Electrical – Oven light bulb fitting problem

electricaloven

The light bulb broke from its casing when I tried to remove it to change the bulb on my Hotpoint oven. I cannot get the fitting out as it has got mangled up by me trying to remove it with pliers. All I have managed to remove is the glass bulb as it has broken away from the metal casing which is still inside the oven. Is it safe to turn on the oven? It did trip the fuse and some of my kitchen appliances did not work which were on the same circuit as the oven. They work now as I turned the fuse lever on again. When I did turn the oven on after trying to get the metal casing out there was a small pop and a light spark darted from the casing ! I am not sure if it is safe to use. Please advise.

Best Answer

The wires that support the lamp filament may be shorting out causing the breaker to trip (assuming there is no damage to the socket itself). This can create a less than safe condition because there is a live exposed wire in the broken lamp base. If used, when the oven heats up the wire could move around and short again. If the lamp can be turned off the oven could be used. I have had success using a raw potato pressed into the broken lamp base, power off. Some times turning both clockwise then counter clockwise working both directions can loosen the lamp base so it can be removed.