usually is plugged in. Did you notice that you had lost your electrical power (all of it??) immediately upon your cleaning the kitchen (including the above mentioned wall)? Were you able to identify which electrical breaker or breakers were ‘tripped’ — causing the power outage — and know that the one supplying power to the outlet for the cooker was THE one? Did you promptly reset the ‘tripped’ breaker(s)? Did any breaker(s) immediately ‘trip’ again? Did you go back in and make sure that the cooker was UNPLUGGED from the wall outlet? Can’t blame the cooker. Did you try plugging in a dresser lamp into the wall outlet to see if it would light, or if the breaker ‘tripped’ again. The problem must be in the wall plug outlet — probably water collection, assuming you DID clean around with water around the outlet. Do you live alone? Do you have a good friend that is knowledgeable about “things electric”? Best wishes & good luck!
If you weren’t using the cooker, how can you be sure what caused the power to trip? Yes, it is possible that moisture caused the problem, in which case the answer is: wait for your kitchen to dry out.
Hope this helps.
We need to establish what the cooker tripped. If it was the residual current device (RCD) – sometimes called the earth leakage circuit breaker or ELCB), then moisture would be the cause. If it tripped the cooker’s dedicated miniature circuit breaker (MCB) in the house fuse box, then it is likely that a heating element has burnt out on the cooker.
When the cooker has dried out, ensure that all knobs are OFF. Then turn on the master cooker switch on the wall. If the RCD trips, you need a professional repair. If it doesn’t trip, turn each element on and off until either something trips (in which case you have found the faulty element, or until one doesn’t heat up (again you have found the fault).
If all is now working, it was the dampness.
I assume you mean the RCD tripped?
in which case you have got water into something, unless you know what, wait for the kitchen to dry out
Unlikely cleaning it would have done the trip but it is possible. I expect that you will find that one ring or grill or heating element in the cooker has shorted out and won’t work when you use it.
Even if the cooker is off a short circuit can still trip the rcd out from neutral to earth.
If all works then if may be moisture causing the prob but I doubt it just leave it to dry out and all will be fine