Vintage Tappan Gas Range - Pretty Pics + help please

[weed30]

I posted awhile back about wanting a gas range: https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?89301

 

I'm going to see this beautiful Tappan early next week. Seller said it's from 1962 but I saw the same range in another ad that said it was from 1960. Seller said it was in a second kitchen and rarely used which looks to be the case - it looks pretty clean, especially the chrome! The first pic shows a knob missing, but it was found.

 

Does anyone know someone in St. Louis who could take a look at this and maybe clean and grease the burner valves too? I read you should do that with old ranges. I have someone to pick it up and install it, but haven't had luck finding someone who can give it a good look and tweak anything that needs it. It's not hooked up at the seller's place so I can't test it there.

 

I would definitely get a new flexible gas line for it. Are the metal ones or the yellow coated ones better?

 

Also, is there anything I should be looking at closely when I see it? I'll take a picture of the tag so I can figure out what year it's from, and lift the burner covers to take pictures of the guts. Anything else important?

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[weed30]

I went to see this range today. It's in such good shape *except*...one of the surface burner valves is broken, as in the stem that the knob fits on is snapped off   The only way to fix it is to replace it, and finding one will be a big challenge. I've sent emails to a couple of companies that restore ranges so I'll see what they have to say.

 

I'm so sad because otherwise this range is just gorgeous. Pic of broken valve attached. It is for the rear right burner, and honestly I'd be fine with that not working but I'm assuming it's not safe in case the valve was open when it broke off. (?)

 

[gansky1]

 

 

 

Mom's parents had a 30" model of this range, bought new in 62-63.  Theirs had a temp-controlled burner at the right-front, and slightly different knobs. The rear panel & clock were the same design, it stopped working so my grandfather removed it to store it on the workbench for a few years.  They finally brought it to a clock and small electric repair shop and it was reinstalled.  I remember how thrilling it was to see the lights on for the first time, but I don't remember the temperature sensor ever working properly.

 

I would be hopeful that you'd find that valve fairly easily, it's a pretty range.  Good luck!

 

[2packs4sure]

I had this unit except it had a griddle.

I had this unit except it had a center burner and griddle.
Sorry to say it was a fussy and not that well built unit.
I left in the house when I sold it in 2015..

 

[weed30]

@gansky1 - Thanks for your reply! How cool that your grandparents had a similar one! I found only 2 similar models of this Tappan in my searches. Neither were exactly like this one but very close. I can't express how clean this range is other than the broken valve - so heartbreaking. I hope to hear from the places I emailed tomorrow. I found some valves but I'm not 100% sure they are the correct ones so I'm going to depend on the experts.

 

I might even be crazy enough to just buy it and store it until I find the valve....

 

[weed30]

@2packs4sure WOW! So crazy that I could find so little information on this particular design and now two people have confirmed they had it or at least one from the same line. I assumed this was a lower end model because of the dearth of information on the net.

 

edit: What do you mean by "fussy"?

 

[2packs4sure]

Fussy

The burners didn't light reliably,, there were some parts under the covers that had degraded-corroded-rusted that made the pilot and burner tube assemblies unstable.
I remember propping them up into proper positions more or less with mounds of foil.
The exact details are a little foggy now..
I never could be sure when I turned a knob if corresponding burner would light,, it just depended on it's mood.
I had matches at the ready.
Also the oven doesn't have a pilot by design, you use a match to light it,, but it always lit immediately and softly,, I'll give it that..
The "broiler" though was literally useless and inches off of the floor..
The unit was fun to look at but two steps above a BOL in it's day, and in my opinion an overall weak design built to a price.

 

[gansky1]

 

 

I don't remember my grandmother's Tappan having the problems you describe, but it would have been only around ten + years old when I was a kid so it's very possible that it would have degraded as you describe with a decade or so more age.  Hers did have a pilot for the oven, don't recall her using the broiler all that much.  

 

[weed30]

@2packs4sure - thanks for that information. This range was in a second kitchen and not used daily. It's pretty clean inside with nothing terribly rusted - picture of part of the burner assembly is attached. I forgot to take a picture of the oven burner which was super clean. I just wish there was someone local to me that could repair it but so far I haven't found anyone. In the end I won't get it if I can't find a knowledgeable person.

 

[helicaldrive]

Not a good range

We had a similar Tappan when I was a kid. Gorgeous. Heavy as a tank. Oven was stainless steel inside. Dedicated broiler on the left. Glass windows in both doors. Temp probe for the oven with ability to set desired roast temp. Automatic burner rear right. None of those features worked. And it just wasn’t a good range. The burners rarely lit. Pilots blew out. Burners and grates poorly designed — flame did not spread well, all pots and skillets in time became round on the bottom and would rock and not sit level. Burner knobs were difficult to adjust and not smooth. Oven extremely slow. We despised it.

 

[weed30]

Alrighty then.

@Helicadrive, you and PPs have settled it for me - I'll be passing on this range. I greatly appreciate everyone's comments and will continue my search. There are vintage ranges that come up on FBMarketplace often. I'll find a better one some day.

 

[2packs4sure]

Picture of the burner assembly

Wow,,,,, memories,,, lol...
That main bracket is what failed on mine,, you can see in the picture where they're starting to rust.
Well mine rusted out and caused many of the headaches I talked about though I think some of the headaches were built in due to poor design and/or cost cutting..
Helicaldrive described it well and I have a feeling those basic flaws applied to all the Tappan units and the other brands that used the basic design like this one.

 

[weed30]

<strong>@2packs4sure thanks for the additional info. This revises my long held belief that "everything back in the day was made better."

</strong>

 

[sudsmaster]

Old gas ranges are cool.

I'm still kicking myself for jettisoning an old Wedgewood range that I picked up for free off Craigslist about 20 years ago. I have no idea if it worked, and no spot where it could be wedged into the house. It would have had to stay in the workshop, I suppose. I did save the grill, though. It's somewhere. Sigh. Most apartments my family lived in SF in the 60's and later had Wedgewoods. Kind of a California thing, I guess. In fact, according to the link below, the first Wedgewood factory was within 30 miles of here.

In the meantime I have picked up a couple of gas ranges that theoretically could replace the old Frigidaire electric range in the patio kitchen. One of them (probably the Modern Maid) might actually work. It's a tight space, 30" wide, in the countertop, have yet to see a Wedgewood that would fit there.

The History of Wedgewood Stoves

Wedgewood stoves were made in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. James Graham opened the first Wedgewood factory in 1919, and the company survived for several decades, becoming renowned for their products' quality and durability. They are still sold today as vintage stoves and used by antique lovers...

www.theclassroom.com