Vintage Frigidaire Range- Should I buy? Pros and cons?

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Something you might check...

I dont know where it is on that one, But most of the Speed Heats have a fuse on them...Should be under the top somewhere..
 
I poked around under the top and with a flashlight and didn't see a fuse, I will open up th econtrol panel when we get home next week and take a look in there. Until then, 3 burners will do fine.
 
New [ to you ] Frigidaire 1961 Range

Congratulations on your great find Dustin, these are sturdy ranges.

First of all DON"T touch the calibration on that oven, if it bakes OK don't even think of trying to adjust it.

The non-working SH burner, if there is a fuse it is in the control panel, it is a standard 20 AMP screw-in-fuse. The SH element is a 120 element that has 240 volts supplied to it when first turned on to heat the element quickly ,[ there is no such thing as 110 or 220 volts in the United States ].

Check first for a broken wire at the element, then check the element for continuity and shorts, if this is OK you need a new control. In most cases we just install a regular infinite switch and a 240 volt element when this happens. As cool as this feature was it makes almost no real difference in total cooking time of most foods that you cook on the stove.

John L.
 
The oven doesn't bake OK, it bakes GREAT! I wasn't planning on touching it. I will check for a fuse, and I didn't see any broken wires. If the control turns out to be bad, where could I get a standard element and control?
 
Speed Heat Element Problems

Hi Dustin, glad the oven is working great, Frigidaire had a well earned reputation for building ovens that work very well. Let me know what you find wrong with your SH element and I can probably find the parts you need if you like.

Hi Hans, yes I know perfectly well what you are talking about, but when we are trying to help people learn and fix appliances using the wrong terms just creates confusion and most people are are all ready afraid and confused about electrical matters.
 
I will definitely let you know what I find.. hopefully just a bad fuse! I know the 110/120-220/240 volt thing, along with 118 and 236... It's all the same, either it's a standard outlet or a big heavy cord with 3 or 4 big prongs... :). I don't have a problem working around 110/120, but I get a bit nervous around 220/240. I will work on the stove, but only after it's unplugged! I have gotten charged off of 110 enough times, I DON'T want to find out what 220 feels like!
 
RD-38-61

Congrats on getting this nice range. I have similar ones from 1960 and 1962 and I really like them. The 1960 was my first Frigidaire appliance and it started my strong desire to get more of them! Both of mine lack the Speed Heat burner because they're made in Canada (Frigidaire stopped to offer this feature in Canada after 1959) but it's a great feature when it works well! 

 



 

I do have two ranges with the Speed Heat (a 1959 and a 1969 US range) but the ones I use daily don't have it and that's OK too! If you like the idea of having a Speed Heat burner and can get the parts to repair it, I'd say go for it! Otherwise, the conversion to a regular 236V burner is easy too and you won't have to worry about something getting wrong. 

 

If you need the information on the wiring of the Speed Heat burner, I could scan it from my 1961 Tech Talk, maybe not in the next few days but soon I hope. Just email me about it!  The conversion to a regular burner requires that you replace the SH switch with a regular one and the 118V burner for a regular 236V burner and you just have to discard the neutral wire that goes to the switch. You'll likely need to add new connectors to the wires as the SH switch has terminals with screws
 
 

 

CONGRATS on getting such a great range Dustin!  It looks like new after you cleaned it up!

 

Quick suggestion.   You said the oven is off by 5 degrees, my suggestion is get a different / better thermometer that you know is more accurate.   I have one of these cheap thermometers and I've heard from others they are not accurate, mine is off by 6-7 degrees. 

 

Kevin

revvinkevin++5-7-2014-13-21-41.jpg
 
I'm not terribly concerned if it is off by a few degrees, it seems to be baking great as is. It's hard to believe a 50+ year old oven is more accurate than a 20 year old one; the Whirlpool it replaced ran about 50 degrees hot. It only had adjustment for 20 degrees up or down, and maxed out it was still about 30 degrees hot. I will see as time goes on, but I don't think i'm going to mess with it.
 
Re Shocks from 240 volt..

Its NOT fun , no matter if you call it 220 or 240!...but you really should try the 277 volt lighting circuits we have at work...it will really light you up!!! feels like someone hit you with a bat!
 
That small round scar in the middle of my hand is were i reached inside a control cabinet at work with 220. It went threw my hand leaving a large blisters on both sides. Im lucky it went threw my hand and not up it threw my heart. It surely woke my ass up that day.

epixstar128++5-7-2014-19-20-29.jpg
 
At work one day me and another guy were replacing a vacuum tuning cap in one of the older transmitters here-there was a term strip next to the cap that goes to a cabinet blower-cools the caps and coils in the cabinet-got a reminder about killing the 230V primary power-I got a good bite!!!But no scar.It made me pretty mad-and my partner quietly turned off the 230V breaker.Now thats the first thing I look for before going into one of thse transmitters!!!!Have a faint scar at the base of my left thumb from AM RF-got bit good one day from RF-again shouldn't have touched that part before making sure the tranmsitter was off.Hard way to learn!!!
 
Well, we got home yesterday and I dug into the back of the stove today- the fuse was a 25 amp, and was blown *yay*. I replaced it and everything is working 100%. The speed heat is working perfectly fine! I turned it on the lowest setting, and about 15 seconds later heard a clunk. Turned it up and brought a pan of water to a boil. Easiest fix ever! Thanks! While I was in there I cleaned up the flourescent bulb and lens, so that is working even better as well. I couldn't be happier!
 
Congratulations!

Once in a while, the Appliance Gods smile upon us - and isn't it nice when that happens? I'm glad this turned out to be an easy fix.

When I first saw my GE J 370, it was in photos, and Tim polkanut, who found the range, wasn't able to see it working because it was in storage. I had to take a chance, and I spent some time lining up resources and finding out what I would need to do about various systems if they weren't working.

When the range got here, everything worked. Some serious clean-up was done, but no wrenching.

So, I know the feeling you're experiencing. Ain't it great?
 
It's wonderful! Total cost: (including a 3 pack of fuses) $47.49- $40 for the stove and $7.49 for fuses! It is beautiful and a joy to cook with! Really only needed a light cleaning, and is darn near mint! The only flaw I have found is a *very* small chip on the front edge of the cooktop. No scratches anywhere.
 
You did well - and made a great choice. I love Frigidaire and don't ask me about the other loves of my life.
What a clean machine and the price! HAA! Where on earth can you get so much in a stove for so little? I'm impressed...nothing like that has showed up around the places I visit or if so, they're gone in two shakes of a lamb's tail, as my mom once said.

Happy Cooking!

PHil
 
Congrats on the stove!

We have a very similar '63 model.  Best stove we've ever owned!

 

Once you get the speed heat up and running, you'll more than likely find it's an awesome feature.  We don't have a microwave and we use ours all of the time to quickly reheat on the stove top.
 

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