Please Help Identify Wall Oven Year/Model

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sarah

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Hi Y'all,

Can you help me identify my GE wall ovens? They were originally dark brown, I think. And the ID tags have been removed (I can just hear the lady we bought the house from saying, "well, I just had to pry them off; they were too much trouble to clean around...) I need new glass for the lower one and want to fix the clock and timer...all help and advice welcome.

Many thanks,
Sarah
 
Sarah, that is one very very beautiful GE double oven. Hang on to that specimen until the cows come home-and that may be forever. That oven could be anywhere from 1961 until 1980s.
 
Nothing says "Welcome home" like a vintage built-in oven surrounded by dark wood and Formica. How old is the house? Maybe it's original to the house. One can only dream of the cakes, pies, roasts, and thanksgiving turkies that came out of that beauty.
 
my beautiful GE wall ovens

Hi Y'all,

I'm enjoying the input and loving the double oven. Left my Viking at the last house and haven't looked back...well, except for the cooktop. I can't wait to replace the new "Frigidaire from hell" electric glass top with virtually anything gas... But I digress.

The house was built in 1951. I'm pretty sure the ovens aren't original; I've been guessing they were early 1970s, but that's just a guess. I had a good drool over the turquoise Caloric wall oven and cooktop that got posted earlier here, but I want two ovens and I love electric...for ovens that is.

So, Toggleswitch, why is this model your favorite? I don't think I'm missing the self clean feature--from what I understand, it can be a reall stressor on the oven, and I want this one to last. Although if it had a self clean feature, it would be cleaner...LOL. And is there no one who can date it more accurately than 1961 through the 80s... Was there no change in the control panel or the type face on the control panel in all those years?

And, uh, how do I get it out of the wall to look for a date on the back? Is this something I can do myself? Is it worth it? What are the odds of damaging the oven if I do?

Best,
Sarah
 
The light switch in the door

We had the single oven version in coppertone in our house that was built in 1966. These were very dependable, even baking ovens, if a bit small. There is one thing VERY weird about the picture at the top showing both doors: The placement of the light switch on the left hand side of the door. I have never seen a GE with the switch in that location. Was there a version for left-handed people?
 
You'll probably do more damage to the cabinets than the oven.It can be a do it yourself project,but it's going to take at least 2 people.Turn the power off,find out how it's attached. Sometimes there are holes in the front,or under the trim,and it's held in with screws.Maybe open the doors,and see if there are screws around the oven cavity,or maybe through the upper cabinet.

kennyGF
 
Sarah's G E Double Oven

Hey Sarah, Why do you think they were originally brown ? Are they obviously refinished? Based on the clock and knob and other "graphics" I doubt they were manufactured after 1965.
It may not be attached to the cabinet in any way. I removed a late fifties Westinghouse wall oven from my Grandparents
kitchen,and it just slid out, the only thing attached was the electric connection. If you have some help and gloves try sliding it out using the top of the lower oven as your lifting point; if it isn't a big PITA remove the lower door first. There most likely will be diagrams on the sides/back/top. (glued on paper) They might even have a date.
Let us know!
Smitty PS Don't try this by yourself and flip the circuit breaker to the oven, or pull the fuse first. Just place a sturdy support in front of the cabinet a few inches lower than the opening ( a small but dimensionally suitable table)
 
GE is number one in cooking appliances in this country and had been for decades.

Classic looks
Classic dependability
Classic styling
Parts still available
It is my understanding that it cooks very well.
DOUBLE WALL oven- less bending; twice the flexibility.
Electric- cleaner, safer, cooler and more even-cooking than gas.

It just reeks of (good) home to me!

To replace this today with something that does NOT have an electronic control panel~~ but that IS self-clean (pyrolytic => UK) is HUGELY expensive.

Apples to oranges, but still melikes no electronics.
 
Keeping it CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN

Does anyone know if a wired-in lower heating element can be (easily) converted to a plug-in element? Are these NLA?
This would REALLY facilitate manual cleaning.

I'm guessing this oven is 27 inches wide, so the racks won't easily fit into the DW (24"). BUT if you have a reomovable upper rack they could always be placed in the DW standing up.
I stick the racks from my little supplemental 20 incher
in there and it helps!
 
originally brown

I know the painter who did them. He also incorrectly replaced the glass in the bottom door, and it cracked. I believe they were brown before because there's a nick in the paint on the upper oven, and it looks brown below. Although now I realize that Jerry (the painter) may have used some kind of brown primer or something. I'll ask... And no, I did not have them painted. We just bought the house last fall and moved into it in December.

I would never repaint a baked enamel appliance...

The interior measures 21" x 15," and the exterior is 25 7/8" wide

I'm not sure if I'm curious enough to remove it from the wall just to find a model number. Right now, I'm looking for contact with the people who owned the house before 1975. There are still some families in the neighborhood who have been here many, many years so there is a chance.

Best,
Sarah
 
These look identical to the ones my sister has in her house.
They moved in there in 1974...I think the house was built in about '69.
I'll have to examine them more closely next time I go over there.
 
Bake element

Toggle, GE got away from plug out bake and broil elements in the 50s; too much trouble with the contacts. In non self cleaning ranges, GE ovens have tilt-lock bake elements that lift and lock up far enough for the oven floor to be very well cleaned. We kept foil FLAT on the oven floor under the bake element. It really protected the oven floor.
 
My two prior GE ranges although selfcleaning had the lift up bake element. The first range must have been early 70's, it still had the flourescent work light for the cooktop and the button to press when you slid the oven lock to the locked postition. Even with SC you still have some residue powder to wipe up. My new range has the hidden bake element so wiping the bottom after cleaning is easy and the three racks are selfcleanable. The drawback of the hidden element is it takes forever, almost 20 minutes to preheat the oven.

I too would love a double true-convection selfcleaning wall oven.
 
I know what a bottom looks like. But thanks.

I meant seeing the element itself. And how does the heat not go up the sides of the oven cavity and scorch the insulation?
 
Which means a service call not only for the smooth-top coils when they go, but now a service call for the oven bake element-- OY VEY.

Personally I see no reason to have it this way in a self-cleaner. I sincerely doubt you can use the oven bottom as another cooking level/surface. Won't things burn?
 
GE did have the diagram on the site at one time, but I cannot find it. I will see if my instruction manual has more info. I found this picture and if you look how the cutaway of the bottom looks it looks like the element is confined in a box.
 
The Martha Washington wall oven in my parents 1964 house had a lift-up lower element.

I can echo that hidden elements make for an increase preheat time. Not a *lot* but there is an increase compared to non-hidden. However, hidden probably makes for more even heating due to the extra mass of the oven walls acting as a heatsink. I got a toaster-oven for biscuits, cinnamon rolls, etc. Seems more efficient than heating up the "big" oven for a 10 or 15 minute item.

I found this pic.
pop-ranges-hidden.jpg
 
ah thank you!
The old false-bottom trick.

Makes sense.

But does it brown as well if you hide half the infra-red rays of the (lower) element?

Mike:
The upper photoappears to be a TRUE clean-bootm, probably with a ribbon-type hidden element. (Think as in a toaster).

The lower pic has a false REMOVABLE bottom with std. calrod element.
 
Actually the true (fan) convection and ethird element will help (pre-)heat the oven up quicker. Then it can be switched *OFF*

So far it seems like you can only GET the smooth-bottom with convection. Am I mistaken?
 

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