Warning signs · Viking ovens
Why won't the oven light turn off?
With the door shut the lamp should be out, so one that stays lit means the switch the door presses is no longer being read, or the control is holding it on. Worth putting right, too — a bulb that burns through every bake has a harder life than one that goes out. Viking Repair Pros of Los Angeles can look at it.
What you can see, what it means, what to do now
See it
The light is on with the door closed — you can see it glowing at the door seal, or through the glass — and the switch on the panel makes no difference to it.
What it means
Most ovens turn the lamp off through a small switch the closing door presses. If that switch, or the plunger acting on it, no longer moves as it should, the oven goes on thinking the door is open. Less often the control has stopped letting go of the circuit.
What to do tonight
Try the light switch on the panel once, then open and close the door firmly to see whether it clears. Check nothing is sitting against the door edge. Leave the bulb alone — the cavity is hot for a long while and the glass is fragile — and cook as normal meanwhile.
Still doing it after that? Call Viking Repair Pros of Los Angeles on (213) 652-7030. The $89 visit covers the fault-finding and comes off the repair.
The same switch has another job
Whatever tells the oven that the door is shut is usually doing more than working the lamp. On many ovens the same reading is what lets a clean cycle begin, and it is what the control checks before it drives the latch. So a light that will not go out is sometimes the first sign of something you will meet again the next time you press clean — the cycle refusing to start, or starting and then stopping. Mention the light when you book, even if it seems like the smallest possible complaint; it saves a second visit when the real question turns out to be the door.
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Follow-ups
Can I just take the bulb out to stop it burning?
Please do not. The cavity holds its heat long after you switch off, the cover is glass and it is often stiff, and an oven lamp sits in a live holder. It is also the sort of small job that gets combined with fixing the switch, so it is worth one visit rather than two.
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Signed
Birgit Halloran
- Works on
- ovens and heating
- Time served
- 24 years
