New Member, New (Old) Frigidaire 40" Stove

[mnfrommn]

Hi all, just joined and though I'd introduce myself. I've always appreciated the superior aesthetics and quality of older appliances, and have picked up a few smaller ones when I've come across them at thrift stores. Recently I acquired my first large vintage appliance, a 1946 Frigidaire BI-17C stove. It was a craigslist rescue, offered for free by a woman who's elderly mother had passed on the condition that it not be scrapped. Her grandparents had bought the stove new when her grandfather returned from the war to go into their newly built home, and it had been there ever since, cooking meals for three generations of the family. A developer bought the property with plans to demolish the old house within a few weeks of closing, so I'm thrilled I was able to give the old girl a new home.

I spent an afternoon running a 240 volt circuit to the kitchen and capping the gas line from the old stove and (barely) squeezed the girthy appliance through my kitchen door and into place. I think she looks quite good in her new spot.

Unfortunately, the burners only seem to be working on the High setting, and even then don't get hot enough to boil a pot of water. I noticed that only the outer coil of the older double radiantube gets hot. The oven works perfectly, and I obsessively checked the new circuit when I ran it, so I'm assuming the problem is somewhere between the switches and the surface elements. I'll be spending some time with a multi-meter and wiring diagram this evening, but if anyone has any suggestions on where to start looking I'd appreciate 'em.

Thanks for having a look, and nice to meet you all!

 

[repairguy]

Welcome and congrats on your first vintage large appliance save!

 

[rp2813]

Welcome!

 

Based on my own experience growing up with the 1949 Westinghouse range my parents purchased after getting married and my mom used for the rest of her life, over the decades there would be instances where a portion of a burner would stop heating.  In all but one case, one of the leads from the switch had detached/broken off at the burner connection.  Inspect for that first.

 

Considering your stove was in use by its original owner for all of those years and was well-maintained, I suspect the burners were treated well.  My mom never banged pots and pans around on the burners, and that's why only one of them ever needed to be replaced.

 

There may be replacements available though a member here if not on ebay, etc., and it appears the large burner up front isn't original, so you may want to find the correct one for that spot.

 

Congratulations on your rescue.  It looks like it belongs there, and I really like the front-mounted burner controls.

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

Congratulations! Welcome! Beautiful Range!

Are you sure that both legs of the 240 volt circuit are live? Another thing I noticed was that you have modern 6" Radiantube units. They require a different switch from the switch used for the first Radiantube units like the 8 inch unit uses. That probably was taken care of when the newer units were installed, but that is something to check. Check connections at the terminal block, too.

 

[rp2813]

So Tom, I had it backwards about the large burner? 

 

Now that you've mentioned it, that coil looks kind of old-timey.

 

Coincidentally, the original large and highly used Corox element on my mom's stove was still fully functional, as was everything else, when I passed that stove along to a former AW member in 2008 and saved it from the scrap heap.

 

[mnfrommn]

Success!

Many thanks to both of you for the tips. RP2813, you were right about the loose wires. I took a poke inside and found one wire had broken loose on each of the rears. Now that they are reattached they're both roaring away. The multi-meter revealed open circuits in the elements of the two front burners, so looks like I'm on a treasure hunt for those.

Also, I found a little packet of ephemera in one of the storage drawers that explains the different burners. Turns out the newer ones are specially made to fit these old style switches. I'm glad they were in there as I can now search for those part numbers too. I've included pics of paper work for the edification of forum members.

Thanks again for your help guys!

 

[combo52]

1946 FD Electric range

Yes the large RF element is the correct original type. I can see by the picture that the inner part is not heating at all by the grease on that element.

 

The original elements were pretty unusual in that one coil was 120 volts while the other was 240, this was the only electric range [ I ever saw ]that ever did a dual voltage element.

 

It is hard to know where to start, I think if you really want to cook on this range much I would use 4 of the newer radiant tube elements and replace all four switches and control knobs.

 

The other thing you could do is find a low milage newer FD range and take parts from it, something between about 1950 and 1955.

 

John L.

 

[appnut]

Beautiful Mathieu.  Congratulations, great save.  What's the dishwasher to the left of the range?

 

[turquoisedude]

Mathieu, I just may have one of the older large Frigidaire elements in my parts stash.  I know I have the smaller ones;  I will try to remember to check for you on the weekend (they are in storage down at my other house where most of the vintage stuff lives!).

 

 

[kevin313]

Welcome and beautiful Frigidaire range!! Hope you enjoy many years of great cooking and baking with it!

 

[mnfrommn]

Bob, the dishwasher is a Kenmore portable that came with our house (it's a rental). I've never actually taken a look at the model number, but I assume it's 1980's vintage. It's not the prettiest, but it washes dishes better than most of the newer units I've had in previous apartments.

Paul, it would be incredibly helpful if you had one in your stash. The 8 inch monotube burners, and the rings and bits to go with them, aren't exactly thick on the ground. Thanks so much for offering to check!

 

[bradfordwhite]

The dishwasher looks like approx. 1980 to 1985 hard to find working (and thus existing) portable D&M made model.

Can we see pics? please

 

[combo52]

1946 FD Electric range

Warning don't try using a regular 8" monotube element on your range unless you can find the special dual voltage element, or you want to rewire and replace the switches.

 

Whatever you do be sure the elements are all grounded to the range body and the range is grounded to the neutral wire of the cord if you are using a 3 wire cord, otherwise you can get some nasty shocks when picking up a hot metal pan handle.

 

John L.