My New Range is HERE!

[danemodsandy]

Got Started....

....On the cleaning this afternoon. She's dirtier than she looks, but that's the way of it with vintage appliances. It's mostly accumulation under, around and behind details. For instance, the oven door handle looked pristine in place, but a look at its underside was like - Oh. My. God.

I am definitely not complaining! Nice to have something worth working on. I well remember when I had to clean the BOL POS I have - I went through all that knowing full well that a clean POS was still going to be a POS when I was through. This new range is worth the effort.

And once again, I'm enormously taken by how well she's built. I don't think a new Hyundai has this much metal in it!

Tomorrow is a day off, so I'm hoping for huge progress - as in powering 'er up and puttin' 'er through some paces.

 

[danemodsandy]

RUH-ROH!

I'm sure it's not a real problem, but I've had my first "WTF?" moment with the range.

I removed the oven door handle to clean under it and to clean the Bakelite spacer behind it. When I did so, the oven door wouldn't go back together properly. Investigation showed that the door would have to come off its hinges to be properly reassembled.

The door hinges LOOK like the current lift-off type, but they are not; there is a screw in each holding the door in place on them. I removed the screws, lifted the door, and - uh, boy.

Two little spring clips fell out of the bottom edge of the door; they are obviously what holds the screws in place when the door is fastened on the hinges. Both clips are intact and present, but I have less than NO idea how to re-insert them. I was able to figure out how the door went back together, in spite of more little spacers than you can shake a stick at.

In a moment evidently lost to history, GE must have been the first inter-species employer, offering trained octopi gainful employment - you need eight hands to hold everything in alignment as you re-assemble.

Anyway, can anyone reveal the mystery of those two spring clips for the hinges? John maybe?

 

[polkanut]

Sandy,

You had me scared for a moment that there was a major mechanical defect.  I hope your cleaning and polishing efforts yield great results.

 

[combo52]

GE Oven Door Clips

Sandy are  these the two little curved spring steel like clips? if that is what we are talking about they assemble near the bottom of the slot in the door where the door slides onto the hinges, they improve the fit and aliment of the door when installed.

 

Anyway I don't know if I am helping much here, when I go over to the warehouse around noon I will look at a similar range we have and I will probably be better able to describe how to reinstall the clips, but basically they clip up into the bottom of the hinge brackets.

 

[danemodsandy]

John:

Yep, they're two little curved clips. I am going to look at them again after a night's sleep (yesterday was a hard day at work and I really shouldn't have been working on the range last night), with your description in mind.

She's a very nice range, but she's a very complicated one!

P.S.: Tim, I was hoping to avoid giving that impression that something awful was wrong - Astro's "Ruh-Roh!" was my attempt to keep it light. Sorry if I scared you. I'm sure there will be some, shall we say, adventurous moments along the way to Range Nirvana? I'm just trying to treat it all as a journey and not stress. [this post was last edited: 11/13/2013-09:42]

 

[atomict]

Congrats

That is a beauty!  Just love that styling with all the bells and whistles!

 

-Tony

 

[polkanut]

Sandy,

No fear here.  I knew it wouldn't be perfect, but it's a huge improvement over what you've been using.

 

[danemodsandy]

Trudging Along....

Well, I've spent about five hours on her so far today, and strides have been made.

Her backguard and cook top are clean. The drip recesses under the burner bowls are cleaned out (such fun!) and the oven vent deflector, which had been out of position, is clean and back where it belongs.

The news is mixed on her trim rings and burner bowls. The trim rings are better, but they have rust in places, which means I'll want to replace them. The bowls are much, much better, but there is still carbonized grease in crevices underneath them, which means another pass, another time. They look great from the top. These are not getting replaced, because they're original aluminum bowls; today's replacements are that cheap, thin chrome. I like a burner bowl I can scour vigorously if need be.

Some tape residue that was on the backguard also came off cleanly; her "Sensi-Temp" logo now shines proudly.

As I worked, I felt the range was telling me the story of its previous ownership. I could tell that for a long time, she was cared for, quite well. I could also tell that the care stopped at some point, perhaps a few years ago. Most things were reasonably clean, but the Sensi-Temp burner was pretty bad, and none of the burner bowls had been Brillo-ed for a while. I get the feeling that a woman prized this range for a long time, and then after she died, her surviving husband just used it bachelor-fashion, maybe wiping it down after use, but certainly not worrying about the finer points of cleaning.

Anyway, she's getting better. Hope to power her up tonight. Pray.

 

[oldskool]

Her Transitional Home...

...is now vacant. This is where the range was held in safety until her travels to Waterloo, IA - at Tim's garage. Sorry it took me so long to get the pics uploaded.

 

[oldskool]

I Wouldn't Take Nothin for my Journey Now!

Settling in for a comfortable ride - with friends!

 

[oldskool]

My Friends...

...Tim & Bev who kept me safe until I could travel to my permanent home.

 

[oldskool]

This jitney driver....

who paraded and flaunted all of my General Electric majesty and beauty right through Benton Harbor, MI in the front of Whirlpool's Headquarters! Just ghastly!

 

[oldskool]

My Fellow passengers....

who treated me very kindly, even though they're of a different lineage.

 

[polkanut]

Yes,

That's my ugly mug, and my beautiful wife with whom I'll be celebrating 15yrs of marriage 11/14.  We enjoyed being "foster parents" as John "oldskool" so appropriately put it.  Standing next to that bridal wreath bush almost makes it look like Bev is wearing camouflage.

 

[turquoisedude]

Congratulations Sandy! It must be wonderful to finally have the GE range of your dreams safe, sound, and installed chez vous! Kudos to Tim for helping you save this treasure, too. Happy cooking!!

 

[danemodsandy]

GOOD NEWS!!!

She's powered up and things are looking very good indeed!

The backguard light works, the oven light works, the clock/timer is working, and I'm getting heat from the Sensi-Temp burner!

The latch/unlatch for the P*7 is working, too. I will not be testing the P*7 until some more cleaning is done in the oven cavity and the hinge clip issue is resolved.

But, hey - cowabunga! Can Tim pick 'em or can Tim pick 'em?

UPDATE: The Coil Select function is also working - I can have a 4", 6" or 8" coil area heated on the Sensi-Temp burner (right front). Testing of the Sensi-Temp function is taking place right now, with a pan of water and the thermostat set at 250F. Once the water boils, I'll crank 'er down a bit and see if she holds a simmer.

[this post was last edited: 11/13/2013-15:18]

 

[deeptub]

Aluminum drip bowls

I'm not advocating actually doing it (especially if they are irreplaceable), but aren't these the drip bowls that GE advertised as cleanable in the P*7 oven?

This is a beautiful range! I have a 1977 40-inch w/double oven, Sensi-Temp, and meat thermometer that I absolutely adore.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tom:

"....aren't these the drip bowls that GE advertised as cleanable in the P*7 oven?"

That might be. The bowls were rough and dark, which could indicate cleaning in the oven. However, the 900F temp of pyrolitic self-cleaning is way up there for aluminum, which has a melting point just over 1200F. I'm not sure that would be good for the bowls.

Anyway, I personally won't be doing that. I like shiny burner bowls; they reflect heat better and they look much nicer. I like nicely Brillo-ed aluminum; it always looks so Suzy Homemaker, LOL.

I know someone with a brand-new GE self-cleaner (the "P*7" trademark is, sadly, nowhere to be seen on it), and that range has porcelain-coated one-piece burner bowls and porcelain-coated oven racks; a cleaning cycle doesn't affect their appearance. That's a change that makes sense. The trade-off is losing some of the chrome-y goodness of older units.

Latest news flash: The Sensi-Temp burner is working, so far as I can tell!

And P.S.: That photo of the range's transport made me giggle. I certainly didn't move here in such spacious comfort!

 

[retromania]

Congratulations! I know how you feel!!!

 

[danemodsandy]

Andy:

If you know how I feel, I feel sorry for you, LOL!

I spent much of the day scrunched up into positions they can't put in the Kama Sutra, and I've had my hands in everything but sheep dip.

Baby tired.

But yes, elated.

 

[rustyspaatz]

Sounds more like you've been to a rave, but your end result is legal.

 

[polkanut]

Sandy,

Did you mean the stove or my wife? 

 

[danemodsandy]

Tim:

How about both?

Tomorrow morning's Great Moment - coffee ready when I wake up, courtesy of the mighty Farberware Superfast percolator and the range's timed outlet!

Haven't had that setup since about 1979.

 

[polkanut]

RETRO TIME!  Fingers and toes crossed it works for you.

 

[combo52]

GE P-7 Range Progress

The aluminum burner bowls are meant to be cleaned in the P-7 oven and it will not melt them, after cleaning you can still polish if you want really shinny bowls.

 

I like the aluminum bowls for originality and chrome or shinny bowls do slightly do improve the burners heating speed and efficiency, but for my heavy cooking use coupled with my desire not to have to clean the burner bowls every few days I always install the dark GE porcelain burner bowls with the separate chrome trim rings on any range I have to maintain.

 

Sandy if you need a set of genuine GE porcelain bowls and rings let me know, we have lots of them, unfortunately GE discontinued the aluminum bowls all together.

 

Glad your Sensi-temp burner seems to be working, GE had one of the most user friendly automatic burners too use if you remember to use the boil settings when cooking with water in a pan and if using a skillet or the griddle you use the temperature settings 150-500F.

 

[norgeway]

Those aluminum..

Bowls turn up once in a while, I have seen them new in the wrapping at several old appliance stores, I never liked them, and always covered them with foil, I sure like that range, it looks great.

 

[danemodsandy]

Hi John!

I'm very relieved about the Sensi-Temp unit; it is not cheap to repair, as you know.

I am going to need both a set of knobs and a set of burner rings. The burner bowls are going to get more work; they'll come completely clean with sufficient effort, trust me.

I also have to re-do the paint fill on the "Cook" and "Clean" indicia on the Bakelite spacer behind the oven door handle; the old paint just came away when the spacer was cleaned. It's an easy task, just a little Testor's PLA and a paint brush, with some mineral spirits to wipe away any excess.

This weekend will be detailing the oven and putting her through her paces. I'm hoping she's in the same good shape everything else is. After that will come the first official photo!

P.S.: If you could shed any light on the installation of those ding-blasted oven door hinge clips, I'd be grateful.

 

[rustyspaatz]

Don't forget the masking tape before painting.

For nice, crisp lines.

 

[pulltostart]

John L.

Thanks for the reminder about the 'Boil' settings on the Sensi-Temp.  I had forgotten about them and recently did a boil-water experiment myself, with not-what-I-was-hoping-for results.  Today, based on your reminder, I used the 'Low Boil' indication and was much happier with the results!  I'm guessing that the dial contains two sets of calibrations, with the 'Boil' section having greater control of the temperature?

 

Anyway - thanks again for pointing out that feature!

 

lawrence

 

[danemodsandy]

For John (combo52)

John:

I found the answer on the aluminum burner bowls. This is from the 1966 P*7 Use & Care Guide that is downloadable from Automatic Ephemera, on Page 6, in the section beginning "Parts of the Range which may be cleaned during P*7 automatic cleaning." The underscore is added:

"b. Aluminum reflector pans found under surface units. Wipe off boilovers not stuck to pans. Place pans upside down on shelf at Position C. Some kinds of soil may require more than 2 hours to remove. See cleaning chart in Care Section for other ways of cleaning reflector pans. Also see heat settings on Surface Cooking Chart to prevent boilovers. Aluminum reflector pans cleaned automatically may soften and change in color. Replacements can be purchased, if desired from your GE dealer."

So, it seems the P*7 cleaning temp was known to have an effect on the pans. BTW, the P*7 Use and Care Guide covers the TOL 40-incher and the TOL 30-incher of 1966. The 30-incher shown is quite similar to the range I now own, so I got a trove of info that I can use until the frabjous day the exact manual for my range turns up. This makes about the fourth time that Automatic Ephemera has been able to supply a HTF manual, or something close to it, for a new vintage appliance in my house.