Anyone ever fixed their own fan oven?

[slowmotion]

We bought a Smeg built-in oven twelve years ago. I believe they were made in Italy, the same country that inflicted FIAT cars on the world. About three months after we bought it, the die-cast handle for the top oven spontaneously cracked. Amazing really, but a perfect example of Italian engineering.

A couple of years later, the heating element for the top oven expired. You buy the generic part from a spares shop and go in via the back of the oven. The hardest bit is extracting the oven from its cabinet in the kitchen. The fan for the top oven gave up the ghost a year later. Same process...and by now I was getting confident.

BTW, don't get fooled by expensive brands like Bosch. Our built-in fridge cost £500 about 30 months ago. It expired recently. Conveniently, that was 6 months after the warranty expired. The repair man said it would cost £400 to change the compressor and re-charge the system with gas.

Don't buy a Bosch appliance folks.

 

[subaqua]

1. switch off supply mcb/rccbo
2. disconnect at the 45a switch for safety
3.open oven door
4. remove the 4 screws (usually only 2 actually used)
5.pull oven from carcass
6.put on floor if cable long enough, if not, balance on knee and complete step 7
7. undo terminal cover on rear of oven and disconnect the supply cable / flex / unplug
8.put oven on floor
9.remove the outer steel plate cover, varies amongst brands
10.once back plate removed it's usually pretty obvious where the element nut are
11.remove nuts and anti vibration washers
12.stand oven up on base and open oven door
13.remove element
14.goto local parts supplier, most major towns / cities have one (take details off the specification sticker, either on the rear or on the front behind the door)
15.refit using reverse above steps
16.put oven on full whack and let heat up until the oven gets to full temp. the rationale being to check the oven won't over temp and set on fire.
17.let the wife carry on cooking.

i think that's about right from memory.

that and burn off any factory residue that would taint the first few meals cooked in the oven .

spot welds are no match for a correctly sized drill bit and a pop rivet/ nut and bolt to resecure later. thats the difference betwen a fitter and a technician.

 

[asterix]

Everything is built in a factory so everything must come apart.

You'd think that wouldn't you, but it's not true!

Trying to fix our Latte Maker (leaking), I got the bonnet open, but the bit that leaked is made of brittle plastic that breaks incredibly easily. I am not in the least ham-fisted at such tasks and in fact these gadgets are designed not to be fixed.

 

[Pennine-Paul]

The repair man said it would cost £400 to change the compressor and re-charge the system with gas.

Don't buy a Bosch appliance folks.

What a load of baloney,£400!! a new compressors only £75-125
so he wants to charge you around £300 to recharge the system,
Sounds like he just didn't want to do the job

 

[vernon]

I have an oven that's fourteen months old, and it looks like the heating element has gone bang. Switching it on last night resulted in a loud pop, and the main rcd in the consumer unit tripping.

The first time that the element went in our built in oven, it was replaced by the manufacturer even though it was out of warantee by a couple of months. The second time that it went pop I replaced it with a generic element and was well versed in its replacement having watched the manufacturer's repair agent replace it.

It wasn't necessary to remove the oven unit to remove the panels that gave access to the element.

 

[slowmotion]

What a load of baloney,£400!! a new compressors only £75-125
so he wants to charge you around £300 to recharge the system,
Sounds like he just didn't want to do the job

He was an official Bosch repair man working via a domestic insurance outfit who would only stump up 50% of the new value. Whichever way you look at it, Bosch didn't come out of it smelling of roses. Smelling of something entirely different, actually.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

BTW, don't get fooled by expensive brands like Bosch. Our built-in fridge cost £500 about 30 months ago. It expired recently. Conveniently, that was 6 months after the warranty expired. The repair man said it would cost £400 to change the compressor and re-charge the system with gas.

Don't buy a Bosch appliance folks.

There is something screwy here. My cousin, who is an independent appliance repair engineer, only recommends Bosch appliances to his customers as they don't break down often and are easy to fix if they do.

A quote like that suggests to me that they would rather sell you a new machine than do the repair.

 

[slowmotion]

There is something screwy here. My cousin, who is an independent appliance repair engineer, only recommends Bosch appliances to his customers as they don't break down often and are easy to fix if they do.

A quote like that suggests to me that they would rather sell you a new machine than do the repair.

The Bosch repair man told me that he got paid a call out fee by the insurance company whether or not he repaired the fridge. I guess there wasn't really a very good incentive to repair it.

It does't reflect well on Bosch, does it?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

The Bosch repair man told me that he got paid a call out fee by the insurance company whether or not he repaired the fridge. I guess there wasn't really a very good incentive to repair it.

It does't reflect well on Bosch, does it?

No it doesn't. I'd suggest finding yourself a good independent engineer. They'll have it up and running in no time.

 

[slowmotion]

[QUOTE 1894767, member: 45"]Our washing machine man swears by Bosch washing machines. Not because he makes as load of money from repairing them though, quite the opposite. His recommendation is always to buy the cheapest Bosch.[/quote]
I don't share his enthusiasm.

 

[Over The Hill]

My dishwasher kept blowing the fuse in the plug a while back.
Assumed it was the elemet so took it apart. Had real trouble getting the element out, it was in a unit along from the sump . Managed to get the element out, tested it and it was fine.
So decided it was the motor. Undid it through small gap and then could not get it out through gap. Looked on line and found the element came as part of this unit and was £120 and the motor was about £200. Neither worth replacing even doing it myself.
So threw the dishwasher out in the garden (annoyed and fed up) bought another dishwasher on ebay for £80.

Plugged it in and fuse blew!!
Tried it in different socket and it was fine. Realised old dishwasher (now in garden and rained on for a week) was fine and it was my socket that was broken.
Found all the bits, Put it all together again. Plugged it in different socket and it has been fine since.
Sold repalcement dishwasher for £90 back on ebay.

 

[slowmotion]

Excellent OTH!

 

[Pauluk]

If you can be bothered to take them to a small claims court you may win the cost of a replacement or cost of the repair. 12 months is a statutory figure, the courts will look at how long it should be expected to last (I personally think a lot longer than 14 months). As one of the other posters have said you should put it in writing first, although if you can't manage without it you may have to get it repaired (professionally I would suggest if you intend to take it further).

 

[junglegusset]

I don't share his enthusiasm.

I do.

I have had a Bosch oven for 4 years and not had to replace the element. Oh, yeah it was secondhand as well.

 

[stephec]

Thanks everyone, Beko were every bit as helpful as B+Q!
On the advice of trading standards there's now a letter on it's way to B+Q requesting a free repair under the terms 'reasonable ammount of time.'