Help with my "new" Westinghouse range

[kevin313]

I've had this Westinghouse range in my garage for two years - the owners were cleaning out their in-law's house and this was headed to the dumpster, so of course I couldn't let it go to the scrap yard.

Today, after putting up the Christmas lights on the house, I decided to bring the old girl inside and switch it out with my daily driver - a 2001 glasstop Frigidaire, which has been very good to me.

Other than needing a new cord, the stove was in great shape. I plugged it in and everything seems to work - clock, light, burners, outlet, oven and broiler. It has one of those "automatic" elements on the stove top - I don't know how this gizmo works on this WH. Also, I can anyone give me a vintage? A friend told me he thought it was a 1961 model, but I don't know for sure.

If anyone has a copy of a owner's manual for this range, I'd deeply appreciate anything they could share. Here's the info and some pics:

MODEL: KCB30CW1

SERIAL #: B159915

 

[kevin313]

Here's another shot:

 

[kevin313]

The oven:

 

[kevin313]

The "Look-In" window:

 

[kevin313]

The burners (Corax):

 

[retropia]

Nice looking stove! It's hard to believe anyone would consider sending that to a landfill. The original owner must have taken very good care of it.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations on a wonderful range!

It was born in 1961. How is the dial for the automatic unit marked; is it divided into zones like "FRY" "BOIL" & "WARM" or is is marked like the other dials? There are two different systems.

 

[kevin313]

Doug - thanks! I don't think the original owners did much cooking ;-)

Tom - See pix below. The dial that corresponds with the automatic burner differs in one way: It has graduated markings around the inner ring of the dial. It does not say "Fry" "Boil" "Warm" etc. The outer ring of the dial has the same markings as the other knobs: High, Med High, Med, etc.

Does this offer any clue?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Kevin, As Mark Twain once said when asked a question, "I was glad to be able to provide an answer. I said I did not know." I don't know exactly how this newer system worked. It was not an actual thermostatic system like other control systems. It basically had two cut out points, one for the higher ranges and one for the lower ranges. It was said to prevent pans from burning, even if unattended or if they boil dry.

The blurb about the feature in the 1965 range literature states: "Automatic Surface Unit prevents overcooking and won't let foods burn even if the pan boils dry. Just set the dial to the proper heat...the Westinghouse Automatic unit will take over, maintain the proper temperature."

I am sorry that I do not have more detailed information, but perhaps someone else has an owner's manual or a service manual that explains it. Maybe I'll find one somewhere to be able to offer you more help.

The nice thing is that you don't have to worry about setting a temperature; you just use it like any other unit and it offers a bit of oversight and protection. You will have to let us know if you can start a cooking operation like cooking vegetables, for example, on low and see if it brings the food to a boil and cuts down or if you have to start on high and turn it down after it comes to the boil.

 

[westingman123]

Hmmmm. My Commander has the same Corox automatic surface unit, but the settings are as Tom stated above (boil, fry, warm). Unfortunately, the sensor is burned out. It's there, but toast. This burner is the fastest heating on my range, and will boil water super fast. My owner's manual doesn't say much about the automatic burner, either. Do let us know what you find out, please!

 

[toploader55]

OMG

That's the Range I grew up with.

Nice Stove. That Range replaced a Gas Tappan in our kitchen around 1962-63. The Westy Range was my Grandmother's. It was barely a year old when we got it.

 

[norgeway]

OMG!

Kevin, that is FANTASTIC!! Donalds Mom had a very similar range for many years, she has not liked a range since, to my way of thinking, these are about the best ranges ever!

 

[kevin313]

Thanks for sharing the info you have - I'll keep doing some research and hopefully turn up some literature on this model or one like it of the same vintage. I'll also play around with the automatic burner when boiling, etc. and see if I can make some sense of how it is controlled. Stay tuned!

 

[norgeway]

Hey Kevin...

I love the stove, but PLEASE post a picture of the FLOOR!!! That HAS to be vintage linoleum!!!!!

 

[norgeway]

Notice the porcelian....

It looks "whiter" than newer ranges, I wonder with all the modern technology today, why cant this level of quality still be made!??

 

[Ultramatic]

It's called " greed"

<span style="font-size: medium;">Manufacturers CAN build high quality, affordable appliances, but they won't. They want you to buy a new stove every 10 years or so. Same goes for most major appliances. How many Kenmore stoves built today will be around by 2031?</span>

 

<span style="font-size: medium;">BTW, that's one gorgeous stove!
</span>

 

[pulltostart]

Kevin,

That's a beautiful range!!!  Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

Lawrence

 

[steved]

Beautiful!

One of my favorite ranges other than Frigidaire!
According to a service bulletin I have its a 1961 model. I believe in 1962 (for 1963) they introduced the Westinghouse logo with the "W" in a circle after the name. I have a builders catalog from late 1962 that shows the new logo.

 

[steved]

Oops sorry Tom

You already gave it a birthday!
It does seem that this automatic unit is the cheaper version and called an "Automatic Unit Control" as opposed to "Automatic Surface Unit" on the Custom Imperial models. The operation is a little confusing to me so I copied it. Seems like its just a regular infinite heat switch to me. The dotted area of the knob indicates "fry" vs the solid area is "boil".

 

[kevin313]

Used the oven for the first time tonight. I set it for 350, and according to my oven thermometer, it held the temp at 354 degrees for a half hour. Made seven layer bars for a work meeting tomorrow...

 

[kevin313]

For Hans

Here's a couple of shots for Hans who was curious about the floor. It's not vintage linolium, it's new and made by Armstrong. The pattern is called "Confetti" and my grandma had a kitchen floor very much like it, so it was in memory of her that I had it installed when I remodeled the kitchen in 2000.

 

[kevin313]

Here's a close up of the floor (the pattern really hides the dirt, crumbs and dust!!)

 

[petek]

Kevin, how often do you swap out stoves? Just wondering lol.

That plug in griddle thing looks neat.. would be nice to find one of those.

One last thing.. You're sure it's a Westinghouse? ha.

 

[norgeway]

Thanks Kevin...

FABULOUS!!! The stove and the floor!!!

 

[westingman123]

Oooh, purrty!

I love that floor, also. Not to mention your Westy roaster. Such style. I baked all the sides in my roaster for Thanksgiving while the ovens were otherwise occupied. Lovely kitchen there!

 

[slantfrontwesty]

Hey Kevin,

That is definately a 1961 model, This exact stove lived in my parents house from 1961 to 1978, then it was replaced by a poppy red one, and a matching fridge! I came home from my kindergarden class and my mother was toiling over that stove making lunch for us... the year was 1961 lol.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thanks, Steve. The information seems a little confusing still. From the description of the automatic unit control, it would seem like there is no need for the sensor; the higer heats are for frying and the lower ones for boiling and that can be taken care of by an infinite switch.

 

[kevin313]

The switches for the burners are infinate on this stove - not sure when they began using those as opposed to the graduated switches.

 

[arbilab]

The step switches (buttons or click-knob) will have 2 elements. At risk of information clutter:

HI = both elements parallel across 240V
M-HI = single element across 240V
MED = both elements series across 240V
LOW = both elements parallel across 120V
WM = both elements series across 120V

Yes, you can be sure it's Westinghouse. Before the sale to White, and even before Westinghouse stylized their logo (the one with 3 dots).

 

[supersuds]

I don't have any knowledge to add. It is just lovely.