weird fuseholder in cooker hood switch
Discussion
Something went bang in the cooker hood dept the other day. The OH was only using the lights because the fan is loud enough to wake the dead, so we never use that. Anyway, optimistically hoping it was just the fuse blowing, I put a new 13A fuse in the switch. It goes into a pullout cassette housing in the switch (see pic). Trouble is I now can't get the cassette back in past the screw that sits below it and which refuses to be come up any higher than flush with the switch housing. Hopefully the pic shows the problem. Seems like a crazy design. Any thoughts from the PH DIY massive? 
Edited by tonym911 on Thursday 23 December 16:19
Gav147 said:
Put the fuse in then push the holder till it touches the screw, while applying a little pressure to the holder turn the screw and it will pull the holder into place
And it works! Thanks Gav. New fuse hasn't mended the hood, sadly. Neither lights or fan works. She said it made a mahoosive bang. 
miniman said:
My guess - the power feed has been close to one of the lightbulbs for long enough (it took a couple of years for mine to do it) for it to harden and eventually short. My wife phoned me at work to tell me the boiler had exploded. Well, a cooker hood looks a lot like a boiler, right?
Ours is only two years old though, new kitchen extension. Gav147 said:
No probs, have you checked the fuse or tried another one? clutching at straws but it could be worth a try just in case. Other than that I can't really help sorry.
You've been a big help already Gav, thanks, I've replaced the 13A fuse with a new one, not sure where to go next, the missis will just have to slave over a hot dark stove this Xmas, compliments of the season to you and yoursIts a common problem with cooker hoods, stupid installers (apologies if diy!) dont bother reading the instructions and always fit the wrong fuse. Hoods should be 3 amp or 5 amp max. Whats happend to yours is that simply a bulb has blown in a big way and instead of popping the 3 amp fuse it has blown the next weakest link-the switch pcb. If not too bad a decent engineer can patch the blown tracks on these as they dont hold any semiconductors or anything too fragile. If not a new pcb will not cost the end of the world (depending on make).
Another common problem with hoods is that the user has no idea there is often a mains plug and fuse sitting on top of the cupboards next to the hood. Might be worth looking up there incase there is a second fuse.
Another common problem with hoods is that the user has no idea there is often a mains plug and fuse sitting on top of the cupboards next to the hood. Might be worth looking up there incase there is a second fuse.
Just to reiterate what Mark said above: DON'T put a 13A fuse in a cooker hood supply point!
Most don't need anything bigger than a 3A fuse (mine has a pair of 40W lamps and a 75W motor, at 240v this equates to about 0.65A). Fitting a 13A is just asking for trouble: while a dead-short circuit will blow the fuse, it's entirely feasible that something could short in a cooker hood but draw a relatively low current. E.g. a partial short in the motor winding might draw say 10A, which will not blow a 13A fuse but will generate 2400W of heat, concentrated in a small area, which after a few seconds will prove more than enough to start a nice fire inside the hood. Plus yer average cooker hood will go up like a Molotov cocktail thanks to the accumulation of grease on the paper filters that most of these things contain, and promptly set light to the adjacent wall units.
For what these things cost, if it's not an obvious and easy problem to fix safely, I'd bin it and buy a new hood.
Most don't need anything bigger than a 3A fuse (mine has a pair of 40W lamps and a 75W motor, at 240v this equates to about 0.65A). Fitting a 13A is just asking for trouble: while a dead-short circuit will blow the fuse, it's entirely feasible that something could short in a cooker hood but draw a relatively low current. E.g. a partial short in the motor winding might draw say 10A, which will not blow a 13A fuse but will generate 2400W of heat, concentrated in a small area, which after a few seconds will prove more than enough to start a nice fire inside the hood. Plus yer average cooker hood will go up like a Molotov cocktail thanks to the accumulation of grease on the paper filters that most of these things contain, and promptly set light to the adjacent wall units.
For what these things cost, if it's not an obvious and easy problem to fix safely, I'd bin it and buy a new hood.
The bloody spark fitted that switch and fuse. I keep finding other little treats he's left for us. Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll have a word with SWMBO once the Christmas panic is over. Funny how these things always seem to happen just before Christmas, and the rule of things always coming in threes has kicked in here too - we had trouble with the washing machine and the boiler in the last two weeks.
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