How does the "Oven Ready" light work on my O'Keefe & Merritt

[davey7]

So coincidentally (since there was a post about the Deville yesterday) I was working on my range last weekend - mainly some cleaning and working on the various "idiot" or indicator lights. I figured out that one of the bulbs, the "oven on" was simply burned out, so I swapped out the rotisserie bulb for that one, but I don't really understand how the "oven ready" light works - nor do I know which sensor turns on the "oven on" light either. The oven probe doesn't work either, so is there, perhaps, a connection.

Any suggestions on where to start looking? There is a brown plastic (bakelite?) device on the top of the thermostat/control which has some copper plates in it, what does that do exactly? It's somewhat damaged - the plastic housing has a piece missing. I suppose some pictures might help.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The oven ready light comes on once the set temperature has been reached. If your stove's thermostat is a modulating type instead of a cycling type, the light should remain lighted until you turn off the oven or set the thermostat for a higher temperature. Older modulating thermostats turned the flame down to maintain the set temperature. Cycling thermostats actually turn the flame on and off to maintain the desired temperature. If your oven thermostat has temperatures as low as 170-140, it is a cycling type. If it does not show much below 200 or 250, it is a modulating type. These can get out of wack with age and not turn the flame down far enough to keep the temperature from rising which will burn food. I had to use one like that briefly and relied on a Taylor oven thermometer and a visual check of the flame which I could turn down low enough with the thermostat dial to maintain non-incinerating temperatures.

 

[davey7]

The thermostat works fine, great in fact, I love having a modulating flame, it cooks so much better than all the other gas ovens I've had, far better in fact. I just don't know which part is the "controlling" mechanism for the ready light so I can start checking it, i.e. I really mean how does it work electrically/mechanically. The oven holds temperatures beautifully.

 

[norgeway]

Re Modulating flame..

To me these were the best ovens of all time, the heat is constant and steady and maintains the temperature better than any other system, I still think the old gas stoves bake better than electric ovens for this reason.

 

[fan-of-fans]

This may be a dumb question, but how does one use a gas oven without an indicator light? How do you know when it's up to the right temp? I've only used electric ovens so have no idea.

 

[appnut]

Our 1960/1961 O&M wall oven had the modulating type of thermostat and as indicated, the oven ready light came on once temperature was reached.  Now y'all are making me home sick. 

 

[norgeway]

On the old gas ovens,

You simply waited until the flame reduced in size, indicating the oven was pre heated, then they put a oven ready light on some super deluxe ranges, when the light came on, the oven was preheated..It really was not needed as much as the cycling light of an electric oven, because a gas oven is so much faster preheating.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Gas Ovens Faster Preheating?!?

I beg to differ. For one thing, in the old ranges, there was a heavy steel or iron plate above the burner. This did not warp so it tended to keep the heat even as it rose around the perimeter of the oven, IF THE BURNER WAS PROPERLY ADJUSTED and the flame was even on all sides. This heavy plate, however, absorbed a lot of heat in the initial preheating process which slowed the preheating. In our Crown, the condensation always ran out of the broiler compartment and dripped on the floor during the preheat. I guess when the dripping stopped, the oven was nearly at the set temperature. Modern gas stoves use a stamped steel plate above the flame which tends to warp along the edges and the resulting wavy shape provides uneven heat flow up into the oven.

And to answer the question about how you knew if it was preheated or not, you didn't unless you knelt on the floor and pulled out the broiler then looked up to see whether the flame was large or small, so you gave it time.

The oven ready light would have to be connected to the thermostat and the same mechanism that modulated down the flame would complete a circuit to the oven ready lamp to cause it to light.

 

[jetcone]

Beautiful range

is that a flat top in between the grates??

 

 

[davey7]

I have a thermometer in the oven and you just get a sense of when it's ready. None of the ranges I grew up with had one (now I wonder if that old Kenmore or other Sears brand we had when I was a kid had a modulating flame) except for the newer Kenmore in my past place, but that was an electronic gas control thing.

So would the brown device on top of the thermostat/valve be the control for the "ready light"?

 

[maytagbear]

I grew up cooking on gas stoves......

and we just listened for the oven burner to cycle off. Not all that complicated.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[dustin92]

How does one use a gas oven without an indicator light? GUESS. We have a fairly recent Maytag gas range downstairs (mid to late 90's or so) and it does have an indicator, but takes absolutely forever to heat up (25-30 minutes?) And the stovetop is no better- count on 15-20 minutes to boil a pot of water for pasta or whatever, and you pretty much cook on one setting: high. Light it and turn it down just until the ignitor stops clicking. On the other hand, we have the '61 Frigidaire Deluxe upstairs, which preheats in 5-10 minutes, and will bring a pot of water up in record time. Never again will I cook on a gas stove given the choice. Electric is much cleaner; no odors or fumes from it, just the smell of whatever's cooking Ok, Thread hijack over.

 

[davey7]

If you have gas odor you're doing something wrong or your stove is faulty. So now back to my problem, does anybody actually know which part is the sensor for the "oven ready" light?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Do you have a wire coming out of the thermostat and going to the oven ready lamp? If so, that is the link and the lamp is triggered by something in or on the thermostat body. Of course, for there to be a circuit, there would need to be a wire bringing electricity to whatever switch in the thermostat completes the circuit. Either wire could be broken or the socket could be damaged so that the bulb is not making contact.

Maybe you could contact The Old Road Home where they restore gas ranges and they could help you. I think you are kinda tapped out here.