The Hotpoint Customline oven is finally in !!!!!!

[armeniangirl]

custom line oven door spring.

Thank you for your help. I will check ebay since now I have an idea of the size. I will keep you updated on my process of "updating the dated"!

 

[customline]

You could consider.....

fashioning your own door spring. Save the pivot end or "floating end" of your original spring and attach it to a new 6 inch spring. Your two wire cables are still OK right ?

 

[armeniangirl]

1956 custom line wall oven door spring

Morning,
Thank you for your direction. (This may sound like a silly question but most of my repair projects involve duct tape and rubber bands so this repair is a stretch for me.) When you suggest to attach the end of the original spring to a "new" spring do you mean new as in made in the last few years and gotten in a hardware store or "new" as in newly bought off ebay? I thought springs have differing tension capacities.
Before I read your last post I did buy a spring from ebay, same/or almost the same size.
My old part number was WB9X5009. The ebay spring part is #WB9X5016. The part # was only 7 numbers different and cost reasonable so I am hopeful it will work. My cables do look ok. I will post how this works out. The GE parts people could not tell me what the difference in numbers might indicate.
Thank you again.

 

[customline]

As in "custom" door spring.......

The original spring has a pivot end, there is a hook that "floats" inside the spring itself. This will be the unbroken hook on your original spring. You might be able to get away with this feature because according to the diagram the spring just sits in a vertical position, it doesn't encounter a bend. I would go to a hardware store and springs are usually found in the screen door section. You will have to buy a couple of 6 inch springs and see which works best for the operation of the oven door. Amazon offers an assortment too including trampoline springs.

 

[customline]

Sande......

There is a listing on Ebay for two '56 Hotpoint wall ovens. This is a simple and easy way to aquire all of the parts you will need to keep your daily driver Hotpoint in top shape.

 

[armeniangirl]

1956 custom line wall oven door spring

Kevin-Thank you so much for your help. I have printed all of the pictures and diagrams for when the gentleman who is helping with the repair comes. He travels over an hour to get here so I want to be extra prepared. Your information about the spring is great, I am going buy a couple from the hardware store to have on hand, putting my old hook inside. I did get a spring from ebay, it looks and measures right but I want to have backup. I did see the ovens on ebay, I am hopeful the spring is all I will need-all else is working.
With your information and advice and the springs I will have, I am hopeful we can get the oven door to open completely down.
It will be a while before he can come out this way. I will post our Success.(thinking positively!!)

 

[armeniangirl]

1956 custom line wall oven door spring .

We were able to fashion the right size spring from a hardware store one. The door opens almost flat. It is fine enough to get a large pan slid in. But the left side door arm (cam lever)/hinge support must be binding. It creaks when the door is pulled down. It is not a smooth glide opening as the right side and the cam lever arm feels rough underneath. The technician suggests that a new cam lever be machined. In looking at the diagram I would think it is something to do with the little wheel on the support. I will look for a left cam arm hinge support setup. I do not want to buy a used parts oven, though a good suggestion, for this is the only part that is needed. Would anyone happen to have access to this part? (the support and or cam lever) ?
Thank you for your help, suggestions, diagrams and support. We could not have gotten this far without them.
Sande

 

[customline]

Awesome !!!

This is great news. Glad to be of help.

 

[armeniangirl]

1956 custom line wall oven door spring/ hinge

The new spring I put in to replace the original has now seized and the door will only open, again, at a 40* angle. Would anyone be able to help me find the correct sized spring and hinge for the left side of this oven? Customline had kindly sent me a picture of the needed part but we have not been able to duplicate it. The original spring had broken. I have been working with a repair person who has no ideas other than to take the door apart, and have the pieces remade by a machine shop. I think it is just the spring, the door feels too tight to open. He says he thinks the hinge also needs replacement.
Thank you. armeniangirl

 

[customline]

This is what you have to do.....

You have to get a parts oven, there is no two ways around it. Then you have to see what's binding up your door. That entails taking the oven apart. Even when you fix this problem other problems arise. Next it will be a thermostat, then a control switch. You have to replace all of these, including the wiring. Exactly how it's outlined in this thread.

 

[armeniangirl]

1956 custom line wall oven

Yes Customline, I understand and agree now that a parts oven must be found.
I will look now.
Thank you for your patient help.
If you happen to see one would you please let me know.

 

[customline]

Parts oven search.....

I will keep you posted.

 

[armeniangirl]

1956 custom line wall oven door spring/hinge

Thank you Customline.
I am appreciative of your expertise and help as always.

 

[nickp192]

10RJ HELP!!! Short after installing new themostat?

Please help!! I have a 1956(ish) Hotpoint 10RJ electric double wall ovens in yellow in my 1890's farmhouse. I am a first time homeowner, moderate DIY'er and somewhat handy but not an electrical expert nor am I an appliance enthusiast- but I am interested and somewhat invested in keeping these running- they're excellent to cook with, my wife loves them and above all, they would be a huge pain to replace.

Shortly after moving in, the upper switch was broken which led me down the rabbithole of learning more- I disassembled the upper control panel, and after a lot of research, found a switch, installed and got it working again. Great! I replaced both heating elements as well over the last few years as they failed. So far so good and honestly, I love that I can actually repair this thing.

About a month ago, the thermostat probe in the upper oven broke - candidly I wasn't aware it was such an important part - I thought it was the roastminder probe (which i didn't care about), it came loose, i didn't fix it, and it got tangled in a rack and ripped out of the wall of the oven somehow. Only then did I realize what it was.

I researched online, found the part number and a replacement on ebay (actually two of them)- after several fits and starts and mistakes, I pulled the oven partially out of the wall, threaded the probe through the wall of the oven, and installed the new thermostat. Based on what I learned from my mistakes, I flipped the breaker on while everything was still somewhat open and tested the oven and it worked perfectly! The upper oven fired right up, and after about 3 minutes shut off- i was thrilled!

I reassembled the upper control panel and then as I was doing so I thought the wires looked VERY crammed in and the thermostat wire was kinda pushed in the back while the thermostat wire on the bottom oven was sort of tucked underneath, so I removed the adjacent switch, cleared and re-routed some of the wires so they would have more room and not be squeezed in, and patched everything back up. I put a screw in the control panel to hold it all together and do another test before reassembling and... my breaker won't flip on. I went back and rerouted a few cables, tightened a few connections, and (after some youtube/googling) tested a few weary looking cables with my multimeter- I didn't test every single wire but even the old worn wires are reading fine.

I'm at my wit's end- it's brutal to have this happen after multiple parts and mistakes and finally testing and working perfectly only to have caused some issue during the final assembly. My two hypotheses are that I tugged some wire loose somewhere while rearranging the wires/switches or that the new thermostat is bad somehow. Any advice on tracing down this short?

I'm afraid the answer is that I need to fully remove and basically tear down these ovens which I'm not sure I have the skills, time, or desire to do.

 

[customline]

Wiring schematic.....

Did you put everything back together following the original wiring schematic ? It's on the back of your '60's Hotpoint oven. The black handles and door glass design is indicative of an early to mid '60's unit.

 

[nickp192]

Followed it

Hi Customline- thanks for the response! I did indeed check everything - I tagged every cable when removing it from the switches, and although my wiring schematic is stained and fragile, I used it to check several wires with the multimeter.

Further, I believe that the fact that it fired up and operated correctly (albeit briefly) tells me the wires are correctly attached to the switches/thermostat. Any other ideas?

 

[nickp192]

recommendation for repair?

do you happen to know anyone in the northeast who would be able to diagnose and potentially repair this? I see you're in PA. I'm in upstate NY (Catskills)- I would be willing to pay for someone to travel to me to diagnose and fix this or tell me what to do.

 

[armeniangirl]

replace door hinge on Hotpoint Customline wall oven

How does one access the door hinge on the top oven of a 1956 Hotpoint Customline oven.
I thought the problem was the spring but it is the hinge. the roller on the hinge that the arm goes over is gone and the arm is getting pretty chewed up. The door opens all the way when the spring is not engaged. How does the door come off, and how is the hinge accessed. I know someone who can remake the hinge but it needs to come out. Does the inside case for the oven have to come out? The fellow who has worked on the oven does not want to do that because he is concerned he will not be able to put it back in. Could someone tell me the easiest way to access it, it is a left sice hinge support. Many thanks for your help.

 

[customline]

Door hinge.......

First the inside lining of the door has to come out. Two screws removed at the top of the door will accomplish this then the WHOLE oven has to come out of the wall. Once the unit is out of the wall you will see the hinges through square access panels after you remove covers from said panels. I'm posting pages from the service manual that explain the whole procedure.

 

[armeniangirl]

1956 custom line wall oven door hinge

Thank you Customline for the manual pages and explanation.
I copied them and will study them.
Am I understanding that when the 2 inside screws (bottom and side) in the inner lining are removed, the oven pulled out and the little side panel is removed, the support hinge will be able to be just slid out of the panel opening?
(we did take the little side panel off but the mechanism seems to be to the right of the opening and not directly in front of it.)The ball bearing on the pully is bad and the bottom edge of the hinge lever is "chewed" and rough.
Currently the oven door opens all the way even with the right cam lever not engaged with the spring. The door stays closed all the way. The oven is usable.
My repair fellow does not want to take the oven apart, he fears, due to age, he will not be able to fit it together as it was. I will need to find another willing repair person. I know a fabricator now, he had fashioned a spring perfectly.( He told me he could remake/repair the hinge also.) When the problem persisted even with the new spring on, that determined the problem was with the hinge. So I will continue with the repair person search. Would you please confirm that with the 2 inside liner screws loosened the hinge will slide out of the side opening?
My oven is not 30". The inside opening is 19.5 inches wide with the door opened. The entire oven width is 22 inches. I imagine the mechanics of the door is similar to the pages sent.
I sincerely appreciate your time and effort you took in responding to my question with both pictures and your explanations. Restoring this lovely piece is a joy and interesting journey. Thank you for sharing the outcome of your work and process on your treasured oven.