Did I just ruin my stove?

Question

OK...the other day I was vacuuming behind my White Westinghouse stove (not sure of how old it is as I bought it from a friend when she moved a few years back). Anyway, strangest thing...I wasn't touching the cord or anything, but suddenly a huge spark came out of the back of the stove blowing off the wire on the furthest right (main cord is split into 3 at the end near the stove). Now the stove won't even come on...did I completely ruin my stove or is this fixable? Is this a freak occurance or should someone somewhere in my life had told me to not vacuum near a stove when it's plugged in? Thank you in advance for any advice, help, or information you can provide me!

Answer 1

Actually you should be glad this happened,

because it will now show you a few things you MUST get fixed before you burn your house down.

1. If you touched something that caused a

huge spark big enough to blow off a wire,

then you should be thankful it didn't start a fire.

2.  When something like this happens, it should have tripped the 220 circuit that

is used EXCLUSIVELY for your electric

stove.  All the electric would have been shut

off so that no fire would start and more than

that, so you would not be electrocuted!

3.  You either have a bad wire, or a bad

plug-in socket, or it's plugged into a 110

outlet when it needs 220V.

4.  when the metal pipe on your vac touched

a hot wire, it sparked cause that wire was

not grounded.  If you had touched anything,

you would be dead right now.

5.  Be VERY GLAD that your stove will not

come on, and DO NOT USE IT AGAIN,

until you have proper wiring to the plug and

proper plug and proper outlet and proper

voltage and proper circuit breaker connection.

6.  Also, if you did not cause ALL THE ELECTRIC in the house to go off, that

means your circuit breaker box is not

installed properly.

7.  Sounds like you bought a defective stove

and are living in a home with very old

wiring.  It must be fixed!!!

8.  Tell me, do you use s***w-in fuses or

a circuit breaker box?  the former will tell

you that you need an electrical upgrade

PRONTO.

Answer 2

What happend was the cord shorted, due to maybe a fray in the wire, who knows, but it may be tough to fix that cord unless you get a technician out to look at it, but you may have fryed the computer and thermostat in your stove.

Answer 3

You probably cut the stove's back panel into to supply cord, this might be a simple supply cord replacement.  You will have to reset the breakers as well.

Answer 4

sound like u just need to replace the plug.

Answer 5

if your cord is frayed you definately need a new one. they do sell cord kits when you buy a large applience but you'll probably need a maitnance man to install it. if your stove still doesn't work then I'm sorry to say that you ruined it.

Answer 6

I'm sure that the cord can be replaced.

Answer 7

its probably not totaled.be safe...have it checked by a liscensed professional.often, older appliance cords will become brittle and cracked.most likely, through no fault of your own,the cable was bare and shorted on itself or the metal cabinet of the stove.if this is the case,its a relatively low cost repair.check with a reputable repair company for a cost quote.very important... have the power receptacle and circuit breaker or fuse panel inspected as well.