WE HAVE JUST MOVED HOUSE AND THERE IS A GAGGENAU DEEP FAT FRYER INSTALLED INTO THE WORK SURFACE. I TURNED IT ON AND THERE WAS A "BANG" AND A LITTLE BIT OF SMOKE - BUT THE UNIT DOES NOT WORK. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT CAULD BE THE CAUSE AS THE PREVIOUS OWNERS DID NOT LEAVE A BOOK WITH IT. THE FRYER IS ABOUT 12 YEARS OLD. OR DOES ANYONE HAVE A BOOK TO SELL ME THAT WE COULD LOOK THROUGH. IT IS NOT THE FUSE - WE HAVE CHECKED THAT.

MARGARET DODDS, December 2008

Margaret - I don't know your deep fat fryer but it should be a pretty simple device. A heating element controlled by two switches in series (one after another). An on off switch will feed power to a thermostatic switch and from there to the element. There may also be a light to tell you that the fryer is still warming up. Not much to go wrong. Your bang with smoke may well have been the element - Hope you didn't switch it on without oil as the thermostat would not be able sense the heat and the element might cook itself. Bit like an automatic kettle with no water in it - no switch off mechanism.

Peccavi, December 2008