Belling [LO] fault codewhat it means and how to fix it

Belling’s code-table entry for LO is as short as it gets. The stated meaning is “Child lock” and the description is “The child lock has been activated.” Nothing has gone wrong; the hob is doing what a child lock is for, which is refusing to respond until it is released. The release is published too, a few pages earlier in the same guide, and it is a hold on one key rather than a combination. Belling’s words: “To deactivate the child lock, after switching the hob on, touch the padlock key for a few seconds until ‘LO’ disappears from the timer display. The hob can now be operated as usual.” Read the order carefully, because it is the step people miss: the hob has to be switched on first, at which point Belling say ‘LO’ flashes in the hob timer display and the cooking zones cannot be switched on, and only then does holding the padlock key release it. Belling give no hold time beyond “a few seconds”, so neither do we. The same section explains why the lock can be on when nobody remembers setting it. The lock works two ways — to stop the zones being turned on at all, and, once you have set simmer levels, as an in-use lock that stops the power settings being changed while leaving the power key free to switch the hob off — and both are set by holding the same padlock key for a few seconds until ‘LO’ appears.

Belling also say the lock is maintained even after powering the hob off and on with the power key, so switching the hob off and on again does not clear it. The reason this code still needs more than that is that a Belling range cooker has two child locks, they look nothing like each other, and owners merge them constantly. LO belongs to the hob and appears in the hob timer display. The other lock belongs to the oven clock and programmer, shows as a padlock symbol on the timer display rather than as letters, and stops the main oven working until it is released. Belling publish that release as a hold too: press and hold the ‘+’ key for 5 to 10 seconds until the padlock symbol disappears, which their website FAQ rounds to about 10 seconds. Stoves, the sister badge, publish a second variant for timers whose middle key carries a clock symbol — hold that middle clock key for about ten seconds until you hear a short beep — but Belling publish only the ‘+’ key variant, so that is what we attribute to them. Which lock you are looking at decides which problem you have.

If the hob will not respond but the oven works, the hob lock is on and LO is what you will see. If the oven will not start and there is a padlock on the timer, the timer lock is on and the hob has nothing to do with it. Two related points from Belling’s own material are worth having to hand. Holding a hob touch key for more than ten seconds is something they explicitly tell you not to do, which is why hunting for the hob release by holding keys at random tends to produce ER03 instead. And the 2022-generation Glen Dimplex table has a row for this with no code at all: problem “Hob is not working in display”, cause “Child lock is activated”, solution “Deactivate child lock”; that generation’s lock is set differently, by pressing the key lock and pause buttons together, releasing them, and then pressing the key lock button again, or the pause button on the other control layout, and the 2022 manual publishes only the activation. An older cooker can therefore be locked without ever showing you the letters LO.

1. 1

   Check where the message is. Letters reading LO in the hob timer display are the hob lock. A padlock symbol on the oven timer display is the separate oven timer lock.

2. 2

   For the hob lock, switch the hob on with the power key first — Belling say LO then flashes in the hob timer display — and then touch the padlock key for a few seconds until LO disappears. Belling publish no hold time beyond “a few seconds”.

   Do not go through the other touch keys holding each one down. Belling publish the instruction not to touch any hob touch control key for more than 10 seconds, and doing so tends to produce ER03.
3. 3

   For the oven timer lock, press and hold the ‘+’ key for 5 to 10 seconds until the padlock symbol disappears. That is the variant Belling publish, in the guide and, as about 10 seconds, on their website.

4. 4

   Test the right thing afterwards. Releasing the timer lock will not make a locked hob respond, and releasing the hob lock will not make an unresponsive timer work.

5. 5

   If the hob still will not respond with no LO and no obstruction showing, use Belling’s catch-all: off at the wall for a few minutes, then customer care on 0344 815 3746 if it returns.