How to Mend a Broken Cooker
If your cooker is not working there is a good chance that it will be one of three things: the heating element is broken; the fan needs replacing; or you need a new thermostat.
By some distance these are the most common of all the faults you will encounter. Fortunately, all three problems can be rectified yourself.
– How to replace the heating element in a cooker
You will know if the heating element is the problem because your oven will turn on and the fan will spin but the oven itself won’t get hot.
In this scenario, repair is very easy and you don’t even have to remove the oven from its unit.
Here’s what to do:
- Order the replacement spare part that you need, making sure that you order the correct element for your model. To do this, check the model number. This will probably be on the inside of the door or the interior of the cavity frame.
- Once you have taken delivery of the element, open the door and remove all the shelves including the grill pan if you have one. Take out anything that might get in your way. You can take the door off too if you like but that shouldn’t be necessary.
- Locate the four screws that are in either corner of the oven and remove them
- Once the screws have been removed, take out the back panel. Behind it will be the element.
- Depending on the make or model there will now be two or three screws holding the element in place. Remove these and free the element.
- You will notice at this stage that there will be several cables attached to the element. These should simply slide away with a bit of pressure.
- Now, simply wire in the new element, screw it into place and re-fit everything that you have removed previously. Job done.
– How to replace the cooker fan motor
You will know if the fan motor needs replacing because the oven will turn on but the fan will not spin. If this is your problem, here is what you should do:
- Order a new fan motor for your model.
- Once it arrives, remove the oven from the kitchen unit. You do this by opening the door and removing the four screws that hold it into the cavity. Usually you will find these around the inside of the cavity frame.
- After removing the oven, the next task is to take off the outer back cover and the inside back cover. To do this, locate the nut in the middle of the fan blade and unscrew it. As these tend to be reverse thread nuts you will need to unscrew it in the opposite way to what is intuitive.
- Once you’ve done all of that, remove the fan blade.
- The next task is to remove the live and neutral cables and unscrew the holding screws. There will be three of these and they will be located on the back of the cooker.
- Everything should now be free so you can remove the motor.
- To complete the job, screw the new motor into the back of the oven, replace the fan blade, screw in the nut that holds it in place, re-connect the cables and replace the covers.
– How to replace the thermostat on a cooker
If the thermostat knob on your oven is not making the normal click noise when you turn it – or the oven is not getting as hot as it should – then it is very likely that the thermostat needs replacing.
Of the three tasks mentioned in this article, this last one is definitely the hardest. But it is still possible to do yourself. Once you’ve taken delivery of your replacement thermostat this is how:
- To get to the faulty thermostat firstly remove the oven from the unit by unscrewing the four screws inside the door and lifting it off.
- Once you’ve done this, look inside to the back (usually at the top) where you will find thermostat capillary. Unclip it.
- You then have to remove the outside back cover. You do this by unscrewing the four screws that hold it in place.
- Once that is completed remove the top panel to reveal the back of the thermostat and the cables that are connected to it
- To remove the capillary, slide it out from the back and remove any cables.
- So you don’t forget what goes where, take a photo or label the cables so that you know exactly where they should go when you put them back.
- Then remove the knob from the front and unscrew the screws that are hidden behind it.
Once step 7 is completed you will simply need to do repeat the process but in reverse, installing the replacement cooker part.