Replacing the insulation on a Rangemaster oven

[phil999123]

Hi there,

I have a rangemaster double oven and underneath the smaller of the ovens a mouse has got into the insulation and made the smaller oven smell really bad. The mouse is no longer with us, thankfully, but the smell of the insulation is still really bad. I think I can jack the oven up to get at the insulation below but I'm concerned that maybe the mouse hasn't limited itself to one small area and would prefer to replace the whole insulation wrap, if possible.

Does anyone have any experience of replacing the insulation on a rangemaster and if so please could you tell me how much work is involved (and any tips if you remember how you did the job)? The rangemaster website has a spare wrap for £16 but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a repair or service manual available (at least I've not found one yet).

Many thanks for any advice / pointers...

:-)

[AndrewD]

I've got exactly the same problem (Mouse in the insulatin). Did you sort it ? If so how ?

[phil999123]

I've got exactly the same problem (Mouse in the insulatin). Did you sort it ? If so how ?

I downloaded the service manual which had instructions on removing the panels and then, from what I remember, I did the following:

Switched cooker off and isolated it completely from the mains (isolating both live and neutral).
Pulled cooker out into centre of room
Removed bottom panel (along the front)
Removed long bar along top/front of cooker
Removed all dials
Removed front panel (from behind the dials)
Removed both end panels
Raised the cooker onto wooden blocks (by a couple of inches at each end)
Cut (or undo, if possible) the ties/wires that hold the insulation in place but don't pull them out as they will be tricky to refit.
Cut around the affected insulation using scissors (only the insulation beneath our oven was soiled so that's what I removed).
Clean the affected outer surface of the oven thoroughly.
Now cut new insulation to replace that which was removed. I bought the insulation online - I think it was about £20 delivered. Google should yield results!
Carefully push the new insulation into place (within the securing wires), trying not to rip the foil (almost impossible to not rip it at all).
Now re-tie the wires to secure the insulation. I had to extend the wires using copper wire that I salvaged from some old mains cable as when I undid them I had to cut them with wire cutters.
Refit panels, etc, in reverse order of removal, taking the cooker off its raised blocks.

Now the important bit! - Block up every tiny hole into which a mouse could enter the cooker in the future. I have put a painted black baton of wood beneath the front lower panel to stop them crawling in under there. I've also blocked up the access ways at the back of the oven (at the back of the kitchen units) so mice can't get in there either. Finally, I've set a trap behind the cooker and check this every few months for mice (you can use a torch to look down behind the cooker through the grill at the back). Since I did this we've had no further "intruders" behind the oven! :-)

Now push back the cooker into place and remember to keep checking the trap.

I hope the above helps. It wasn't a difficult job - the worst bit was trying to fit the insulation without ripping it. It took about one and a half hours.

Cheers,

Phil