We have a simple Belling 540 cooker. For now we do not want to replace it
but it has developed an annoying problem. And I'd like an idea as to what
might have failed and whether it is fixable.

The upper oven (which also houses the grill) seems to work fine including
temperature control - mostly. But sometimes it goes off on one and
overheats. Tonight the oven had been at around 170 for a while and I
decided to nudge it up to 180. Within a few minutes the food was
scorching. Turning the control knob made no difference - the light which
indicates the element being on remained glowing from top to bottom of the
range. Even at something like 50 degrees. Turned it right off - it goes
off OK. Back on and the element is immediately heating though it is quite
obvious the actual temperature is way higher than the control is set to.

I believe that this issue has been occurring, on and off (ha!), for
several months. I never usually burn anything but more than once things
have over-cooked and singed. But tonight was absolutely the clearest
occurrence. And if like previous occurrences, it will be good as gold for
a few days or weeks.

--
Rod

polygonum wrote:
We have a simple Belling 540 cooker. For now we do not want to replace
it but it has developed an annoying problem. And I'd like an idea as to
what might have failed and whether it is fixable.

The upper oven (which also houses the grill) seems to work fine
including temperature control - mostly. But sometimes it goes off on one
and overheats. Tonight the oven had been at around 170 for a while and I
decided to nudge it up to 180. Within a few minutes the food was
scorching. Turning the control knob made no difference - the light which
indicates the element being on remained glowing from top to bottom of
the range. Even at something like 50 degrees. Turned it right off - it
goes off OK. Back on and the element is immediately heating though it is
quite obvious the actual temperature is way higher than the control is
set to.

I believe that this issue has been occurring, on and off (ha!), for
several months. I never usually burn anything but more than once things
have over-cooked and singed. But tonight was absolutely the clearest
occurrence. And if like previous occurrences, it will be good as gold
for a few days or weeks.

Fitting a new thermostat should fix it

try espares for the part

Bob

On Sat, 13 Aug 2011 21:29:42 +0100, Bob Minchin
wrote:

polygonum wrote:
We have a simple Belling 540 cooker. For now we do not want to replace
it but it has developed an annoying problem. And I'd like an idea as to
what might have failed and whether it is fixable.

The upper oven (which also houses the grill) seems to work fine
including temperature control - mostly. But sometimes it goes off on one
and overheats. Tonight the oven had been at around 170 for a while and I
decided to nudge it up to 180. Within a few minutes the food was
scorching. Turning the control knob made no difference - the light which
indicates the element being on remained glowing from top to bottom of
the range. Even at something like 50 degrees. Turned it right off - it
goes off OK. Back on and the element is immediately heating though it is
quite obvious the actual temperature is way higher than the control is
set to.

I believe that this issue has been occurring, on and off (ha!), for
several months. I never usually burn anything but more than once things
have over-cooked and singed. But tonight was absolutely the clearest
occurrence. And if like previous occurrences, it will be good as gold
for a few days or weeks.

Fitting a new thermostat should fix it

try espares for the part

Bob

Thanks Bob. I rather suspected the thermostat - but wondered because it is
so erratic.

--
Rod

polygonum wrote:
On Sat, 13 Aug 2011 21:29:42 +0100, Bob Minchin
wrote:

polygonum wrote:
We have a simple Belling 540 cooker. For now we do not want to replace
it but it has developed an annoying problem. And I'd like an idea as to
what might have failed and whether it is fixable.

The upper oven (which also houses the grill) seems to work fine
including temperature control - mostly. But sometimes it goes off on one
and overheats. Tonight the oven had been at around 170 for a while and I
decided to nudge it up to 180. Within a few minutes the food was
scorching. Turning the control knob made no difference - the light which
indicates the element being on remained glowing from top to bottom of
the range. Even at something like 50 degrees. Turned it right off - it
goes off OK. Back on and the element is immediately heating though it is
quite obvious the actual temperature is way higher than the control is
set to.

I believe that this issue has been occurring, on and off (ha!), for
several months. I never usually burn anything but more than once things
have over-cooked and singed. But tonight was absolutely the clearest
occurrence. And if like previous occurrences, it will be good as gold
for a few days or weeks.

Fitting a new thermostat should fix it

try espares for the part

Bob

Thanks Bob. I rather suspected the thermostat - but wondered because it
is so erratic.

Sticking/dirty contact or cooking fumes/grease in the mechanism perhaps
They are made to a price!

polygonum wrote:
Thanks Bob. I rather suspected the thermostat - but wondered because it
is so erratic.

As it looks like a straightforward mechanical switch, which seems to be
triggered by gas (Metal, liquid?) expansion in the sensor bulb, one of
the first signs of failure is the contacts occasionally failing to
separate until forced apart by the control knob being turned off.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

In article , Bob Minchin
writes
polygonum wrote:
We have a simple Belling 540 cooker. For now we do not want to replace
it but it has developed an annoying problem. And I'd like an idea as to
what might have failed and whether it is fixable.

The upper oven (which also houses the grill) seems to work fine
including temperature control - mostly. But sometimes it goes off on one
and overheats. Tonight the oven had been at around 170 for a while and I
decided to nudge it up to 180. Within a few minutes the food was
scorching. Turning the control knob made no difference - the light which
indicates the element being on remained glowing from top to bottom of
the range. Even at something like 50 degrees. Turned it right off - it
goes off OK. Back on and the element is immediately heating though it is
quite obvious the actual temperature is way higher than the control is
set to.

I believe that this issue has been occurring, on and off (ha!), for
several months. I never usually burn anything but more than once things
have over-cooked and singed. But tonight was absolutely the clearest
occurrence. And if like previous occurrences, it will be good as gold
for a few days or weeks.

Fitting a new thermostat should fix it

try espares for the part

I've used espares to good effect in the past but they were pricey on a
recent hob control (simmerstat) search so I got a generic part from
ukwhitegoods instead. Bottom line is that for these parts, some
suppliers quote joke prices so it's best to shop around. If you have
some nouse at sorting out connections then a generic part may do the job
at a fraction of the price.
--
fred
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