1963 GE Wall Oven Not Heating

[ralnacj5661]

I have a 1963 GE model JD12X1YF wall oven that stopped heating over the weekend. I'd prefer to repair versus replace as I have the matching GE range and love them both. Hoping to get some help troubleshooting, so I'll provide as much detail as possible:

Had the oven heating at the maximum temperature for about an hour with a pizza stone on the bottom rack. Made the pizza with no issues, turned the oven off. About 4 hours later came back to turn the oven on again, turned the selector knob to "BAKE" and the oven heating indicator light did not illuminate and the oven did not click (relay pulling in, I assume?) to turn the element on as it normally does. Bake element was clearly not heating, so tried turning the selector knob to "BROIL", the light did illuminate, but the broil element was also not heating. Tried turning the oven breaker off then back on, no change. Bake element is less than 3 years old, not sure how old the broil element is. I did order a new bake element, just to eliminate it as a cause, but I don't think it is likely. Should have confirmation tomorrow.

With that said, I have a few questions:
-Does anyone know if there is some sort of thermal fuse on this unit to prevent overheating? If so, where would it be located? I opened the control panel up on top of the oven, but I didn't see anything immediately obvious. Trying to avoid removing the oven from the wall, but will if I need to.
-If there is no thermal fuse, is my issue likely the thermostat? If that's the case, it looks like GE discontinued the original thermostat. Hoping I'll either be able to find a direct replacement or a slightly newer part that will work.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[ea56]

Did the delay start control for the oven somehow inadvertently get turned on to auto start? Check the see if it’s on manual. If not set to manual and then try the oven again, this may all that’s needed to get your oven to turn on. Good luck!

HTH,
Eddie

 

[ralnacj5661]

Thank you for the quick response! I don't think so. When you say "auto start" are you referring to the "TIME BAKE" option on the selector knob? I've not messed with that feature at all, but I can say the oven does not come on when I select that option either. I think the "BAKE" option on the selector knob simply ignores the timer function though

 

[ea56]

Yes, if the Time Bake function is turned on then the oven will only turn on at the preset time that shows on the clock. If this doesn’t work then I don’t know what else could be wrong except maybe the oven control needs to be replaced. There are lots of members here that have much mote knowledge than I do about the electric controls of ovens, hopefully one of them will chime in for you and offer a suggestion that solves your problem.

Good Luck!

Eddie

 

[combo52]

Non-heating 1963 GE electric wall oven

Yes, as you found out the clock has nothing to do with this oven heating unless you put it on time bake, GE was very clever in the design of this so they didn’t get nuisance calls because somebody had played with the clock and it keeps the oven from heating.

Unfortunately, you have a more serious problem. You either have a bad selector switch or thermostat although it could just be a burned wire connection somebody needs to get in an inspect wiring connections and do some testing the oven can normally be repaired without removing it from the wall. It’s designed to repair from the front, but there are some things that could’ve gone wrong where it might need to be removed from the wall it could also be a bad power connection where the ovens cable is connected to the junction box behind the oven or possibly above or below it, depending on how they connected it to your homes power.

John L

 

[ralnacj5661]

Thanks for the additional info! I did poke around in the control panel yesterday and didn't see any obvious signs of arcing/burnt wiring. The selector switch looks original, while the thermostat looks like it may have been replaced some time in the past. The thermocouple in the oven does have a pretty good coat of carbon build up on it, so it's kind of hard to assess the condition of it. It's too bad I don't have the electrical schematics for it, may need to employ someone with a little more electrical knowledge than I to narrow it down. Easier to play the "replace parts until it works, send it back if it doesn't" game with newer appliances. Will report back if I learn anything new (or hopefully get it fixed)

 

[circlew]

It's also possible that the double pole circuit breaker has gone bad. Only half may be working, providing only 120 volts instead of 240 to the oven. A loose or burned off wire at the breaker or in a junction box might also be the cause. My neighbor's range wasn't working correctly one time, and they found a wire had burned off a the circuit breaker's terminal. The electrician replaced the breaker and cut the wire back to a good part, and that solved the issue.

 

[ralnacj5661]

That's a good point, thank you! I'm pretty sure the breaker is also probably from 1963, so that is entirely possible. The interior light still works in the oven, but I'm assuming that and the controls will work off of 120V (typical control voltage), while the heating elements would typically require 240V

 

[ralnacj5661]

Finally got some time to do some more troubleshooting. I was able to verify I am getting the correct voltage coming to the terminal block on the control panel, so I think I have narrowed it down to the thermostat. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in locating one as the part has been discontinued by GE so I need to either find a used one or find some obscure parts shop that still happens to have one. Any good suggestions on where to look for one? It is GE part number WB21X5209. No luck on a quick Google search.

Also, GE does not provide any substitutes, but is there another available thermostat that may work with some minor modifications for mounting? Again, electrical is not my forte so I don't know if it is that simple.

 

[steved]

Discontinued on all fronts

A Google search failed to find a direct replacement, even a generic. But I did find some cross-reference numbers that may help in your search, including details. The P/N you're looking for is GR 209. Good luck!

 

[combo52]

Replacement thermostat 1963 GE wall oven

According to my paperwork, your Wall oven should use part number WB 21X 5208. I have a brand new WB 21X 5208 new in the box thermostat I also have a brand new WB 21X 5209 thermostat new in the box, I will sell either one for $150 plus shipping and tax if you’re interested I have the instructions with them as well. John, you can get in touch with me by email [email protected]

 

[steved]

Question

I'm wondering which oven is in question, as per John's chart. Upper or lower?

 

[ralnacj5661]

Again, thank you all for the quick replies! When I tried searching before my oven model JD12X1YF didn't return any results, but JD12X1 was on the 'Repair Clinic' website with the 5209 listed as the thermostat. I think I had read somewhere else that the only difference between the 5208 and the 5209 thermostat is the thermocouple lead length, is that right?

All of that said, I may just take you up on that offer. I will probably do a little bit more troubleshooting just to eliminate the selector switch as the potential offender. I don't think that's what it is, but I'd hate to spend the money on the thermostat just to find it still doesn't fix my issue.

 

[combo52]

1963 GE oven not heating

It’s pretty simple to check the continuity through the thermostat to tell whether that’s bad or not, the selector switch could definitely be a problem too when looking at the selector switch look for any loose terminals and signs of overheating at any terminals.

Hi Steve, this is a single oven model the JD 12 X 1

 

[steved]

I missed that

Thanks for the update John!