You should have my wife.. ya don't need to worry about cookers dying. The last one that failed was simply due to soemone putting the double-cut-out thermostaically controlled deep frier on it on top of a fully powered up ring. The flaming oil did kill the frier's thermostats but that didn't stop it spilling into the rest of the cooker underneath and turning most of my kitchen into a greasy smokey mess and flaming cooker. Of course that way insurance will pay for redecoration and new appliences… if she had remembered to pay it..

All i know now about cookery is that the hotplate is engraved into the ceramic and you can't repaint a kitchen wthout scrubbing the walls with brillo-pads first…..

When I scrapped our [rather expensive, and barely out of warranty] 'Britannia' Range-Cooker [gas hobs and electric ovens], a couple of years ago, I saved the carcase panels & door handles; the brass & cast iron from the gas burners; and the fancy insulating material from the ovens … The rest of it was basically rubbish.

The main reason for dismantling it was to get the remains down to the tip, in the back of a short wheelbase Vitara.

MichaelG.

.

P.S. … if buying a new cooker; avoid Britannia …

Despite the brand name, they are made in Italy; and ours was over-priced tat.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 01/01/2017 12:14:51

A hotplate and the oven thermostat might make a small heat treatment oven. All or part could make and oven for recycling LDPE plastic if you have room in the workshop.

If it is an old cooker and contains asbestos or you think it contains asbestos, DO NOT DISMANTLE IT, Asbestos kills very slowly and ultimately painfully. Even white asbestos. Dispose of it at your local authority tip, informing them you think it contains asbestos. There are very strict rules and laws about asbestos handling now and very heavy fines for not following them. You as the owner can be held accountable. Look at the regulations. Sorry to be a kill joy. If it was made after the 1980s then there should be no asbestos in it as it was outlawed.

Thank you Micheal.

In which case there should definately not be any asbestos. Dismantle away.

Hi SillyOldDuffer, I don't think the effort of dismantling it is worth anything that can be retrieved and as has been said, if it contains asbestos, leave it be. Best bet is for whoever you buy a new cooker off, make sure taking the old one away is included in the price, otherwise take it to you local recycling centre.

Regards Nick.

Recently I have dealt with two items which had both failed with what ultimately turned out to be the control switch.

The first was on our 20 year old hob when the on/off/6 position switch decided to "burn" out. Or at least that was what it smelled like. I was in the garage when it blew the 30A fuse, most interesting as I clearly heard the fuse crackling before it finally disintegrated. I got laughed at by the official service people, so I then found a replacement via the internet.

The second was my daughter's oven (age unknown but thought to be only a few years), and here again we eventually found that the control switch had disintegrated. Unfortunately, my daughter has history of having oven elements failing so one of my grandsons dismantled the oven but couldn't find an obvious fault. Enter grandad with suitable measuring gear and various temporary leads. Even then, we found the switch by accident, ie by being in just the right position to see the partially disintegrated switch hiding under an edge.

Pricewise, both were about £30-35 each. Cheap compared to the alternative.

Peter G. Shaw

ps Now for a laugh. After reassembling my daughter's oven, it still didn't work. I then spent over two hours carefully checking, and rechecking everything. Still didn't work at which point I gave up and told my daughter to call a proper electrician. Her son, the one who dismantled it in the first place, came home, reset the clock and suddenly the oven started to work! It seems that her oven can be controlled electronically, whereas ours cannot. Hence I was not aware that resetting the clock was crucial. In my early 70's, I've just proved that I am never too old to learn!

If it is a free standing jobbie with oven and hob in one then do consider an "Induction" hob. Well worth the extra cost.

Faster/cleaner and more controllable than gas. The downside is you need suitable pans that have to be magnetic like cast iron of the ferranitic stainless.

I have had since first moving in to a new house a Whirlpool oven, that was 17 years back. Since then i have replaced it with the same make oven as the fault was untraceable and on advice replaced it.This at the 10 year point.

The new one has worked well until about 2 months back when the fan element burst open filling the oven with a white deposit. I ordered up a new replacement element. I had it all done within the hour, You do not have to take the oven out of it's housing and it can be done through the oven itself. Remove the fan housing (A shaped metal cover) and undo the screws that hold the element in place and gently pull it through with wires attached. Here, attach pegs to the wires to stop them falling back in the holes. Remove the cables and then fit the new element in place. Push the terminals on first before you feed it back into place, attach screws and cover and job done.

For the safety switch off at the wall contact/feed.

My Son has one of these massive Range cookers but since they first moved in the grill elements have fused all the electrics if switched on. The cooker is too large and heavy to move so I used the same principle to repair that one as well and it is all working OK again.

There are several internet firms who will supply anything for cookers and washing machines, basically just talk to them and they will provide.

Clive

I suspect, that ' we' on this forum, are far more driven by 'sentimental' value and thus, 'Beyond Economic Repair'

does not compute.

Hi Silly Old Duffer,

I'm coming 67 soon and to prove it have two small sheds lined with "might be useful" bits in boxes salvaged from dumped or broken items. Like yourself I'm an incorrigible fixer..but… I can honestly say that over the years only 2%, if that, of all that was ever rescued was found to be useful for my projects. Maybe I'm not creative enough but it is generally more trouble than it is worth to "Make things fit". The main exception is machineable lumps of metal.

One little triumph does come to mind though. One Christmas Eve the pump on the washing machine gave up and with everyone off work and three young kids and a fretting Mum in the house I had a little root around in the local dump. You could do that then. A useable pump was found and Christmas was salvaged and the old machine ran for years after.

My new Year resolution is to tackle the clutter. Ask me in Dec. how I got on.