30" Frigidaire Electri-Clean
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philr
Well-known member
Oh, I'd love to get one like that!
It's a 1969-70 model.
It's a 1969-70 model.
norgeway
Well-known member
That!
Would be a GREAT stove!
Would be a GREAT stove!
Great stove
Yes Hans this is the type of range you should be cooking on in your kitchen, in fact you should have two of these next to each other in your kitchen, then think of all the great food you could turn out.
I always loved seeing the really big old houses that had two stoves and maybe two refrigerators next to each other in the days before these silly monster appliances. It really made much more sense, you can still buy two really good ranges for less than a 1/3 the price of some silly Viking piece of junk and then you would have two Self-Cleaning Ovens that actually work and eight burners that are actually appropriately sized for cooking in a home.
Yes Hans this is the type of range you should be cooking on in your kitchen, in fact you should have two of these next to each other in your kitchen, then think of all the great food you could turn out.
I always loved seeing the really big old houses that had two stoves and maybe two refrigerators next to each other in the days before these silly monster appliances. It really made much more sense, you can still buy two really good ranges for less than a 1/3 the price of some silly Viking piece of junk and then you would have two Self-Cleaning Ovens that actually work and eight burners that are actually appropriately sized for cooking in a home.
philr
Well-known member
I emailed the seller to see if it's still available. I haven't heard from yet...
firedome
Well-known member
Good luck Phil!
as you know the similar but slightly older predecessor to our REG-38, which you found and that I love and use everyday!
as you know the similar but slightly older predecessor to our REG-38, which you found and that I love and use everyday!
norgeway
Well-known member
I Agree
John...??? How is the Frigidaire self cleaning system??
John...??? How is the Frigidaire self cleaning system??
firedome
Well-known member
I'm not John, LOL, so can't comment on long term rel
but Electri-Clean works great! Maybe FD took way too long to offer it, but they seem to have gotten it right.
but Electri-Clean works great! Maybe FD took way too long to offer it, but they seem to have gotten it right.
philr
Well-known member
As far as I know, Frigidaire did offer the Electri-Clean system since 1965 (or late 1964) so about a year after GE's P7. I don't know which brands offered self-cleaning ovens by then but Frigidaire wasn't that late to offer their version.
But unlike GE, Frigidaire had this fearure available on 30" models only at first, then on Flairs, 40" free-standing ranges, built-ins and finally on the drop-in Compact30 by late-1967.
Here in Canada, it took a few more years before GE ans Frigidaire introduced self-cleaning ovens, I think GE did that in 1966 on a free-standing model and Frigidaire (on two built-in ovens) in 1968.
What Frigidaire got really late is windows in it's self-cleaning oven doors. It finally did on the 1975 models. Frigidaire didn't offer double self-cleaning models either. Some models had removable panels in their small oven that could be cleaned in the self-cleaning larger one but not two self-cleaning ovens.
But unlike GE, Frigidaire had this fearure available on 30" models only at first, then on Flairs, 40" free-standing ranges, built-ins and finally on the drop-in Compact30 by late-1967.
Here in Canada, it took a few more years before GE ans Frigidaire introduced self-cleaning ovens, I think GE did that in 1966 on a free-standing model and Frigidaire (on two built-in ovens) in 1968.
What Frigidaire got really late is windows in it's self-cleaning oven doors. It finally did on the 1975 models. Frigidaire didn't offer double self-cleaning models either. Some models had removable panels in their small oven that could be cleaned in the self-cleaning larger one but not two self-cleaning ovens.
Electri-Clean Flair?
What does one of those look like? I've only seen the ones with glass oven doors, so did they make Electri-Clean Flairs with solid doors?
What does one of those look like? I've only seen the ones with glass oven doors, so did they make Electri-Clean Flairs with solid doors?
philr
Well-known member
They were the two-level ones, similar to the GE Americanas.
Look at this video at 2:47, of course, it's the lower oven that's self-cleaning...
Look at this video at 2:47, of course, it's the lower oven that's self-cleaning...
Frigidaire Electri-Clean Ovens
FD introduced this first on a 30" free standing around two years after GE introduced this great feature about 1965. Self-Cleaning was about the best thing that ever happened to electric ovens, not only did this work saving feature really work, but the ovens baked much better [ much more even heat ] as a result of better insulation and used less power and kept the kitchen much cooler.
FD also used the Flair name on some 30" wide [ they also called these Twin 30s ] ranges with a top oven, the Flair versions had a top oven door that lifted up to open. The regular Flairs never got the SC oven feature, in fact this is a major reason that they faded from production, it was just not possible to insulate this type of oven well enough to make a SC oven out of it and people buying expensive ranges at this time usually wanted a SCO.
FDs first 30" and 40" SCOs and wall oven with EC were unbelievably complicated and as a result problem prone [ the same can be said about GE, WH and a few others first SCOs ]. Around 1969 FD and a few other companies like Thermador went to a new line voltage King-Seeley helium filled thromostat, that also used a hot-wire power relay. It was very interesting to note while every manufactures SCO worked the same way to burn food residue away by gradually heating the oven interior to around 800F they all did it with a different combination of the use of the bake and broil elements [ including some additional heating elements on some brands and designs ] they had to do this to get around patents that GE and others quickly placed on their designs.
The FD EC SCOs worked by applying 240 voltage to the broil element through a percentage switch that operated the broil element at about 80% power [ this allowed the oven to still clean well if it was connected to 208 power as the broil element would now run almost 100% of the time ]. The broil element had a catalytic converter above it near the oven vent to help burn away any smoke, meanwhile the bake element was connected to straight 120 volts which is constant on either 208 3 phase or 240 single phase power supply systems. This has the bake element putting out 1/4 the heat it would while baking [ about 650 watts ].
FDs clever trick in their SCO was a 1/4" thick plate of aluminum behind the inside of the oven door so the heat would evenly spread and assure complete cleaning of the entire heated area of the door. This was the reason that FD tried to get away from having a window in the door for so long [ and in my opinion almost no oven should have a window, they are usually just a dirty waste of power ]
I would say by a slight margin that FD SCOs did the best job of any SCO followed closely by GE-HP and Thermador, most other brands left more areas that were not completely cleaned.
John L.
FD introduced this first on a 30" free standing around two years after GE introduced this great feature about 1965. Self-Cleaning was about the best thing that ever happened to electric ovens, not only did this work saving feature really work, but the ovens baked much better [ much more even heat ] as a result of better insulation and used less power and kept the kitchen much cooler.
FD also used the Flair name on some 30" wide [ they also called these Twin 30s ] ranges with a top oven, the Flair versions had a top oven door that lifted up to open. The regular Flairs never got the SC oven feature, in fact this is a major reason that they faded from production, it was just not possible to insulate this type of oven well enough to make a SC oven out of it and people buying expensive ranges at this time usually wanted a SCO.
FDs first 30" and 40" SCOs and wall oven with EC were unbelievably complicated and as a result problem prone [ the same can be said about GE, WH and a few others first SCOs ]. Around 1969 FD and a few other companies like Thermador went to a new line voltage King-Seeley helium filled thromostat, that also used a hot-wire power relay. It was very interesting to note while every manufactures SCO worked the same way to burn food residue away by gradually heating the oven interior to around 800F they all did it with a different combination of the use of the bake and broil elements [ including some additional heating elements on some brands and designs ] they had to do this to get around patents that GE and others quickly placed on their designs.
The FD EC SCOs worked by applying 240 voltage to the broil element through a percentage switch that operated the broil element at about 80% power [ this allowed the oven to still clean well if it was connected to 208 power as the broil element would now run almost 100% of the time ]. The broil element had a catalytic converter above it near the oven vent to help burn away any smoke, meanwhile the bake element was connected to straight 120 volts which is constant on either 208 3 phase or 240 single phase power supply systems. This has the bake element putting out 1/4 the heat it would while baking [ about 650 watts ].
FDs clever trick in their SCO was a 1/4" thick plate of aluminum behind the inside of the oven door so the heat would evenly spread and assure complete cleaning of the entire heated area of the door. This was the reason that FD tried to get away from having a window in the door for so long [ and in my opinion almost no oven should have a window, they are usually just a dirty waste of power ]
I would say by a slight margin that FD SCOs did the best job of any SCO followed closely by GE-HP and Thermador, most other brands left more areas that were not completely cleaned.
John L.
What was the "secret sauce" for GE to come up with to make the SCO feasible...was it something to do with the enamel? Obviously fiberglas is fiberglas, and there weren't any electronics to speak of, and oven timers were fully developed (although, I guess, the GE two-knob method of bake controls would be somewhat easier to deal with for adding self cleaning than the WH/FD single-knob method)...I've just always wondered who thought of P-7 and what went into it.
What Made Self-Cleaning Ovens Possible
The theory of burning off organic residue was long know to many scientists and other folks. What had to happen to have this happen in a home oven is what GE had to figure out. It is probable that several different manufactures were all trying to develop a SCO around the same time, it is hard to keep this type of development secret.
Basically to do this safely in a home oven they had to find a way to lock the oven door so it could not be opened and allow unburned soil to burst into flame. They also had to figure out a way to minimize any smoke from the burn-off process and of coerce control the temperature of the oven accurately to prevent porcelain damage.
There was no difference in the porcelain finish used in SCOs, this part was easy, and it certainly did not matter how many dials the oven control system used [ GE always used two dials so you could adjust the broiling heat anyway ] as did companies like Thermador. The single dial oven controls that companies like WH and Frigidaire used were always inferior in my opinion anyway but did not make it any more difficult to have a SCO.
Any good electric range already had a clock that allowed you to time the ovens operation if you were not present, so for most makers the timing part was easy. Interestingly WH, the first Frigidaires and Coloric's Gas SCOs all used a different timing system just for the SC oven cycle and not the usual clock that the range already had. Also a little know fact was that FD and GE made basic electric SC ranges that did not have ANY timer at all for the SC cycle, the user was just required to turn on the SC cycle and instructed to turn it off a few hours later.
A SCO will not cause a fire if you left it on for a month, your kitchen will stay nice and warm though, LOL.
John L.
The theory of burning off organic residue was long know to many scientists and other folks. What had to happen to have this happen in a home oven is what GE had to figure out. It is probable that several different manufactures were all trying to develop a SCO around the same time, it is hard to keep this type of development secret.
Basically to do this safely in a home oven they had to find a way to lock the oven door so it could not be opened and allow unburned soil to burst into flame. They also had to figure out a way to minimize any smoke from the burn-off process and of coerce control the temperature of the oven accurately to prevent porcelain damage.
There was no difference in the porcelain finish used in SCOs, this part was easy, and it certainly did not matter how many dials the oven control system used [ GE always used two dials so you could adjust the broiling heat anyway ] as did companies like Thermador. The single dial oven controls that companies like WH and Frigidaire used were always inferior in my opinion anyway but did not make it any more difficult to have a SCO.
Any good electric range already had a clock that allowed you to time the ovens operation if you were not present, so for most makers the timing part was easy. Interestingly WH, the first Frigidaires and Coloric's Gas SCOs all used a different timing system just for the SC oven cycle and not the usual clock that the range already had. Also a little know fact was that FD and GE made basic electric SC ranges that did not have ANY timer at all for the SC cycle, the user was just required to turn on the SC cycle and instructed to turn it off a few hours later.
A SCO will not cause a fire if you left it on for a month, your kitchen will stay nice and warm though, LOL.
John L.
philr
Well-known member
Frigidaire had broil/bake selectors on some of their most basic models in the 1960s (but these weren't very popular) and most of the Canadian Frigidaire ranges made since mid-1962 also had bake/broil selectors. But none of those with bake/broil selectors were self-cleaning. In the US, Frigidaire ranges (and older Canadian models) often had broiler grill controls which cycled the broil element with an infinite switch instead of using the thermostat.
Here's a picture of my 1967-70 Canadian Frigidaire range with a bake/broil selector.
This one is from 1970 so probably made at the very same time as the US model featured in the ad above. I wish I had the US model instead!
Here's a picture of my 1967-70 Canadian Frigidaire range with a bake/broil selector.
This one is from 1970 so probably made at the very same time as the US model featured in the ad above. I wish I had the US model instead!
Our Frigidaire ranges didn't have Bake/Broil selectors, not even by the mid 60s when Westinghouse offered a Bake/Broil selector on the top models.
philr
Well-known member
Tom, some US models did have a bake/broil selector too. As I said in my previous post, they were rare and BOL non-self-cleaning models!
Here's a RS-30P from the very same years as the model advertised at the top of this thread. You can see a close-up shot of the bake/broil selector on the second picture.
I got the pictures from the thread in the link below:
[this post was last edited: 6/13/2015-23:39]
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?50612
Here's a RS-30P from the very same years as the model advertised at the top of this thread. You can see a close-up shot of the bake/broil selector on the second picture.
I got the pictures from the thread in the link below:
[this post was last edited: 6/13/2015-23:39]
http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?50612
norgeway
Well-known member
You learn something
New everyday,I never saw such a thing, even on Supers!I always thought two dials were just something to make it more complicated,but I NEVER broil anything!!!I forbid such in my stove, too much cleaning.
New everyday,I never saw such a thing, even on Supers!I always thought two dials were just something to make it more complicated,but I NEVER broil anything!!!I forbid such in my stove, too much cleaning.
Yeah, while that is interesting, the range is much newer than any Frigidaire I had any interest in. The Supers through the mid 60s only had 5 dials which left one for the oven. I had stopped looking at the range line by the time of the 180 degree turn knobs, but you are much younger than I so I guess you would have still been watching them. By then, I was driving to libraries to research old appliances in the bound periodicals stacks and going to college. I spent my 17th birthday in the Atlanta Public Library's downstairs periodical room reading old Consumer Reports and Consumer Research Bulletins from the 30s, 40s and 50s. It was like a corner of heaven for me. Once I found the portals to the past, I spent a lot of time there.
That control panel really looks like the designers did not give a fried damn with the 180 degree surface unit controls and the round oven switch and thermostat.
That control panel really looks like the designers did not give a fried damn with the 180 degree surface unit controls and the round oven switch and thermostat.
In Oven Broiling
Hans once you discover the wounder of Electri-Clean you can start Broiling, I probably use the broiler in one of our 7 SCOs at least once a week.
Hans once you discover the wounder of Electri-Clean you can start Broiling, I probably use the broiler in one of our 7 SCOs at least once a week.
