One for TheOldStoveGuy!

[JADsvc1]

Got a call today to go out Monday on a 1920's vintage stove. Waiting for a call back from customer to find out more details about it, but this should prove interesting. I've worked on appliances as far back as early 1950's vintage, and one 1930 Westinghouse refrigerator, but never this old.

So far, the story is that the unit was bought from someone who had refurbished it a few years ago. The complaint is that now they smell gas while top burners are in use. Aside from the obvious leak checks around valves and connections, anyone have any tips (or warnings) for a newbie to this oldie?   

Thanks!

JAD

[theoldstoveguy]

Natural gas or LP, I see a lot of LP that they don't burn clean. Clean the burners out,(Nat or LP)I use BB's from a BB gun. Take 15 or so put in burner an shake like crazy,then roll them out and count to make sure all come out. Also make sure if aluminum burner heads are not warped from the cast iron base.

[JADsvc1]

Thanks for the tips. Don't know yet if it's LP or Natural. My experience is also that LP is tougher to adjust to burn clean. Never would have thought of the BB trick! Very cool idea.

[theoldstoveguy]

Us OLD FARTS have a few tricks up our sleeves.

[Wedgeman55]

Old Stove,  I like the bb trick.   I never thought of that.   I have worked on many old stoves myself,   I have a collection of brushes I use,  but I'm gonna pick up a pack of BB's and add them to my tool kit.   

My suggestion, however, might be to use a commercial oven product for cleaning carbon.   I used to do a lot of commercial ovens,  and have used a product called Carbon Cleanz or something like that.   Zep makes a product called SUPER OVEN BRITE.    Bunch of different brands, but they are very strong and corrosive and they work.   I don't have any now,  but you can get it at a commercial cooking  repair place.    On an old stove, where the burners are cast iron,  you could use this.   If you ever do this,  don't soak the aluminum heads.    DO NOT EVER USE COMMERCIAL CARBON CLEANER ON A DOMESTIC OVEN OR STOVE OF RECENT VINTAGE!  It will ruin it.   But on an old stove like this,  you could remove and soak the cast burners in this stuff .   This stuff will remove all carbon believe me.   I have used this stuff on some old 40's and 50's stoves to clean burner tubes.   But,  I use a mask so I don't breathe fumes and very heavy gloves.     Might be worth a try if BB's dont work.   

[theoldstoveguy]

Nice advice but I have used Simple Green and the BB's and never had a call back.

[JADsvc1]

Gotta give a    on Simple Green in many situations! I use it in the garage, the kitchen, on the road for service and in the laundry (after my jeans soak up some oil from under a car!) and it is great stuff. I am always comfortable using it around customers products because it's non-toxic and never ruins things. There are times when it is not strong enough for some jobs, but most of the time it works if you give it time to soak in.

Zep has always had good products as well. Used their products many times over the years in the garage and even while doing a short part time office cleaning job many years ago.

Let you guys know how tomorrow morning goes. 

[JWWebster]

The burner valves might need some grease also.  Could be leaking gas from the stem in one that old.

[JADsvc1]

What a nice stove!    Looks to me like this was a top of the line model for it's time. The oven door had Magic Chef on it. All I could read from the tag inside the bun warmer was American Stove Company, model CH6301-24L. This is in a very unique restored farm house and fits the look well.

The owner suspected the oven supply valve as the leak culprit, so I removed the knob and hit it with liberal amounts of soapy solution and only got a slight bubble from the area under the valve, and a trace from the connection of the valve to the burner supply tube. I could see some valve grease in the gap and it appeared fairly new. I tightened the connection a bit and that solved the leak there. No more bubbles appeared in the valve area. However, once I fired up the lower left oven and observed the flame, it only lit up about halfway around the burner until I blew on it and then it travelled the rest of the way. A sure sign the burner needed cleaned and I think the source of the gas smell. It is on LP and it seems to be burning clean. Little to no yellow tipping on either top burner or oven burner flames.

The interesting thing was that I believe the unit was updated a bit, as it had safety valves and standing pilots for both ovens. Other than that, it appeared fairly original to me.

So OldStoveGuy, any history lessons on this? It is HUGE! It has two ovens and a broiler. A bun warmer. Six surface burners AND a clock! Oh, and even a light above the burners. I believeTHAT was progress back then!

Oh, and if they ever need parts, any references? They broke that valve handle and asked if I could find one. Also, any ideas on where they could find copies of owners literature?

  & take care!

JAD

[theoldstoveguy]

Try http://www.antiquegasstoves.com/ or http://www.antiquestoves.com/toac/index.htm . both have a lot of old parts. May be pricey but Magic chef was mostly east coast and midwest. That unit I have worked on 3 all had valves leaking so easy fix. The thermostats are the old carbon rod style and I have never found a good company to rebuild those. Any one else know of someone? JW? I hear someone in Missouri does them but never found them.

[JADsvc1]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the information. OldStoveGuy, would you have an idea of age on this? Just curious.

JW, if you do have any other sources for parts or literature, I am sure the client would be very appreciative of that for future reference. This was definitely a step outside of my 'normal' box! Very cool piece!

Take care!

JAD

 

[theoldstoveguy]

Did one 2 weeks ago and customer said it was mothers stove 1920's-1930's vintage. In the 1930's they had a Lorain thermostat for the oven.

[JADsvc1]

 

[JWWebster]

This one goes back before my time. If old Fred was still kickin I bet he could tell us.

[JADsvc1]

OK, almost there on this one. Got the oven burner cleaned out and working great, but that shut off valve is leaking like a sieve from the shaft. There is some play in that shaft and although it appears to be well loaded with valve grease, it's still kicking out the gas pretty badly. I've never had one apart and would like to know how to stop it from leaking, if possible. I assume that the back of the valve winds off?

Thanks!