My girlfriend has complained that our range is tripping the circuit breaker quite often. I tried to get her pinned down on details, but she couldn’t really tell me if it is limited to the oven, or one particular burner.
I just tried using the oven. It turned on OK, started heating, and then all power on the range went off. I went outside, reset the circuit breaker, and a few minutes later it did it again. All in all, this happened 4 times, in trying to get the oven heated to 350. It is rather chilly out tonight, and it seemed to me that the circuit breaker was a bit warm when I reset it…not hot, but it felt slightly warmer than the one below it.
After reaching 350 finally, the oven seems to be working fine. The element is cycling on and off, and it hasn’t tripped the breaker in over 40 minutes. Tomorrow, while we’re trying to cook Thanksgiving dinner, I will see if any of the burners seem to be making the breaker trip too.
I have had to replace a breaker because it was tripping at a lower current then it should have.
Other possibilities are:
The breaker is not making good contact in the box. remove it and check that the rails etc. are corrosion free and wires going into it are good. Also check that it snaps in or screws in tightly.
Poor connection or corrosion at the wall receptacle for the unit or in the wire nuts if it is hard wired.
Poor connection or corrosion in the oven at the terminal strip
Something is heating up, softening and then shorting out. But I would expect that you would hear and/or smell this. Open it up and check for any burn marks on the frame.
If the machine is agitating then it is not the belt.
Take off the bottom panel. If the machine is not draining remove the pump and clean out any debris and check the pump. If the machine is draining but not spinning observe the machine in spin mode. See if the motor is turning and the failure is in the transmission.