Where to find a vintage 24" gas wall oven ?

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inside NOS 1956 Chambers In-A-Wall Oven

note unscorched gold paint on the ground cast iron door seals (no silly gaskets on a Chambers!) and paper wrappers still on the pan/rack... "Cooks with the Fuel Turned Off"...the Stainless top can removed for complete in wall use, or can be mounted on top of a cabinet, sides are copper too! No-one makes an oven of this quality today - at ANY price!

firedome++1-21-2013-14-29-46.jpg
 
Roper Oven has Died

I think today was my Roper oven's last meal.
I had to do the usual banging on the side of the control panel to get the display to show up.
Then, the usual knob twiddling to get the temperature set properly.
The display then promptly disappeared so I crossed my fingers hoping it WAS set for 400.
When the chicken was done baking, I pressed "cancel" and heard the single beep indicating the oven was off.
A few minutes later, I hear beeping coming from the oven.
I pressed "cancel" again and the beeping stopped.
A minute or so later, more beeping.
I banged on the side of the control panel and saw F-2 on the display.
It also seemed as if the oven was NOT off so I turned off the circuit breaker to the oven.
It looks like the Kitchen Aid KEBC247VBL or Whirlpool RBD245PR are the best choices for replacement.
I don't want manual cleaning and I don't care for "manual" knobs for controls - even for just the lower oven.
A.J. Madison looks like they have good prices, free shipping, and no sales tax.
Anyone bought anything from them before?
 
NOT A.J. Madison!

After reading "YELP" reviews for A.J. Madison, I wouldn't buy anything from them.
Nothing but horror stories - poor service, delayed deliveries, damaged goods and packing materials left behind.
I don't think there are any "mom and pop" appliance stores left in my area (San Jose).
Lowes?
Best Buy?
Airline?
I need the old oven taken out and the new one installed - too heavy for me to handle.
????????
 
philcobendixduo,

You might try Warehouse Discount Center Appliances. They're a local SoCal chain and handle a wide range of appliances. A few years ago my ex-bf bought a house with a challenging laundry room setup - a half-bath had been created leaving only room for a small stacked washer-dryer. WDC's website claimed internet prices even on local deliveries so I called up and chatted with their internet guy who was pleasant and had no problem doing just that. The Frigidaire front-load mini-stack unit arrived as promised and has done a good job since.  

 

A year or so later while working on a remodel for a client in Santa Monica I had to redesign the pantry to fit a very small apartment sized refrigerator-freezer with an icemaker. GE had the only reasonable unit and WDC had a good price (albeit still expensive, it was quite an oddball refrigerator and not handled by many retailers). Again I called up and talked to the internet guy who gave me the total price, which I forwarded to my client. She made the deal and it arrived as promised.   You would of course have to pay sales tax, but CA is getting very nasty with even out of state businesses on this.

 
Warehouse Discount Centers

I read their reviews on YELP as well and they're all bad (for the most part).

I wouldn't risk it despite the attractive pricing.

As much as I hate to buy at Sears, I guess that would be the "safest" bet since they're "local".

I wouldn't have them install it - I found a local person HIGHLY rated that will do it for less (and better, no doubt).

Sad but true - what ever replacement oven I buy for whatever price is NEVER going to give 25 years of service as my old Roper did.
 
Vintage GE wall oven

As I continue to shop for a new 24" electric double oven, I came across this GE on YouTube.
It looks a lot like the 1967 Hotpoint that was in my house when I moved here in 1970.
It's for sale but it comes with a house attached!

 
"sunburst brown"???  Excuse me, mister know-it-all, but if you really knew your vintage appliances from a hole in the ground, you would  know that it is/was "coppertone".

 

I hate phoney intelligence.

 

lawrence
 
24" Double Electric Ovens

Bill the link you posted is a 27" GE oven. To my knowledge GE never made a 24" double electric [ or gas ] wall oven.

 

The best bets for a new 24" double are a WP or KA, best bets for classic are 24" Thermadors, maybe Frigidaire or Hotpoint depending on how far you want to go back.
 
Sad state of today's quality

Thanks for the comments - yes GE probably no 24" but Hotpoint - yes (since I had a 1967 model)
Vintage oven? No thanks. I NEVER want to have to clean an oven again, thank you!

I went to "Pacific Sales" Thursday and saw both the KitchenAid and Whirlpool 24" electric double ovens.
Both had SHOCKINGLY poor assembly quality and appearance.
The Whirlpool (at $1500 list) had a lower oven gasket of VERY poor quality rubber that was not even fully attached to the oven opening.
The KitchenAid (at $2400 list) had fraying ends of the door gaskets sticking out from behind a metal piece at the bottom.
Both had very cheap and poor looking vents sticking out above each oven door - a high school metal shop student could have done better.
Both also have a a control panel of cheap looking matte finish plastic and doors that appear very thin.
It's obvious both are built on the same "chassis".
I imagine Maytag is no better since it's also built by Whirlpool.
Then, there are the many issues you can read about online about KitchenAid ovens being inoperable after the self-clean cycle due to the thermal fuse blowing. The fuse is located at the back of the oven and the whole oven has to be removed from the oven cabinet in order to replace it.
KitchenAid's response to owners? DON'T USE the self-clean feature!!
Many Whirlpool oven owners complain of the same AND of the control board "going out" after only a year or two (usually right after the warranty).
The GE 24" double electric oven is starting to look better despite it's "knob" control.
 
You can't expect much choice in the 24" size; at this point it's purely a replacement market as 27" and 30" ovens are always used in new construction if built-ins are installed. I've seen many situations where an older cabinet face can be discreetly re-cut to accept a 27" oven, and have in fact done it myself. You might consider this as you'll find a much better selection in 27" ovens.
 
24" Double Electric Ovens

Bill the problems that you mention about the gaskets and oven vent construction indicate little attention was payed to these items as a design detail, neither will EVER affect the operation of the oven.

 

The thermal fuse problem was a big problem for many years, but is now ancient history when talking about the current ovens and WP-KA has never suggested that customers not use the Self-Cleaning feature. WP had several ways to fix the problem of thermal fuse failure during SC cycles, involving extra glass shields in the door newer door seals and a different blower, however often people elected not to fix the problem properly.

 

Are you sure that GE has a 24" double wall oven, I have never seen one, John.
 
GE 24" Double electric oven

I stand corrected, Thank You, normally I give my top recommendation to GEs cooking products so I think this could be a very good choice. The WP-KAs certainly look better from a styling perspective but if the lack of a 2nd SC oven does not brother you this one could be much more reliable and at least the lower oven will always work, LOL.
 
what... our Copper Chambers?

if I don't end up using it (not sure yet) you can have it for what little we paid - $200. They started at $1000 on Chicago CL and chamberstoves.com, we called them after 2 months and it turned out they still had it and they were desperate, the house had to be empty in 7 days for settlement... so what you might call lucky timing. The story of how they happened to have a brand new 1956 oven is for another time - long but interesting! and their yellow & glass St Charles kitchen was to die for!
 
Control Board Repairs

After seeing the terrible quality of todays ovens and the high prices, I'm thinking it might be better to have the control board repaired on my Roper oven. Can anyone recommend an online company that repairs/rebuilds appliance electronic control boards? I found a few online but would like to hear other's experiences.

Thanks!
 

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