Which electric ranges are easy to find parts for?

[japanmaple1]

I bought a "working" 1951 Crosley range a few months ago. The seller said it all worked. Come to find out the oven turned on, but never turned off. I have talked to all the antique appliance places to try and find or rebuild our thermostat and they all say that ours can not be fixed.

So I am looking for another range. I really like the early 50's style in white, 40" with the split 4 burners. I would prefer 2 oven but haven't found any for a reasonable price. My question is are there certain brands that are easier to work on or find parts for? I found a 1953 (?) Frigidaire for $250...again they say it works but I don't want to keep buying stoves that I can't use.

Thanks so much!

 

[turquoisedude]

GE and Hotpoint seem to have a good number of parts available for standard surface units, controls, and oven elements.  The exception is the Sensi-Temp thermostatic surface unit.... IF you can find that part it'll cost you!

 

The oven thermostat on your Crosley could possibly be replaced by another generic one - I think Robertshaw still makes a variety of controls that can be adapted. 

 

And, if you ever need to replace a surface unit, I have a few brand-new 6-inch Chromalox units (for three-wire controls) which would work but will not be a match for the other wide-tube units on the Crosley.  

 

 

[japanmaple1]

Sorry for my slow response it will only let me respond once every 30 min.

My husband tried to buy a generic one and make it work. It is in the stove now. I am able to use the burners but the oven will not turn on now. I think the problem is that my thermostat has two clips that hold the oven light switch to the thermostat. We don't know how to connect it to the new thermostat or if we even need it connected?

 

[norgeway]

Dont give up

John Lefever is a great resource as is Antiqueappliance.com, in Clayton Ga.

 

[japanmaple1]

I have already tried Antique Appliances in Georgia They referred me to the place in Texas, Repco, they use and they too said no. Also tried Belgrove and J.E.S. all said no or never said one like mine.

 

[panthera]

OK, it's not hard, just drawn out.

It would be enormously easier if you had a wiring diagram.

But - here's how to approach such a fix.

First, we have to figure out a few things. This will make it easier.

One - I'm guessing you have 240VAC, yes?

Two - The connection for the Pre-Heat light is to those two brass points in the back of that pretty little white bakelight piece. One side will go to the neutral line, one side will go to the connection on the new thermostat which will either say 'P' or pilot-light or indicator light.

You can test it (I assume you know the safety procedures) first with standard 120v current. If it no longer lights or flickers badly, you can replace the little neon lamp easily, it's a standard part.

 

Three - how are the broil and bake element wired up? Sometimes they are completely separate from each other, other times they share a wire between them. Rarely, there are other set-ups.

I'm going to assume the most common here - when the broil is on, the bake is off. When the bake is on, the broil is off. They may have four separate wires or only three. If it's three, take a picture and post it so we can tell you how to procede. It's not hard, either way. 

So - a clear wiring diagram came with the generic thermostat. There will be (not necessarily with these names, could be numbers with the key to them in the diagram):

L₁and L₂These are where the power goes into the thermostat. It should come up straight from the connector for the plug to the range.

P or Pilot or Indicator or Lamp - this is turned on when power is going to the oven. It may turn off during the bake cycle to indicate that the P-H level has been reached, then turn back on a gain when it turns the heat back on again. It probably stays lit the whole time the broil element is turned on.

You will have a wire coming up separately from neutral for the other connection on the pretty white bakelight piece. It may come up straight from the connector to the range's plug or it may come (more likely) from a group of neutral wires running to other lights or outlets. It's no big deal where it comes from.

There will be either three or four connectors left. If there are four, two of them will go to the broil element and the other two to the bake element. If there are three, then one will go to one terminal on each element and the other two will be be hooked up, one each, to the remaining contact on each element.

 

There are variations, but, basically, this is how it works. If you give us a link to the generic thermostat control, we can probably find the wiring diagram and that, together with good pictures of the elements and the back of the range controls, etc., will be enough to help you piece this together so it works safely and reliably for decades more.

Gosh - how pretty!

 

[panthera]

Here's a typical generic Robertshaw

And I notice they are running the pilot light on 240, not 120 as I suggested. Either way is possible.

Here's the diagram:

 

[panthera]

Which is probably an exact replacement

For what you had. You'll just have to trace the wires, which is easy. 

 

[firedome]

Hans...

I know you know this, just a slip, LOL: "our" John Lefever is in Beltsville MD, it's John Jowers at Antique Appliance in GA. He still has the TOL '55 GE 40" range I traded to him 5 yrs ago.

 

[firedome]

Oh sorrrry...

it's me who can't read, you said "as is" D'oh!

If John L doesn't have it, no one does!

 

[japanmaple1]

I am just the researcher my husband is the fixer He has never worked on a stove, but done lots of electrical, so this was all new to him. Yes on 240. I am not sure if you still need the pictures but here they are. I will print all of your instructions out for him. This is the thermostat we have https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QEEDBS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The broiler wire was broken when we got it and we did not want to spend money for new wire if we could not get the thermostat to work. So I do not know if the broiler turns on when in bake mode. We will fix it if we can get her up and running.

THANK YOU so so much for everyone's help. I loved this stove and did not want to give her up. My husband is at work but I will let you guys know we we get her up and working. If you need pictures of anything else just let me know.

 

[japanmaple1]

I have followed all the wires and it looks like he has it set up correctly except not using the neutrals for the bakelite piece because he was not sure how to attach it. Would not using the neutrals make the whole thing not work? He has the main black to L1 and main red to the L2. Then going off broiler wire to the BRL one black, one red and same for the BKE one black, one red.

Maybe the thermostat was just a bad one? If the neutrals are not the issue and there is a different thermostat I should buy please send me a link. Thanks again.

 

[panthera]

What I can't quite see from your picture

but it's probably right - he has two wires hooked up to the 'com3', one of them going to one connector on the broil, one to one connector on the bake, then one wire going to the other broiler element from 'brl2' and one to the bake element from 'bke1', right?

If so, that's correct. Some people just run one wire from 'com3' to one broiler connection and then continue it down to one bake connection, with is OK, too as they're never both on at the same time.

Now the pilot light. This is going to take some patience, but it's not hard and you can't damage it. First, try hooking it up to 120v. If it glows brightly, then the solution is easy - one connection to 'PL', one connection to Neutral, either at the connector at the bottom of the range or any Neutral connector which is closer.

If the bulb is dim or flickers or doesn't light at all, then it's either 240 or burnt out or about to fail. No problem at all. A new neon bulb is super cheap and easily ordered through Amazon. You'll want one with the resistor. You can test the PL connection by hooking up a regular light bulb (low watts, less than 40) to it and neutral then turning on the thermostat. It should cycle on and off to show it's working.

Hope this helps. If it's not clear, I'll try to make it clearer. Beautiful range!

 

[japanmaple1]

He doesnt have anything hooked up to the com3. So that is our problem. Is he just suppose to take one wire away from bake and one from broil? There are not any extras just two from bake element two from broil element, the main wires and the neutrals

 

[panthera]

Ah, well, then, yes, that would explain things.

When I wrote this isn't hard just time-consuming, I meant it. OK, here's what will solve the problem. You're not the first ones to encounter this when substituting 21st century technology for mid-20th.

COM(3) is connected to one end of both the bake and broil. It doesn't matter which.

The other. end of broil is connected to BRL(2) and the other end of bake is connected to BKE(1). Neutral, interestingly enough, is only used for the pilot light, stove light, outlet, and clock. Isn't that weird?!

But that's how it works. 

So - try that and it will work. Let us know - you're on the right road.

 

[panthera]

One additional note for when the big problems are solved

The pilot light also has one end to COM(3) on this thermostat and the other end to PL.

You'll get it - you're 'this close'!

 

[panthera]

One additional note for when the big problems are solved

The pilot light also has one end to COM(3) on this thermostat and the other end to PL.

You'll get it - you're 'this close'!

No end goes to neutral with this thermostat.

 

[japanmaple1]

It works! Well we blew the fuse for the outlet (husband is going to lowes now) and the bakelite messes the whole thing up. The big lights turn on when the oven is on, but now I wont forget the oven is on lol. We can't get the switch for light to work but I have a working oven and burners and I am super happy!! I can't thank you enough and my stove thanks you for saving it from the dump.

 

[panthera]

I'm glad you got it working. I suspect

It would have been much easier if you had had a complete wiring diagram to work with.

Give it a bit of time and I am sure you'll figure the rest out. You've done the really hardest, most challenging and time-consuming part of any range repair: That dratted thermostat. Good thing they are designed to last for 50 years....