My 1960 frigidaire flair says thank you ! :-)

[ajc31980]

First I would like to say hello to everyone . I'm a new member of the forums, but not new to this site lol .
I've been slowly restoring a fridgifaire flair custom imperial (1960 or 1961??) over the last year or so. I have to say it's been one heck of challenge ! But hard work and persistence has paid off. I've always enjoyed restoring vintage electrical appliance and electronics. The challenges with the flair were mainly finding parts and information. By sifting through this forum over the last year or so, I've Been able to almost fully restore the peace of really cool kitchen history. The flair has been 100% rewired from top to bottom and cleaned inside and out. The speed heat burner and control had been converted to a standard infinite heat 240 volt burner. I was reacently able to convert it back to a 120 volt speed heat burner. The issue I have with it, is the switch. The one I purchased has a short shaft and the kob likes so fall sometimes lol. However the burner and switch function perfectly! The heat minder was a little tricky to figure out at first, but it's recalibrated and works great too! The only thing I cannot repair is the meat tender dial. Sadly it is severely damaged. The little wires inside the dial are completely burned off and it's little transformer is burned out too, do to a shorted meat probe. Also the chrome finish in the ovens has been scratched to death. Oh...I almost forgot! The clock ! The clock was beyond my talents lol. But I did find a place that rebuilds them. Genraltimerepairs.com did an excellent job rebuilding the clock! Once again. A big thank you to this forum and all of its members who take the time to post and share there knowledge of these vintage appliances ! Here are some pics of the flair before and after. There are no pics with oven doors open because of the flash. I'm not best with a camera so please forgive that lol. I'm also adding a you tube link for a short video of the speed heat burner in action!

http://https//youtu.be/FK5SsVBj3yw

 

[philr]

I'm happy to see others care to fix these! I have a very similar one that works well but it also needs minor things, the meat tender being one of them. I fixed it on other ranges I have but not on the Flair yet.

 

[ajc31980]

Hi phill.
I love these stoves. MY mother has the 30 inch single oven version of this one. It took me a long time to find my own, and Im so glad I did. I'm doing my best to keep it in good working order. I think it would be great to have the meat tender working. I think that is going to be my biggest challenge for finding parts. but as I said before I can live with out it lol. Sadly the day I made that post, the timer on my clock stopped working. It looks like the gears are worn down already in the timer section. generaltimerepair gives a one year warranty and sadly mine is 2 months past that. just a friendly FYI to any one who may see this. they will not cut you break if its even slightly out of warranty. they want the full $95.00 again ! to repair it. plus shipping both ways. they claim my clock was fully rebuilt with brand new parts. one would think it would have lasted longer than 14 months if that was the case. I'm thinking I may try finding some one else to fix the clock this time or I may just learn to live with out it.

 

[philr]

Oh, sorry to learn that. Just removing it and sending it to get it fixed is an annoying job.

I had the same problem with a few of these GE/Telechron timers. The main problems on these were gears that would wear out. Sometimes the one for the time signal would fail and the other ones are OK, other times the ones for the clock mechanism wear out and the time signal gears aren't worn at all. I guess it depends of how lightly used it was.

Frigidaire switched to International Register timers that usually last longer on the next Flair model but I think their control panels don't look as nice as the early 1960-61 Flairs. And the International Register timers have very small contacts for the automatic oven feature so they sometimes wear out and stop working (technicians often just bypassed them). The clock and time signal often still work after 50+ years but some of them fail too.

 

[ajc31980]

Phill
Agree about removing the clock. Not to mention the risk of breaking the sheet of glass that covers all of the controls. And know all to well what you mean with with the switch contacts not holding up to well. Mine were bypassed. And the wires were burned and chared . Not sure how it was still working like that. Since then the entire stove has been rewired. It took about 175 feet a wire to do it. I used heat resistant fiber glass insulated wire. Hopefully the flair will last another 50 plus years. I also agree with you on the design of the 60/61 models. I think they are the nicest looking. Although when I was hunting for my own flair, I saw a pic of a late 60s early 70s ? Model that I liked. Looked like the oven dooors had tinted glass. May have been the last flair that frigidaire made ? Today I decided to take the top off and look at things again. I figured since the clock is out of warranty and I'll have to pay full price no matter what, I decided to put a few drops of oil on the gears and shafts . I had to let it sit for a good wile, it loosened up and the timer seems to working again. 2 of the gear teeth still looks worn tho. Hopefully it will keep working for a wile. I cook a lot ! And really have missed that timer over the last few days. I've been hopping back and forth between the timer on my phone and the timer on the microwave lol. Some how it's just not the same.
The flair at my mothers house was originally my grandmothers stove. Bought brand new in nov 1960. It has the exact same clock in it as mine does and that clock lasted until I was a senior in high school . 1998 lol. If there was ever a stove and clock timer that was used to its max! It was that one lol but yet my gram managed to keep her stove spotless and looking like the day it was bought. I had that clock rebuilt last year as well. Hope it holds up better than mine has . Haha.

 

[philr]

I also like the last Flairs with the tinted glass doors. Here in Canada, that's not what we had but a few made their way from the USA.

 

[ajc31980]

I would be very tempted to buy one, if I came across one locally . Not sure what I would do with 2 flairs tho lol . It's funny how in Canada you didn't have the same options as the USA did. I think I remember reading the speed heat burner wasn't available in Canada?

 

[philr]

The Speed Heat feature was available here before 1960 (I have a Canadian 1959 Frigidaire range that has that feature) but it was cancelled on the 1960 and later models so no Flairs had it. My RCIB-645C looks exactly like yours but it has a fuse panel in it's base cabinet and the control panel says "Infinite Heat" where yours says "Speed Heat".

In 1964 most of the Flairs got a different clock (not all as my Canadian Flair wall oven has the same clock as the US-made ones).

In 1965, the Canadian Flairs also got different (simpler) oven controls as the US models now had quite complicated controls with sensors and relays.

 

[ajc31980]

Hi phill
I recently was able to get my hands on a replacement meat tender dial/ indicator ! . Would you happen know of any place I could get a new meat probe ? I've seen a lot of newer ones listed on eBay that look like they would plug in ok. But I know if the ohms ( resistance ) are not right it will burn out the dial. I definitely don't want that to happen again. thanks for any advice you be able to give .

 

[philr]

I could be wrong but I think they're all the same. (I mean those that look alike, not those for microwave ovens with the same connectors!).

 

[wiskybill]

AJ

Is this the one you are looking for?

 

[ajc31980]

Thanks phill.
This is one I was thinking of trying. I may email the seller asked for ohms first . https://www.ebay.com/itm/152450344655

 

[ajc31980]

Hi bill. Yes that is the exact one I'm looking for

 

[wiskybill]

AJ

Send your info to my email, it's in my profile, and I will
gladly send this to you. I have no intended use for it.

It's worth it to me to see your Flair complete.

Bill

 

[ajc31980]

Hi bill
Oh wow! Thank you so much ! I emailed you.

 

[ajc31980]

Hi all
Today wile cleaning the burners on my flair. I broke the hing bracket on the front right burner ! Ugh ! Al I did was lift burner like always to clean the drip pan, and it just snapped right off. Has anyone ever reapared this ? Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

 

[norgeway]

Re Speed Heat

And Heat Minder came out in 55.

 

[combo52]

Broken Burner Mounting Bracket

I have unfortunately have seen this happen, If you move the bracket a few degrees CCW and drill two holes through the bracket and Cook-Top you can then use two screws and nuts to fix it.

 

To keep this from happening to the other elements lucubrate the pivot on the element and be sure that when you move the element for cleaning you lift the element opposite the pivot so as not to stress the mounting bracket.

 

John L.

 

[ajc31980]

Hi combo52
Thanks for advice. I was kind of thinking doing that. A friend of mine did offer to fix the welds but I would have take the stove top to his place for him to do it. Also I'm afraid of the top getting burned or discolored if he welds it. So I'm going try the screws first. It's amazing how fast dirt and grease collect down in around that hing. Figure it was only a year ago that I had that drawer apart to rewire everything. When it was part I gave it really good cleaning, but the three meals a day are cooked on that stove every day. Guess all the little spills and spatters add up quick ! Lol