Help! My Oven is Turning On By Itself!

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Fred's Appliance
August 24, 2020
Oven Repair

There are some appliances, like a refrigerator for example, that can and should turn on automatically when needed to function properly. However, so many other appliances require you to physically turn them on for energy efficiency and for your own safety. Your oven is very much one of those appliances. To leave an oven running constantly is a huge waste of energy and a even larger fire hazard for your home. This is why we turn it off when we are finished cooking food. Yet, if you have walked into your kitchen and find that the oven is on without anyone having turned it on, that is very worrying.

No, it is not ghosts that turned on your oven. This is very much a problem that can happen due to a malfunctioning part. It is not the most common problem that an oven can have, but it is certainly one of the more worrying ones if you do have it start happening to your appliance.If you are ready to start your investigation as to why your oven is turning on by itself, we have a few common suspects that you can look into. However, before investigating and until you have figured out the problem and repaired it, you will want to shut off the electricity or the gas to your oven. This will prevent it from turning on until you solved the issue and will keep you safe while investigating. Turning off the power is a necessary first step in any repair, but in this case, you will want to do it before the repair even starts.

The Program Selector is Faulty

The program selector in your oven is a very small, but very important part. It is essentially what allows you to select the cooking mode on your oven. Over time, this selector can become caked with ambient grease or food particles. As such, it can then trigger your oven to start cooking without anyone even touching it. If you have an oven with control knobs, this will be located immediately behind the knobs. You can choose to replace the one that looks dirty, or just replace multiples. If you have an oven with without control knobs, but instead a control panel, you will need to replace the entire control panel. This will fix the issue, but because the control panel is a solid piece, it is less likely to become dirty and malfunction in this way.However, the issue can also be caused by a malfunctioning circuit board, which is inside the control panel. So in a different way, it makes it still worthwhile to replace the control panel. You can test the control panel with a multimeter to see if it is faulty. If this is the cause, then you will likely start to see your oven throwing out error codes or acting in other strange ways when that does happen.

Faulty Temperature Sensor

The temperature sensor is responsible for reading the temperature in your oven tub and then telling the oven it needs to kick back on in order to heat it to the correct temperature. Typically, when this part malfunctions then it will result in an oven either overheating or under heating when it is turned on by your own hand to cook your food. However, in some circumstances if the temperature sensor is malfunctioning then it can end up causing your oven to turn on by itself. Essentially, the temperature sensor reads while the oven is not turned on and this causes it to turn on by itself.Most commonly, the temperature sensor, which is a thin metal rod inside the tub of your oven, will malfunction when it is bent due to accidental impact. You will simply need to pull it out, disconnect the wire harness, and replace the part.

Faulty Wiring

The wiring in your oven runs from the controls down the back of the appliance to the tub. It is, in general, protected from the heat by insulation both on and around the wiring. However, this insulation is not perfect and the wires in general are not impervious. Most often, damage to the wiring happens due to the use of the self clean function on your appliance. The self clean function works by burning away food inside the oven with a high heat, leaving it clean. Unfortunately, this high heat can damage sensitive nearby parts outside the oven, like the wires.If you open up the back panel on your oven, you can easily check the wires and their connection for any melting or scorching. You will then simply need to replace the wires.While there may not be melting, any damage to the wires is good reason to replace them. If, they have nicks or cuts in them, perhaps from an errant rodent, then they can still cause this issue and may even be a fire hazard if not replaced.

Electrical Issues

The final issue that can cause your oven to come on by itself isn’t a problem with the oven at all. It may actually be a problem with the electrical connection your oven has to your home. If the plug that your oven uses is also used by other appliances, a faulty connection can cause your oven to power up as well. You will want to check the socket your oven plugs into or the hard wiring of the appliance. Unfortunately, this is more of a job for a professional appliance repair technicians.

Need Help?

Is your oven still turning on by itself? Unfortunately, this can be a difficult issue to troubleshoot by yourself. As it often involves electrical components, it may actually be better to leave the investigation to a professional hand. This prevents any dangerous conditions to you and prevents further damage to your appliance. If you have a malfunctioning oven or any other appliance that you cannot troubleshoot yourself, let us help you. Contact us today to see what Fred’s Appliance Service can do to get all your malfunction appliance back up and running both quickly and safely.

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