This week I picked up this coppertone 1966 GE P7 (model J348B2) which was headed to the scrapyard. I brought it to our shop at work and did some initial testing.
First I tested the oven using a thermocouple and found the highs and lows averaged out to 349 degrees when set to 350. You can't get much closer than that. The broiler element also passed testing. I ran it through a 2-hour cleaning cycle and it peaked out at 867 degrees, which was close enough to the recommended 880 degrees for me. Once completed, the oven cavity looked nearly brand new. Had no problems getting the latch solenoid to release when called upon to do so.
The clock motor was a bit loud but running. The minute hand moved slowly, but it did not keep good time (advancing only a couple minutes every hour.) I will need to look into that further.
Finally I tested the burners. All but the front left sensi-temp burner seemed to work just fine. The sensi-temp burner would not heat up unless I had it set to Grill and I turned on the left rear burner. (By the way, the griddle was found stored away in the bottom drawer!)
I went through the sensi-temp troubleshooting section of the service manual. I removed the sensor wires from the responder and could not get continuity between them. I checked the yellow wires from the sensor back to the control panel and found the wires intact. While I was behind the control panel, I checked the sensi-temp burner transformer and had 120 VAC on the primary side and 12 VAC on the secondary side. My conclusion is that the sensor will need to be replaced.
I wondered if any club members had a reasonably priced sensor unit they would be willing to sell me. The original part number is WB21X154 which subs to WB21X5207. There are a few WB21X5207 units on eBay but they are out of my price range.
I would also appreciate any advice on what to look for on repairing the clock myself, if that is a possibility.
This P7 will join my two recently added 1957 GE ranges. I never thought that I'd branch out from collecting washers, dryers and dishwashers, but here I am...
Thanks,
Jeff









First I tested the oven using a thermocouple and found the highs and lows averaged out to 349 degrees when set to 350. You can't get much closer than that. The broiler element also passed testing. I ran it through a 2-hour cleaning cycle and it peaked out at 867 degrees, which was close enough to the recommended 880 degrees for me. Once completed, the oven cavity looked nearly brand new. Had no problems getting the latch solenoid to release when called upon to do so.
The clock motor was a bit loud but running. The minute hand moved slowly, but it did not keep good time (advancing only a couple minutes every hour.) I will need to look into that further.
Finally I tested the burners. All but the front left sensi-temp burner seemed to work just fine. The sensi-temp burner would not heat up unless I had it set to Grill and I turned on the left rear burner. (By the way, the griddle was found stored away in the bottom drawer!)
I went through the sensi-temp troubleshooting section of the service manual. I removed the sensor wires from the responder and could not get continuity between them. I checked the yellow wires from the sensor back to the control panel and found the wires intact. While I was behind the control panel, I checked the sensi-temp burner transformer and had 120 VAC on the primary side and 12 VAC on the secondary side. My conclusion is that the sensor will need to be replaced.
I wondered if any club members had a reasonably priced sensor unit they would be willing to sell me. The original part number is WB21X154 which subs to WB21X5207. There are a few WB21X5207 units on eBay but they are out of my price range.
I would also appreciate any advice on what to look for on repairing the clock myself, if that is a possibility.
This P7 will join my two recently added 1957 GE ranges. I never thought that I'd branch out from collecting washers, dryers and dishwashers, but here I am...
Thanks,
Jeff








