GE 1959 Range J408 - a burner question

[teapot]

Hi there,

I am a new member but have been following this forum for awhile. I'm hoping you can help me.

We recently built a cabin and I plunked down a cool 100 bucks for an excellent 1959 GE range, complete with manual, rotisserie, automatic grill, etc. The front left burner is a sensatemp burner that has separate control for the inner coil. Right now the outer coil is the only part of the element that heats up. Assuming I need to replace the element, have you any suggestions for me? I've seen conflicting information on whether I need to replace it with a sensetemp element. Is the inner/outer coil a feature of burners w/o sensatemp? I've added some picture that show the element in question.

I'll probably be replacing this myself (the cabin is remotely located) so I'm hoping this will be an easy fix (I used to fix my old GE range w/o problem but it didn't have all these "modern" features).

Just as a side note--I've been using the rotisserie and it is terrific!

 

[kenmore71]

The reasons for that issue are myriad on that range.
It could be a bad inner coil, but that is unlikely.
Have you tested the impedance of the inner coil?
Have you looked at the connections at the coil itself to see if they are bad?
Do you know if it is indeed a "Sensi-temp"? and that it has not been converted to infinite heat? (This happened 90% of the time when there were issues with the Sensi-temp.)
I have worked on these and have always found a way to resolve the issue one way or another.
They are complicated and you need wiring diagrams and a pretty good understanding of electric cookery to master them.

 

[teapot]

1959 GE Burner

Thanks for the information. It sounds like I should do a little more exploring before I order a new part. I haven't checked into the coil connections so will do that when I'm back at the cabin. My guess is that the burner is a sensatemp because the center is different from all the other burners on the stove (see photo). Would an infinite heat coil work with the inner/outer coil controls?

I'm no electrician and would be hopeless reading a wiring diagram -- it sure would be nice if this was an easy fix. Good electricians are hard to find where we are.

 

[sel8207]

1959 g.e. range oven service manual

At this site there is the automatic ephemera link in the upper right corner of the main page. Open it and go to make or manufacturer. Find General Electric. Open the range/oven selection on the right side of that page. You can find the 1959 General Electric range/oven service manual download for $7.99 available there. It should assist you somewhat. I think it would probably be rare that the burner would give out, so it's probably best to rule out connectivity issues first. That download probably has a series of sequential check out procedures in it. Good luck to you. Les

 

[teapot]

thank you!

Thanks for the information Les. I downloaded the manual. Fortunately I have two friends who are useful with all things electric so will coax them back to the cabin to see what can be done. Given that the cabin is on a prized trout fishing lake near Yellowstone, it won't be too hard

This stove was purchased new from a woman my sister knows. When they built a new home in the 60s, she insisted on keeping the stove so moved it into the basement for extra holiday cooking. It got very light use for many decades so I suspect that it really is the original sensatemp burner.

BTW, I have the original owners manual, which I didn't see in the ephemera section. Would be happy to provide to this site...though I'm not sure how best to do that.

 

[kenmore71]

The presence of the heat sensor is no guarantee that the unit is still configured as a "Sensi-temp" unit. It honestly could be, but often when either the sensor or the responder units on these failed, the responder was switched out with a conversion infinite heat switch and the wires to the sensor were simply cut in the console.
I could tell with certainty within 20 seconds of taking the console back off.

One way to test this would be to put a pot of water on the burner and turn it on to 200-225 degrees. The burner should come on and turn dull red (or at least the outer coil) Once the water is boiling, the burner will start cycling to keep the water just at the boiling point. It will certainly not be red any longer. If it stays red and the water boils vigorously, then it is a Sensi-temp that has failed in the "on" position. On the other hand, if you set the temperature to 220-ish degrees and the burner gets warm but not dull red and it take 30-45 minutes for the water to approach the boiling point, then you have a system that has been converted. Another tell-tale sign of a converted system is to set the temperature at a mid-way point with nothing on the burner. If the burner turns bright red within 30 seconds, you have a Sensi-temp system, if the burner gets hot but not red and you hear a faint clicking sound at regular intervals from behind the thermostat, then the system has been converted.

Also, when doing the electrical testing for the inner coil, also be certain to check the 4-way switch as well. It's possible that there could be a loose connection on that or even a burned-out contact.

When you do an ohm meter reading on the burner, each coil should have about 40-45 ohms of resistance IF it is the original 2600 watt element.