Oven question

[Steve1962]

Today’s silly question. My wife uses our hob as an additional work space, she has a wooden board on it with various cooking items, we don’t use the hob for cooking. We’re going to use the oven for the first time today, would we need to remove the wooden board from the hob and raise the glass cover or are we ok to leave it? Thanks

 

[Kevin M]

I’d lift it, it all gets a tad hot.

 

[Steve1962]

I’d lift it, it all gets a tad hot.

Cheers,
Better safe than sorry👍

 

[birdman101]

Usually if glass not open oven won’t light.

 

[IanB1485]

@birdman101 that only applies to the hob , the grill and oven will light with the lid shut and the lid cutoff function only applies to certain models of thetford ovens , the caprice mk2 and mk 3 if memory serves. there are vents at the back of the top which allow the heat ( and gases) out.

 

[Dustydog]

Relax.
No need to lift the hob glass whilst using the oven. Totally separate bits of kit. Anyway you have a big grille sitting over the oven long before you reach the hob.

 

[birdman101]

@birdman101 that only applies to the hob , the grill and oven will light with the lid shut and the lid cutoff function only applies to certain models of thetford ovens , the caprice mk2 and mk 3 if memory serves. there are vents at the back of the top which allow the heat ( and gases) out.

Our oven will not light unless the glass top is open or the one in our previous caravan being Thetford ovens

 

[Dustydog]

Our oven will not light unless the glass top is open or the one in our previous caravan being Thetford ovens

Interesting. Clearly no models are the same .
At the bottom of the oven I have four gas isolation valves for fridge, hob , water heater and oven/grille. My hob operation is independent of the oven grille .

Steve what model oven is yours?

 

[Steve1962]

Interesting. Clearly no models are the same .
At the bottom of the oven I have four gas isolation valves for fridge, hob , water heater and oven/grille. My hob operation is independent of the oven grille .

Steve what model oven is yours?

Thanks,
Its:

Thetford oven, SOH73966


OH73000DF

Steve

 

[Dustydog]

Thanks,
Its:

Thetford oven, SOH73966


OH73000DF

Steve

According To this hob glass must be open at all times to use grille / oven. Surely that’s in your handbook?
Great photos to date👍

 

[Steve1962]

According To this hob glass must be open at all times to use grille / oven. Surely that’s in your handbook?
Great photos to date👍

Thanks,
You’re correct about the oven 👍

Mysteriously the photo of my big toe in the leather sandals taken by accident on the ascent of Mount Molehill had somehow been deleted
🤣🤣🤣

 

[Sam Vimes]

Our oven will not light unless the glass top is open or the one in our previous caravan being Thetford ovens

Ditto

 

[IanB1485]

Thats interesting , I see and check a lot of ovens in caravans and motorhomes and I have not come across the lid shutting off the oven/grill , The thetford ovens I have come across and inspected and repaired only cut off the four hob gas burners/ 3 gas burners and one electric hob , via 4 microswitches . I will certainly keep an eye open for this feature in future.I did a caravan - 2011 and the grill door had a microswitch on the side , which if you closed the door the grill cut off , unfortunately the microswitch had failed and it cost a fair bit to source a replacement, Newer grills allow the door to be shut and keep running

 

[birdman101]

The Thetford Oven in our 2013 Swift and our present 2023 Swift both need to have top open to allow Oven to work. And pretty sure from memory our 2001Swift with Thetford was also the same. In fact I think every caravan that we have owned even back in the 1980’s that had glass tops the valve cut off the ovens and burners.

 

[Buckman]

We were advised to have the glass top open if using the oven. Over the years I have read about exploding glass lids which has happened for no reason whatsoever.

 

[Dustydog]

I’m sounding like the Prof now😉

It is very clear no two caravan ovens are the same.

Steve’s is an integrated model whereas mine is a separate hob from the oven and grille.
It is essential to ensure you always follow your own cookers printed instructions which should be part of the caravans manual package. If you haven’t got one get it from Thetford or whoever makes yours.

Over ten years ago we had a mini explosion in the oven. We attempted lighting it with the oven door shut. The gas tap had stuck in the open position allowing gas to continue flowing even though the burner had not lit. The second attempt at lighting it resulted in an explosion which blew the door open causing some minor damage.

Please always light your oven with the door OPEN!

 

[ProfJohnL]

This thread is another demonstration of how different appliance manufacturers approach a similar scenarios (in this case the glass hob cover) with different solutions. Few normal caravanners will have the breadth of experience of all the similar appliances to be able to offer a fully informed opinion about what is (if it actually exists) the universal approach to the issue. This illustrates why it important not to assume the instructions for one specific model will be the same for all other models

Whilst I was composing this piece Dusty has posted above with a sensible suggestion of checking the appliance's user instructions. He also highlights one of the tangible differences between integrated and separate ovens and hobs, which could require different approaches.

What I do suggest is that if you cannot find your instructions, then it is best to err on the side of "safety" and keep the hob lid open whilst using the oven - until you can find the relevant instructions for the appliance's in your caravan.

 

[IanB1485]

Exploding tempered glass (which is not unique to ovens/hobs) is usually caused by abrupt temperature changes (either up or down) AND minor scratches in the glass or impacts. The toughening process introduces compressed and stretched areas in the glass. if you look through a polarised filter at the glass ,which is illuminated from behind, you will see these areas as purple and orangey areas usually circular in shape ( that was the system we had at Ferranti to check that we had annealed glass correctly ). You can see this effect if you wear polarised sunglasses in older cars when its sunny. Scratching the glass ( diamond rings!!) introduces a localised stress line and if the temperature changes suddenly the glass explodes into small fragments rather into potentially long sharp slivers.I once saw a tempered glass inner oven door shatter whilst someone was carrying it across the shopfloor, straight out of stores!

 

[Beachball]

When we brought our latest caravan if using the oven leave the glass top open so far we have followed that advice with no problems

 

[Buckman]

One issue that springs to mind is hobs with an electric hob. Sometimes the knob for the electric hot plate gets accidentally moved and the plate will heat up and cause the glass lid to "explode". It is only the gas plates that switch off automatically when the lid is closed.