Wellthatsucks
Leaving for vacation today and put the oven to self-clean. The middle panel decided it didn’t want to live anymore.
Discussion
Self clean is how they get you to buy a new one.
We don’t have oven like this here, how does it self clean so hard it turns self destruction?
It gets up to a ridiculously high temperature, I believe even hotter than the max cooking temperature. I have heard that it causes damage to the electronics and prematurely wears them out
So it just do a homemade cremation to get rid off any dirty stuff inside??
It sounds like a very overkill but easy solution.
That is exactly what it is, its purpose is to basically cremate anything in there to make it super easy to clean. Smells absolutely horrendous when it’s doing such, my mum used to use the feature quite often, I’ll never do it personally
So at the end all the grease and burn ashes are at the bottom of the oven ?
Oh good lord I didn’t even think about the smell, I accidentally burnt some stuff in our small oven and that’s awful, can’t imagine what that would smells like.
It smells awful, I can’t stand being in the house when it was running, although they don’t recommend leaving it alone. Essentially yeah, once the ‘self-clean’ process is done you just give it a quick wipe down and it comes off super easy.
To me it’s for a worst case scenario.
I feel like that would be the only reason I’d ever use it. Haven’t had a worst case scenario yet though, probably just jinxed myself
RemindMe! 365 days "jinxed or not"
It's the toxic fumes you were inhaling, like the PFAs coating in your oven. The self clean mode has been known to kill pet birds
The grease turns to ash, then you just take a damp towel and wipe it away. Personally the smell doesn’t bother me, but it does create a lot of smoke so good ventilation is necessary
And if there’s a teflon interior it’s extra baking that chemical crap in the house.
Yeah. It usually melts internal components after a while
It sounds like a build in trap LOL
This literally just happened to my oven.
Oven got hot enough that the already old bake element shorted itself out and then melted. Bake element relay on the control board was completely fried.
It works well for stripping the seasoning off of cast iron cookware, but if the oven doesn't have gaps and ventilation exactly as required you could burn your house down.
It’s called pyrolytic cleaning and the oven actually goes over double its normal operating temperatures at 500C+. If the oven is properly built however this will have zero negative effects on anything other than whatever crud is stuck to the inside.
Hmm, would be great for heating a pizza steel.
DO NOT try to do that. I don’t know about all ovens, but the several I’ve used this feature on also lock the oven door and will not unlock until the oven has completely cooled back down. Ya know, for your safety. Even if you realize the door has locked on your pizza and shut off the process, the door will remain locked for a solid half hour at least and it will pyrolitically “clean” your pizza in to a black puck.
My oven has a wet self clean. Pour a cup of water on the bottom of the tray and put it on self clean. It blasts the bottom burner for 15 minutes, steams the inside of the oven and a bit of tlc, most the burnt on stuff comes right off.
It doesn't work as good as a true high temp self clean as it requires a bit of elbow grease. But it's a whole lot better for the equipment and at a fraction of the cost in power and heat.
I do a similar thing to clean my microwave. The steam helps to loosen the crud on all the sides
It cooks the internals, could be fine for a few times, but eventually something will get a little too hot and short out and kill the oven. Most appliance repair techs advise against using a high heat self clean.
It’s just one of the many ways in which they getcha.
Were you coming or going at the time of the self-clean? Doesn’t matter, they getcha both ways. Mhmm
This is what I think too! I know a handful of people who destroyed their oven the first time they used the self cleaning option. I swear it’s intentional.
yeah never use it. Pretend it doesnt exist or if you MUST turn it on the week before the warranty expires...
Thanks for this public service announcement.
Guess it's time to fire up the old elbow grease and .... manual clean ... next weekend.
Olive oil and table salt
Will normal oil work?
Yeah, I just like the olive smell when it gets hot.
Self-destruct.
It happened to my last oven on the very first time I put it on self clean. It never worked again. I replaced it was a cheap similar oven I’ve never used the clean function. I want to replace this one with a fancy one. I found one that has a bottom liner specifically designed to be removed and cleaned in the sink
Or get our insurance to buy a new one ☝️
Using insurance to replace an oven glass is hilarious.
Why not? We pay them for this shit. And no, they don’t jack our rates for filing a claim.
That’s my first hint you’re not American 😂 you’d be dropped so fast!!
Enjoy your vacation, try not to worry too much!
American insurances seem utterly insane. From their crazy deductibles to their business ethics of rejecting claims and dropping customers.
Like, German public health insurance faced a shitstorm over a 10€/quarter deductible on visting your physician, which has been abolished since. The basic deductible for prescription medication is 5€.
And then come Americans with stuff like "my deductible is $5000 a month and my rates will double if I ever go over that, which means that I will never get another insurance because I had a cough in 1979 that counts as a pre-existing condition" or sth.
Never go unrestrained full capitalism. People become disposable when greed drives everything.
Speaking as an American, you are 100% correct.
Feel like my insurance would laugh at us if we filed a claim for a product defect. Especially something like self-clean which is notoriously bad for appliances and liable to cause more harm than actually clean. You're lucky that only the glass broke. It's common to have that cycle fry the internals or even cause a fire.
I’ve had mine for at least 10 years. I use the self clean about once a year, more if I spill an ungodly amount of something in it- Think an entire cake mix with a hole in the bottom of the pan.
Holy shit this blew up…
You properly can buy a replacement and repair it yourself.
Those things are pretty basic.
We recently replaced the heating element in our oven. A little sweat equity and some YouTube videos saved us hundreds of dollars.
Yeah ovens are surprisingly easy to repair. I've had to replace both elements and the glass door.
I also replaced the waste pump on the washing machine.
This is a guy who keeps forgetting which way to turn the spanner and who took ten years to figure out that to get a nice finish on bathroom silicone you have to apply pressure.
yeah something like heating element can mostly be done by yourself, they're really not complicated machines
Replaced a handle, the pump and the steam generator.
Biggest issue was to know what's defective.
You properly can buy a replacement and repair it yourself.
Those things are pretty basic.
They literally filed an insurance claim per their comments.
Especially AEG ones. On mine at least, you don't even need any tools to replace the inner glass sheet, it genuinely couldn't be simpler.
My husband broke ours with a cast iron. Like swear it was the tiniest tap and I was so worried it would be a fortune. And I think it was about 100 bucks and super easy for him to put on…
Self clean is designed to be used at sea level where the oven is more than likely manufactured and tested. Some models last up to 4 hours before cooling off. The problem with self clean that nobody but an appliance tech will tell you is that its literally too much. Its too hot for too long, and it will end up destroying your oven. Every. Single. Time. May not happen the first time, but it will weaken your high limit fuse which is basically the over temp safety cut-off on your oven. Run self clean for NO MORE than 45 minutes to an hour for future reference.
I’ve seen appliance tech videos on social highly discouraging the use of self clean for this exact reason. If they won’t use it that’s good enough for me. Risk isn’t worth it and ovens aren’t that hard to clean the old fashioned way.
Yup. It just isnt worth it.
Holy crap, we almost had this happen ourselves. My wife and I recently moved into a new apartment and the owner did not clean the Oven. We only found that out when we were starting to prep for dinner.
We decided what anyone else would do and selected self-cleaning. It was our first time ever using this feature so I turned it on and set it to 3 hours. (Figured why would the company display times that this Oven wouldn't withstand)
Roughly 1 hour 30 minutes in, I started to smell something burning. I quickly checked the Oven and it was egregiously HOT. The glass panel was so hot I couldn't put my finger on it for even a second.
I realized this could potentially turn into something bad. I know Ovens run hot but this was an unusual amount of heat. So I immediately turned off the self-cleaning. It took an hour or so but it cooled down.
Strange experiencing that and then seeing this post a few days later.
Yeah its a dangerous feature honestly. It can do way more harm than good. Youre basically turning your oven into a crematory box, and if it doesnt trip the high limit fuse (which will require a technician to come out and replace it) it can ruin the internals of the oven itself.
This one has two levels: 1,5h and 3h or something. We’re also less than 10m above sea level if I recall correctly. Internet indicates that this is a failure of the glass’ composition. Let’s hope the insurance company feels the same way.
Just dont use it from now on. Its literally a gimmick setting. Spray the next one with oven cleaner and wipe it down to avoid any future mishaps. An oven at over 500° for an hour and a half just isnt a good idea. Technically it can handle it, but realistically youre drastically reducing the lifespan of your appliance using it. And the company you bought it from will be happy to sell you a new one everytime without offering a real solution.
Just got a new oven, dial goes to 275°C and manual said that self clean heats oven to 450°C and just turns everything to dust!
Im not touching that inferno mode.
You did more than 99% of customers by reading the manual, thank you
After working with industrial powertools, I take manuals seriously. Also it had a lengthy guide how to clean oven before you start cooking. I can imagine the amount of people who complain about smell and smoke when cooking for first time.
I will say when we install new ovens we tell the customers to run it at like 350 for an hour because of the factory oil on everything for that exact reason lol
Maybe by "fuse" you were referring to general electronic components? A proper fuse doesn't just wear out with extended/hard use. A fuse is just a fail safe that will open the circuit if too much current is present. Most commonly by tuning the physical properties of the fuse so that the conductor inside will actually melt/break if the limit is exceeded. As long as the limit isn't exceeded, the fuse acts like any other piece of wire. It shouldn't weaken over time/use or degrade with cycle count any more than the rest of the wiring in a house.
Like a strategically placed weakest link in a chain, so that if the maximum limit is exceeded the 'chain' will break in the safest way possible!
Also as a fun side note, typically ovens/induction heaters don't have real temperature 'adjustment'. They work similar to home A/C, where it only flips between 'On' and 'Off'. The temperature control part just determines how long the heater spends being 'On' or 'Off'. Pretty cool stuff
No. There is a thermal cutoff switch that is also called a thermal fuse. It's in ovens and dryers and it cuts all main power to the unit if it pops. Some you can reset with the push of a button, but we just replace them because yes, they do weaken and pop easier next time. And yes, as a certified appliance tech i know how an oven works 😊 but thanks
Ah okay, carry on then haha my bad. My electrical training/work experience is in industrial mechatronics, so I probably have more experience with breakers than fuses. Did not know that was a type of fuse, appreciate the correction!
It's technically a bimetal fuse, so when it "pops" it isn't broken but it won't complete the circuit. They are pretty interesting honestly
I'll trust the engineers that designed and manufactured the piece of equipment, not the repair tech.
Cool, us repair techs are the ones re-engineering their shoddy work they do to savr them a buck and charge you $10 🤣 moron
Who do you think tells the manufacturers? What their defects are, so they can change them on their next appliance.?? 🤣🤣🤣
Sounds like a future you problem. Enjoy the vacation!
I thought everyone knew not to use the self clean feature?
Firefighters warn people against using the self clean option on the oven.
Huh. TIL.
self clean or self destruct?
Every appliance repair person I've talked to says it's the same thing. They don't recommend ever using self-clean unless you want to buy a new oven
My FIL asked if we were cleaning it with a hammer 😂
Did you try putting it in a bowl of rice overnight?
All the best,
Capt. O.
Team Costumer Care Wellthatsuck.inc
Love it!
It committed seppuku as it felt it was bringing dishonour upon your clan
Keeps fucking up my buns, it knew its fate 😂
Maybe because I've never had a self cleaning oven before, or maybe because I've never been able to afford to go on vacation before, but can someone explain why you'd set your oven to the self cleaning mode before leaving for vacation, instead of just setting it to off?
The self-clean lasts an hour and a half or so, and this happened as it was cooling down after the cycle was finished. It of course will be off when we leave!
If you have any education or certification in a skilled/positive list job, you should see if you can get a job in the EU. We have five weeks paid vacation in Denmark 😉
I assume the above commenter has misread your title and assumed you set the oven to self clean and then immediately left for vacation leaving the oven on while you were gone.
I did the same, to be fair.
You trust that thermal insulation to sustain the HOTTEST that oven will ever get, RIGHT before you leave for vacation? Have people lost their minds?
It was already done the cycle and cooling down when it happened. I would never leave the oven on for anything and not be home. That would be really stupid.
Yeah, never, never use the self-clean option. Don’t do it!! It can cause more damage to your oven. Use vinegar to clean your oven, cover your foods, and use a sheet pan as a drip tray.
The self-cleaning determined that the door was dirt and eliminated it.
Your oven has an autoimmune disorder.
Never run self clean. Ruins the appliance.
And don't do it if you have sensitive animals like pet birds. They will die.
My understanding: self-clean = self-destruct
Not sure I would run self clean when not home. It gets pretty hot. Maybe I’m overly cautious.
Definitely home when it happened, I would never leave the home with the oven on.
Were their any warning signs like the panel gave away some treasured belongings or stopped doing beloved hobbies?
Unfortunately no signs. Just bottled it up inside and then 🗡️
I have that same pink and blue water bottle!
Never self-clean your oven. Oh wait, too late.
I don’t ever use the self clean temperature. It basically heats it up to a temperature I don’t feel safe having in my home, smells horrid, and causes premature failure of the electronic components.
Never use self clean on an oven. NEVER USE SELF CLEAN ON AN OVEN
Okay we got it. But I'm sincerely curious, why does that option exist if it's so dangerous for the oven?
No idea 🤷♀️ in theory an oven should be able to handle it but it just seems to make them self destruct instead. Shattered glass, fried heating elements, melted parts are common results.
From what I've heard, the manufacturers know it's issues with wrecking the oven and even potentially fires, but customers demand it as a function, manufacturers wanna make money, and of course, money always wins.
You are never meant to use the self clean option on an oven
Should be labeled “self-destruct”
self clean is a scam, sorry about your oven
Please never use self clean. It over heats, and can fry your electronics, or it can do this.
Source: worked for Wolf/SubZero
First things do not do well in self clean. They need to be sitting with no appliances around them, and even then it doesn’t always work well.
Sometimes you have to put water in there, sometimes you just have to avoid the setting altogether because they’re usually packed into a kitchen with things on all sides.
I’ve seen some pretty bad situations with self clean ovens, especially once they’re over six months old.
6 mos! 😂 oy, the longevity of these things
Good thing that means this is only a problem for future you, to deal with when you get back!
Just another reason to buy and maintain your extended warranties.
Never self clean it
lol never use self clean.
Baking soda and water amigo
Some sad shit, mofugga said he didn't wanna live no mo'
Had to scroll way too far for this comment
I replaced mine (76yoF) and it was relatively easy. It is a glass double pane window. A bit scary but easy.
We’ve disassembled it before to clean all three panes so we’re not too worried about that.
You can buy just the panel and clip it on easily. Often only need a flathead to pop old hinges free they are typically latches and not screwed. Super expensive to replace with any unit I would recommend searching for that door
It’s upset that you’re going away on vacation while it’s stuck in the same old spot.
Pro-tip: Just never use that function ever.
Yeah, never again.
Welp! That’s a problem for another day !! You’re outta there !! Have fun !
It’s a bit crazy for me to think about putting the self clean on right before leaving for vacation.
But at least you’ll know for sure if you left the oven on.
We didn’t put it on and then leave. That would be silly. It was finished and cooling down when it shattered.
Are you sure you didn't select the self-destruct option instead?
Personally, I wouldn’t basically crank my oven up to 11 then leave the house… But that’s me.
We didn’t leave the house, the cycle ended and while it was cooling it did this. How would I take the picture if I’d already left?
Ah. Thought was when you got back. Apologies!
Self cleaning ovens always really freak me out, you can turn that on and it can easily kill a parrot, and I mean my parrots are big cockatoos and macaws and nearly 5 pounds and if it could kill them I really would not want anything like that around me, a child, and especially a little teeny tiny baby.
Oven self cleaning ycles are a scam. Not surprising this happened
Considering how many people have said this, I’m surprised it lasted 6+ years of use and cleaning.
You got lucky.
More likely they've conditioned the appliance by actually using the feature regularly. Most damage occurs from folks that have never used it. Then they get this grand idea to try it out the day before Thanksgiving/Christmas/Easter.
That's not what a scam is.
He had a good life
Safelight repair, safelight replace
That doesn’t exist in Denmark 🤷🏻♀️
Safelite was recommended by insurance company when I had to replace the drivers side car window after a thief smashed it to steal my wallet and phone. I will never use them again. When I picked my car up, they suggested I take it to a car wash where they have those auto vacuums because “We don’t have a vacuum powerful enough to suck up the glass”. Um, what?! You guys are a company who replaces auto glass and you don’t have access to a vacuum that actually picks up broken glass?!
The stove top is opposite the oven, it’s an induction top. Yes, a microwave in the cupboard, and it lived on the counter where those water bottles are until everyone in the house was big enough to reach it in the cupboard. Under the oven is a cupboard for baking trays etc.
Danish kitchens in the 70s are horribly cramped.
This sounds like a problem to deal with after your vacation.
replacing an oven is kinda like self cleaning it, in a very fucked manner of speaking
That happened to me 2 days before Thanksgiving was to be cooked !
Doing something like this before going on a vacation sounds like a good way to come home to a smoldering pile.
Out of curiosity why did you decide to clean your oven on the day you were leaving?
Because we were cleaning the house to come back to a tidy place after vacation. It’s nice to not come home to a sty.
Did you happen to leave the grates/shelves in the oven? This happened to me because I didn't remove them on mine. It was an easy fix, but had to call the manufacturer for a free replacement window because the oven was still under warranty.
It's 'self clean' method:
Filthy! Scrub it away! Still there! Scrub really hard. Is it still there, or did I scratch myself? I better scrub again just to be sure. It's getting bigger! Am I smearing it or am I cracking the glass? Better scrub some mo.....
I did not know that. I have State Farm, I don't think they ever offered that to me. On the other hand, I always automatically turn down extended warranties and if they had offered that i probably would have automatically said no , thinking that it's basically the same thing.
Cheap
This oven was 5000kr. Better than the jankiest, but not a luxury model.
Good price get it !
I’m no expert, but having an oven surrounded by wood like this really would make me nervous.
And how does your kitchen look? All stainless? If not, it’s also surrounded by wood.
I'm kind of shocked at the clearance around that oven. How does it breathe - especially during the super-hot clean cycle?
I assure you it has the appropriate clearances.
I was just curious; I'm guessing the needed clearance is in back, and further guessing it requires active ventilation? (i.e. a fan?) I've never seen an install that tight.
u/Necrikus has no faith in my oven skills. Guess they never saw my baking streams 🤷🏻♀️
Never use self clean. Especially when it has no place for this amount of heat to go.
Let this be a lesson to others to NEVER USE THE SELF CLEAN OPTION!
Over that self cleans? Interesting. I initially thought like a dishwasher type with water spraying inside.
Is this what happened to Epstein too
Relatable.
Poor thing! We need a memorial.
One time my monitor at work caught fire and we had a wake for it, because everyone was stopping by to see the damage. It was on the 4th floor of a large building downtown.
Oh dear! I'm sorry to hear that.
Just buy a new glass. I’m sure it’s not that expensive and easy to order. That door separates into three parts very easily. This is what I do, when I clean my oven by hand, because I don’t have a fancy self clean option.
My small American brain cannot comprehend this layout. Do y'all have a separate stove top to cook on? Is that a toaster oven on top or a microwave and why is it inside a cupboard. Maybe I'm just short, but is it also not in an inconveniently high position?
My first thought is baking corner with a warming drawer for bread rising underneath.
I'm American and I've seen that set up. There is a separate stove top. Somewhere else in the kitchen. I would think an oven like this would be a lot easier to use. Even better when there are 2 ovens.
Well at least if you arrange for a repair/replacement it might be available by the time you come home
Yeah, my first course of action was registering it with insurance. Our insurance is usually very good (we’ve had two induction tops die on us since moving in here - one of them on our first Christmas no less 😭).
Fingers crossed it gets sorted out quickly so you can enjoy your vacation!!
If that same thing has happened more than once to separate things I’d be curious.. why?
It’s the Ghost of Christmas Cracks
Sounds like some studs or backing behind the cabinetry is taking that area out of square, and putting uneven pressure all over that top and oven. That’s where I’d start anyways if it’s the third time same place.
Well i don't see the induction top in that pic so it's far enough away that it shouldn't be the same issue. My next thought would be negligence, maybe small chips being made in the induction top from dropping objects on it and for the door i'd assume maybe someone let the door shut with too much force while it was hot and caused microfractures. I'm just spitballing ideas though. Could be a combination of factors.
Had an oven crap out the day before Thanksgiving a few years ago. Had to finish our contributions on the (charcoal) grill. Gave them a lovely smoky flavor.
Wait.. I never even thought about insurance when our stove shattered.. Smart
It's not that smart to use your home insurance for small items (relative to the home like a roof replacement) when you'll be paying a premium increase for the next 3yrs-5yrs depending on your state laws.
That also makes sense and I wondered about that. Also the amount you'd probably have to pay insurance up front would probably exceed the cost of the actual replacement.
a little video of the incident for fun
I was assuming OP was referring to a home warranty, not homeowners insurance. Some real estate agents include a home warranty as part of their sales package, or you can buy your own. I can't imagine anyone filing a claim on their homeowners insurance for a single kitchen appliance. My deductible is greater than the cost of replacing any of my large appliances.
Also, I doubt homeowners insurance would even cover something like this because it appears to be an appliance failure, not damaged caused by some sort of accident like a fire or a tree falling into the house.
We're all guessing here with some companies they offer equipment breakdown optional endorsement to any home insurance policy with a lower deductible amount as an option too. And you're right doubt it would fall under a covered peril but you'd be surprised how many people try to open up a $0 payout claims not knowing it'll stay saved in their claims history/C.L.U.E. report.
That's so interesting. Where I live a home insurance covers the home and the items within it, explicitly so appliances. A new oven would be 2-8 times the deductible on that insurance, so it would be quite worth to claim probablyfor an item of that price class. But of course the warranty on the appliance is priority one since they would replace the full value
My homeowner's insurance does cover appliances, but not if they malfunction. But if I had a fire and they got destroyed, or they were stolen, that's when the insurance would cover them. Just like insurance will cover replacement of a roof that's damaged in a hail storm, but won't pay to replace a roof that's leaking just because it's old and worn out.
Thats if you dont get dropped at renewal
Eh i would still check how much it is to repair first. I have broken glass fronts to ovens before and the part was like $120 and a 5 minute install. Most deductibles are much higher than that and then you risk a rate hike on renewal.
Noooooo
It's still just sitting there naked without a top layer 😂
So your insurance just replaces stuff when it breaks? Doesn't filing claims increase your monthly premium?
No, it doesn’t. I guess that’s a North American thing? This year alone we’ve had to contact our insurance about this, my smartwatch dying in our hot tub, and a leak in the roof of our workshop. But no, insurances don’t increase simply because we use it. We also get a partial refund on our auto insurance every year we don’t have any at fault collisions 🤘
insurance? new door off eBay!
I did this once. Bought a refrigerator while in Vegas.
I was more thinking at least you dont need it for a while haha