UK SMEG Opera A3 120cm after 15 mins trips circuit breaker

[BruceSmeg]

Hi guys,

5 year old SMEG Opera A3 120cm Dual Oven.

Small Oven RHS... Works perfectly OK...
Large Oven LHS.... After 15 mins trips the RCD on Consumer Unit.

Replaced circular element at rear.
Replaced large element on top.

Problem still exists.
Any advice... Tank you in Advance....

 

[Lucien Nunes]

What you need are insulation resistance measurements when hot and cold, to find out the nature of the leakage that is causing the tripping. Leakage that increases during warm-up is characteristic of an element with moisture trapped inside. It could be that one of the replacement elements has the same problem as the original, after a period of storage. OTOH it could be damaged insulation on the internal wiring that makes contact as things expand with heat. Can you get your hands on an insulation tester (Megger)?

 

[BruceSmeg]

What you need are insulation resistance measurements when hot and cold, to find out the nature of the leakage that is causing the tripping. Leakage that increases during warm-up is characteristic of an element with moisture trapped inside. It could be that one of the replacement elements has the same problem as the original, after a period of storage. OTOH it could be damaged insulation on the internal wiring that makes contact as things expand with heat. Can you get your hands on an insulation tester (Megger)?

Hello Lucien Nunes,

Thank you for your very informative assistance....

From the information you provided, I suspected that the NEW Oven element must have had some minimal amount of moisture within the element to contribute to the increase in Earth Current to trip the RCD on the consumer unit.

Therefore, I decided to switch the Oven on at a very low temperature (approx. 50degC.) for a period of 10 minutes and then switch the temperature control to OFF. Then wait another 10 minutes and repeat this cycle again over a 4 hour period.

Then after 4 hours slowly increase the temperature by 10 degC every 10 minutes.
This has obviously dried out the Oven element and now it no longer trips the RCD....

Thank you for your excellent support, I really appreciate your input.
Regards
BruceSmeg