Look What I Got Today - Or, Mother of All Stoves Part II

[58limited]

Very nice. It looks like at least one rear leg is bent judging by the damage at the lower rear of the side panel. This is common with these stoves, the legs are stamped steel trapezoids that are expected to support the stove weight. They bend if the stove is slid out from the wall for moving or cleaning.

 

[imperial70]

What a great stove. All those burners. I wonder if you would need an industrial size vent hood? It would be great fun to cook a holiday meal on that stove. Hope you enjoy it for many years.

 

[snoggle]

58limited - Did you end up getting the plastic handle inserts made? At least two of mine are broken. We can probably make them work, but I'd really rather replace them if I can do it for a reasonable amount of money. I'd probably buy several extra if I could.

 

[58limited]

I haven't had them made yet.

 

[ovrphil]

1904 Farmhouse...

well, if you have loads of room for this, it's going to be centerpiece. I love big stoves, as much as smaller ones - but the big ones are sort of inspirational - they say, "hey, what are going to make today?" ( I'd need to work out more).

Keep us posted. Thanks S.

 

[snoggle]

So, it looks like I'll be sending the burners and burner grates to IPE for re-enameling.

I'm going to look for a replacement for that side panel instead of getting it re-enameled.

Hubby is going to spray paint the other stove guts with high heat paint after cleaning them.

I've got an email out to Repco about rebuilding the thermostats.

So, the insulation in one door is full of grease and quite nasty. I'd like to replace it. I haven't looked at the rest of the insulation yet, but I might want to add extra to avoid heating up the house so much with this beast. Is there anywhere else to get appropriate roll insulation other than "The Old Appliance Club"? I just have a feeling they mark everything up a lot.

 

[snoggle]

And I think I need to buy stock in "Citrus De-greaser" and chrome polish....

 

[58limited]

For the stove insulation, check a local appliance repair shop or check ebay.

 

I replaced both side panels on my stove (A friend gave me a 40" Roper of the same style so I have a "parts" donor but will ultimately restore it too). As I posted before, the legs that the stove sits on are a weak point. Be sure to check them before you put a good replacement side on the stove or it will  wind up like the one you already have.

 

When I get the new plastic handles made I'll let you know.

[this post was last edited: 4/11/2014-18:04]

 

[snoggle]

Luckily, the legs appear to be fine. I've attached a pic.

Three of the plastic handle inserts are broken and two of them have obviously been replaced at some point. So, I'd probably want to replace all 6 once you get them made so that they all match. Depending on price I might want a few extra too.

I'll figure out how much insulation I need and start searching eBay.

Have I mentioned how much fun it is to take a gigantic stove apart in the middle of my kitchen with a toddler on the loose...

 

[58limited]

A couple of months ago I sent the aluminum broiler pans and the griddle off to be professionally polished. They came back today and look amazing! I'll post some pics this evening. Next I'll send off the chrome and then I can put the stove together and start using it. I'll then start on getting the plastic door handle inserts reproduced and the burner grates reporcelained - I can do four at a time and still have a four burner stove top to use in the mean time.

 

EDIT: here is a picture of the polished aluminum. You can see the before condition in my posts above:

[this post was last edited: 4/22/2014-17:48]

 

[washer111]

*THUD*

That Aluminium looks AMAZING!

 

[58limited]

I'm very happy with how the aluminum turned out. If anyone needs aluminum polishing, here is the contact information for the person who did mine. The cost was surprisingly reasonable:

 

Ray Carpenter.

email:  [email protected]

 

Thanks to Steve Sansone (54monroe) for the referral.

 

[snoggle]

58limited - The polished aluminum looks amazing!

We finally got our burners separated from the stove guts. I boxed them up with the grates and am sending them all to IPE tomorrow. (God bless flat rate shipping!)

The screws that held the burners to the stove guts were in rough shape due to corrosion. Should we replace them with stainless steel ones or some other material?

 

[58limited]

Stainless would be my choice.

 

[snoggle]

Safety Systems

58limited (and anyone else who wants to chime in!),

About the safety system you mentioned in a previous post:

I talked to the people at TOAC today and asked about the custom safety systems that they build. First of all, I almost choked at their price and the 2-3 month waiting list. Also, they said I would need one for each oven but from their website, it looks like what they are talking about is for stoves older than mine - stoves without a pilot light. These safety systems add a pilot light on. Is this different than what you were talking about?

I'm all for safety, but I don't want to spend a huge amount of money on something that isn't necessary or is the wrong thing.

If what they were talking about is wrong, what should I be looking for instead. Any ideas about where I should look?

 

[mikael3]

The 1948 Roper T&C has got to be my absolute favorite stove design of all time, bar none.  I would get one in a heartbeat, but...

 

I really am wondering what kind of output those surface burners give.  Chambers is supposed to be the hottest, but I think even they top out at 12k.  (With their "daisy burner" design, my experience is that you get more heat on the pan than the BTUs would indicate; but 12k??)  I think the great big O'Keefe & Merritts have three 12k and three 9k.  But Roper, I think, tops out at something like 9k, maybe on all the burners other than that coffee-pot flame. That's pretty low to me.

 

I was just wondering what your overall experience is with those surface units.  I also wonder how strong the broilers are.  I'm not looking to get a modern inferno at 25k, but I want enough flame to get a good hot pan for searing.  (I use a professional hotplate for boiling giant pots of water, and I do my canning outside on one of those propane patio stoves.)

 

I've also heard that the quality of construction was below the O&Ms, Wedgewoods, and Western-Hollys.  The weak feet already mentioned are probably part of that.  I wonder if any other aspects of the construction seem a little down-market, compared to other ranges.

 

I'm in the market now for an electric range, but I have my eyes on the gas ones, too, for a different project.

 

[snoggle]

Burner output

mikael3,

I hope what you're saying about the output of the Roper burners is incorrect, or my husband is going to be so disappointed!

We haven't hooked it up yet to try it out. Still waiting on parts that we've sent out for enameling, etc. I'm hoping to have it hooked up by the end of the month (it is seriously getting old having it sit in the middle of the kitchen floor). We have a bunch of family coming to visit, the last weekend in June, and I'd really like to be able to use it then. I'll let you know how it works out!

 

[58limited]

Safety systems can be pricey but you can get a do-it-yourself set up for less than the resto sites charge. I am a member of two Chambers forums and there are posts on how to do this but I would have to go find them.

 

Yes, you would need a safety for each oven. Even older stoves have a pilot, but the pilot is only on when the oven is on. When the oven reaches the set temperature, the flame goes to a low by-pass mode and the pilot will relight the by-pass flame if it blows out. When you turn the oven off, the pilot goes out and you must relight it with a match the next time you cook. The safety system has a pilot that is always on. Just turn the oven thermostat on and the burner lights - no match needed. There is a thermocouple that sits across the pilot flame. If the pilot goes out, the thermocouple will then shut off the gas to the burner and pilot so that you don't accidentally turn it on, walk off, and fill the house with gas OR so if both the pilot and oven by-pass flames go out you won't do the same. Each oven would need its own set up. On the Roper T&C, where to put the safety switches? The only place I can think of is the middle bottom storage drawer. Also, to add a complete safety system to the Roper T&C would involve a lot of extra plumbing of gas lines.

 

As far as the weak feet on the Roper, other brands had the same problem. Chambers, widely believed to be one of the best stoves ever made, had terrible feet - just some bolts that easily bent, especially considering that a Chambers is much heavier than most other brands.

 

[snoggle]

Valve cleaning solvent?

Okay, I'm starting on the valves.

What solvent should I use to clean the valves?

I have the valve cream stuff to apply (just a tiny amount) once they're clean.

 

[58limited]

Did you remove the valves from the stove? That is how I clean mine. Some people just take the valve body out of the housing without removing from the gas manifold. I think you can clean them more thoroughly off the stove. I clean mine in gasoline and use a nylon scrub brush and Q-Tips. Remember: clean one at a time so you don't mix the parts up, they are not interchangeable. Spray brake cleaner from the auto parts store works great too.

[this post was last edited: 6/15/2014-10:40]