Amana Radarange Poll:

[danemodsandy]

I'd love to hear from owners of vintage Radaranges:

What vintage model do you own? Do you favor the pre-digital models with the dials? Are you a Cookmatic aficionado? Do you prefer Touchmatics? Or maybe even the commercial machines? Or the - gasp! - RRL-series?

I'd love to know what other owners are "into," because I'm wondering what the most popular models are with collectors. I personally favor the RR-4D, as having the classic "twin-dial" styling, but also having the Automatic Defrost feature. I also think it has more of a collector following than some other models, with the possible exception of some Touchmatics.

What's your model - and why?

 

[murando531]

I'm not sure of the model, but we always had one growing up. I loved how high-tech it looked despite it being older than I am. It's a Touchmatic I believe; numeric keys in a 5x2 grid, and the goldish brown door-lever across the bottom. I loved taking the shield off the top and spinning the scattering "fan" by hand when it needed to be cleaned.

My mom still has it in use as far as I know, never a hiccup. They got a giant fancy LG microwave that had control board failures in about a year's time, so back to the Amana it was. I'll have to get pictures next time I go home.

I'm so glad there is appeal to these still, especially because we had one. The KitchenAid top load washer is the only other appliance we ever had that is now revered by many. That microwave is a testament to the quality of true-Amana products back in their time.

 

[firedome]

Sandy...

what's so wrong with RRLs? I love the look of our RRL-9TA: the cleaner, more modern styling (almost Scandinavian Modern, one might say), the red LEDs, orange & woodgrain look, the Touchmatic, variable defrost, the hi-temp candy probe, the fast fast programming with infinite power selection...everything about it! We've had the opportunity to have several mint examples of older dial models including RR3H and RR4D, but passed on them for the 9TA. It's been bulletproof for 34 years and a joy to use!

 

[danemodsandy]

Roger:

Actually, I used to have that exact model myself. The reason the "gasp!" was in there was because the earlier models (through the last of the chrome-door Touchmatics) seem to garner all the collector attention.

The RRL-9TA is a very solid, very capable machine, as you note. Mine went wonky after a few months' use, and it wasn't a twin-dial machine like I wanted, so I didn't keep it.

 

[retropia]

RR 9 Cookmatic

I think they are all neat, but I ended up with an RR 9 Cookmatic. Mom and Dad had one of the dial models, and I remember that over time the dials got a bit wobbly and settings were less precise.

Here is a photo of a test recipe I made with the Radarange, broccoli with a cheese sauce. It turned out great!

 

[danemodsandy]

Roger - Oops!

A check of the Archives dug up my posts from when I owned an RRL-series machine, and I find it was the RRL-9TC, not the 9TA. Very small detail differences, but not exactly the same as yours.

 

[countryford]

I have a RR-4D with a  non operational fan. I just need to get my butt in gear and replace it.

 

[danemodsandy]

Justin:

If you need fan parts, I may have them soon. No charge for the part, just postage.

I'll shoot you an email when I'm ready to part out the RR-4D that's in the basement, which will be after the new one gets here.

 

[firedome]

there's a guy in Utica

NY that overhauls RRs, he completely re-does the circuit board, replacing any caps and whatever is needed. He lives in a totally original '50s MCM rancher that is like a musuem quality time-piece in every respect and his work is immaculate. Our board was pre-emptively re-built just last year, so we hope to get another 40 out of it!

 

[danemodsandy]

Roger;

My RRL was fine for a while, then one night, in the middle of cooking, it began a loud roar and shut down. The circuit breaker tripped. After that, the unit would not come on again.

A couple of posts to AW asking if anyone knew what the difficulty was did not get answered, so I figured it was either something very unusual or terribly terminal.

It wasn't the touchpad, that much seemed certain. I did not hold the incident against RRLs or Radaranges; the unit was over 20 years old at the time, was a thrift-store buy and very little money was involved.

Stuff happens, y'know?

 

[ovrphil]

one more RR-9TB

Late to add something to this thread, I like the RR-9TB I found. It had a burned inner frame and one key went on it, but I had a donor model that allowed me to restore it. It looks like a RR- 9TA model, but with changes that are internal probably.We recently had new appliances added, with a new microwave set over the stove(new apartment management company spending alot to renovate this older property). I hate the black, cheapy appliances, but there are even more BOL, so ..anyways...I prefer to use the old Amana as it reminds of the old chromed cars and just feels better to use. It's slower, I admit, than the new mw's today. I have a Krupps convection oven(courtesy the thrift store) that is like a small toaster-oven that helps keep the stove from being used.

 

[cadman]

Decisions...decisions...

These are our daily drivers, though the 8A gets 99% of the work. Now that I think about it, I had another 8A that acted like it was heating but obviously wasn't. The machine was spotless but the magnetron was shot- looked like a lot of microwave popcorn was the culprit. Too nice to part out, I put in a low-hour magnetron from an RR-800 and that's the 8A you see in the middle; looks like new, performs like new. The 6W gets a lot of use for its timer function. The poor 4D sits neglected. -Cory

 

[danemodsandy]

Phil:

What was odd about the RRL's performance was that it was less wattage than the Daewoo cheapie my partner replaced it with, but it cooked faster.

The Daewoo was a "modern" turntable unit, with the turntable right at the level of the microwave cavity's floor. The Amana, of course, had space beneath the glass tray for microwaves to be deflected back up into the food from below.

I think that made a difference.

My current driver (a 1100w Magic Chef in stainless/black) takes 90 seconds to reheat a cup of coffee. I know from experience that an RR-4D (675w) can do the same job in 70 seconds.

 

[swestoyz]

Current DD - a true RR-9

I've used several Touchmatics over the years, and I'd say the RR-10 (with the non-colored buttons) is my favorite.

Recently, I picked up this low use RR-9. Cadman restored the electronics of the control panel, and I detailed the machine. The magnetron is strong and heats up water quickly. Ironically, I rarely microwave anything.

An RR-2 or RR-4 would be fun to have at some point. But for now, I like the glow of a 12hr seven segment display.
Ben

 

[ovrphil]

RRL's

Sandy - were you speaking to me or firedome, who referenced the RRL model? Not that I wasn't interested, as I have a couple RRL models. I like the older model(s) that have the light-up dials, but I'm happy with what I've got.

My other Amana's: RR-10A(Sept 1983, I think), RRL-10A(June 1983) , RRL-9TB(October 1981), and an RR-700 (can't see the date, as it's boxed right now).

Ben- I love that Cookmatic control on your Touchmatic.

Again, many thanks to Cory, for his website and my resulting inspiration. To sound redundant, I can't believe how cool the old appliances once looked and felt to use. That's why we don't use the new black over the black stove state of the art microwave here in this apartment. Fast, but boring all around.

[this post was last edited: 9/4/2014-21:50]

 

[danemodsandy]

Ben:

You are making me want a Touchmatic.

And I only just found a nice RR-4D!

The Hoarders TV crew is gonna end up at my house yet....

 

[danemodsandy]

Phil:

That comment was meant for you, because you said your Amana was slower. I have found that they're faster than some new microwaves, so that's why I chimed in.

 

[danemodsandy]

Oh, and Cory:

Are you aware that if someone Googles "Amana Radarange," your site is the first result returned, not Amana's?

 

[ovrphil]

Chiming is good! Thanks Sandy! I read that sometimes, these older RR's can be faster, but I didn't really buy it, if you are using a new MW with 1100 or more watts. But I believe what you're saying - just haven't done any time tests myself.