Your Self Cleaning Oven Is Not Working
Is your oven covered in fat and grease, but when you've tried to start its pyrolytic (self-clean) function you've found it's no longer working? In this article, we'll help you fix this fault by providing you with all the tips and advice you need to identify the solution.
THE POTENTIAL CAUSES FOR THIS FAULT:
-
The correct programme has not been selected
-
The catalytic liners are worn
-
Fat or grease not cleaned off
-
The door lock is defective
-
The safety thermostat is faulty
-
The cooling fan is broken
-
The temperature sensor is faulty
-
A heating element is defective
WARNING
Before you do anything to your appliance, make sure you disconnect it from the power supply.
There is a risk of electric shock.
Wear suitable protective gloves if you need to dismantle anything.
There is a risk of getting cut or injured.
The correct programme has not been selected
It's important to select the correct programme, as this ensures the oven self-cleans for the right amount of time. During the SELF-CLEAN or AUTO-CLEAN programme, the temperature inside the oven reaches 500°C, triggering the pyrolytic process that carbonises the food deposits on its surfaces. You need to select the right cycle for your oven. You have a choice between economic (ECO), which takes around one hour, normal, which takes around an hour and a half, and intensive, which takes around two hours. The longer the cycle, the more effective it is. One good tip is to start the self-clean programme just after using the oven for baking, roasting etc. This will allow you to reduce the amount of energy consumed.
The catalytic liners are worn
Catalytic ovens are fitted with catalytic liners. These absorb and eradicate splashes of fat and grease in these types of ovens. For the process to work, the oven needs to reach 200°C and remain at that temperature for one hour. It's important to bear in mind that catalytic liners have a lifetime of around five years. We therefore recommend you consider the possibility that they may need replacing. With use, these liners tend to become darkened and no longer absorb fat and grease properly.
Fat or grease not cleaned off
If you leave fat or grease on the interior of the oven and on the glass for too long, it ends up transforming into carbon (after you've used the oven a few more times), making it difficult to clean off, even after using the pyrolytic function. If pyrolysis is no longer working effectively, you will need to use special, extra powerful oven cleaning products.
The door lock is defective
The door safety lock ensures the door is kept securely closed when the oven is in pyrolysis mode. It also indicates whether the door is locked or not. If the lock striker pin is bent, broken, misaligned, not coming into contact with the door or simply defective, the appliance will not be able to get above 230°C and will fail to achieve pyrolysis. You can check the general condition of the striker pin and test whether the door opens or not during pyrolysis yourself. If you do manage to open it, the lock is probably the cause of the issue. The lock mechanism can normally be found behind the control panel on the front of the oven.
The safety thermostat is faulty
The safety thermostat is the component that prevents the oven from overheating. If it's faulty or detects overheating, the oven will not be able to activate the pyrolytic function. Safety thermostats can sometimes be tripped/activated due to a faulty cooling fan or temperature sensor, or as a result of a fault on the thermostat itself. Some can be reset by means of a small button on their top sides, or by inserting the end of a paperclip into a hole in the middle. You can also check and test these thermostats using a multimeter in ohmmeter mode. Simply place the meter's two probes on the thermostat's terminals. It should show continuity.
The cooling fan is broken
The cooling fan will normally be located somewhere at the top of your oven's interior. Its purpose is to cool the entire oven. If it's faulty and no longer operating, the pyrolitic function will be cut short due to the appliance getting too hot.
The temperature sensor is faulty
The temperature sensor lets the power module know whether your oven has reached the required temperature or not. If it's defective, it will detect the temperature as being too high. This will cause the oven to stop the pyrolitic process, lock its door, and possibly display a fault code. Modern temperature sensors should normally give readings of around 535 ohms at room temperature, depending on the brand. You can check this yourself using a multimeter in ohmmeter mode.
Purchase an oven temperature sensor
A heating element is defective
The heating elements are used during pyrolysis. If any are defective, the temperature will not increase enough and pyrolysis will not take place. You can check all the heating elements on your oven by using a multimeter in ohmmeter mode to test whether they have continuity or not.