Your local oven repair service! Oven Element Keeps Blowing. We hope the following info helps!

Judging Quality

Right now we can't ascertain build quality because none of the Manufacturers or Manufacturers representatives either can't or won't supply that information. If they did we could start correlating types of failures to potential causes. And while we can stipulate what would be the preferred method of build... the reality is, it would increase the cost of production and reducing production volumes. Our aim is to find the best outcome for our customers, while recognising we are in no position to influence many of these worldwide realities.

Grimwood was Australia's last serious Oven Element Manufacturer and went into liquidation back in (2013), which means just about all elements come in from overseas. And there are 100's of manufacturers!

So... how to choose the best of an average bunch? That's the big question!

To do that we have to understand the significant factors that we can influence that might help improve oven element longevity!

Moisture Ingress.

This is condition is rapidly increasing in it presentation of earth leakage faults we attend. Customer are often shocked and dismayed when a new oven element is installed and yet the safety switch trips again. It's no fun having to explain to customers that this is by no means unusual these days. Element manufacturers representatives will tell you that elements are hygroscopic (they absorb moisture), however this is a false statement. What the should say is that the MgO is hygroscopic! However that does not mean the element should be! The element should be sealed. And as manufacturing technology improves we will eventually see less and less of nuisance saftey switch faults due to poorly manufactured oven elements. Right now though the average element is not seal to moisture and so we often have to attempt drying the elements out upon installation. This is a huge time waster for us, given we fit so many elements. Late in 2020 the Technical Regulatory made it mandatory that all new oven/stove installations will have a Residual Current Device (RCD), better known as the ubiquitous safety switch. Originally oven and fridges were exempt from RCD protection because they are know to cause nuisance tripping. But safety has won the day and so they are no longer exempt. Meaning these earth faults are presenting more often and will continue to increase in numbers as those ovens that weren't protect by RCD's slowly migrate to being protected. Cleaning events, or long periods of no use are also a facet of moisture and RCD trips. Another factor is that in most modern ovens there are sometimes 3-5 elements in them. We normally only use 1-2 on a regular basis. So when one of the predominantly dormant elements is engergised for the first time in a while the moisture travels to the nearest exist and causes a bottle neck. This concentration of water causes what we call an earth fault, which when concentrated enough reaches a level where the safety switch activates ( greater than 30mA). This can happen in the first few minutes of turning the oven element on or longer in some cases.

Blocked Airflow.

Customers often use aluminium foil to cover roasts and other food products in the oven, which is fine provided it stay put. But in the fan forced ovens this foil can tear and fly loose and get caught in the fan or its vents.

Some oven are provided with gauze covers which filter debris such as oils and fats etc. These get clogged over time and reduce the flow of air. We recommend you remove them unless you find it is improving the state of your cooking or cleaning.