Thread Number: 71523  /  Tag: Ranges, Stoves, Ovens
Got a 1957 GE 30" Range
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Post# 946437   7/2/2017 at 21:23 (2,461 days old) by ken (NYS)        

ken's profile picture
Back at the end of May a CL ad was posted in SS by Louie for a GE range located in WI. I had contacted the seller asking to buy the griddle if he didn't have anyone buy the range. As we spoke he expressed regret at the fact it looked like it would end up getting scrapped because he hadn't been able to sell it during the month it had been posted for sale. He mentioned he might be traveling through NY to RI to see his daughter and might also bring a trailer along to take some furniture to her. He said he might have room in the trailer for the range and could bring it along. So it worked out that way and I ended up getting the range. I drove about one hour and met him Friday evening at a Home Depot at the PA/NY border.

It was purchased new by his parents. The serial number dates it as 1957. The left front automatic burner doesn't work. The other three do. All the lights work as well as the bake and broil elements, clock and timer. It had been put in the basement some time ago and hadn't been used in a long time. I did a little wipe down of the outer surfaces but it needs a thorough cleaning.

I paid $80.00 total. $20.00 for the range and $60.00 for bringing it along. Didn't think to ask the seller until we met about the owners manual. He said he would ask his parents about it as they never threw anything away. I should also ask about the broiler pan as that wasn't with it.

Thanks to Louie for finding and posting the ad here.


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This post was last edited 07/02/2017 at 22:24



Post# 946441 , Reply# 1   7/2/2017 at 22:02 (2,460 days old) by 114jwh (Vancouver)        

That is one of my favorites! Congratulations on this find - It looks like it will clean up perfectly. Nice that you got the probe and the griddle

Post# 946443 , Reply# 2   7/2/2017 at 22:09 (2,460 days old) by ken (NYS)        

ken's profile picture
I feel good in knowing it was saved rather than being scrapped. Even if I never use it hopefully it can be passed on to someone else that will appreciate it. No chips in the enamel. The griddle is also correct for the yellow 1958 40" GE that can just be seen to the left in pictures one and two. That one was missing the griddle when I got it last November. That's what prompted me to contact the seller of this one.

Post# 946444 , Reply# 3   7/2/2017 at 22:18 (2,460 days old) by pulltostart (Mobile, AL)        
Congratulations!

pulltostart's profile picture

That's a beautiful range - and you got it for a steal.  Too bad about the Automatic burner, but so excellent that everything else is functional.  And I love the Tele-cook lights on the switches.  I miss those from my 1961.  Be sure to post pics after she's all polished and shining.

 

lawrence


Post# 946464 , Reply# 4   7/3/2017 at 03:08 (2,460 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

Ken, I am thrilled you got the griddle, probe and that beautiful range! Knowing these appliances are being saved makes my postings so worth it! Enjoy!


Post# 946469 , Reply# 5   7/3/2017 at 04:44 (2,460 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)        

toploader55's profile picture
Always loved that design. It looks so "Space Age".

Post# 946510 , Reply# 6   7/3/2017 at 09:23 (2,460 days old) by ken (NYS)        
Oven Cleaner

ken's profile picture
Is it okay to use on the chrome oven door liner?



Post# 946511 , Reply# 7   7/3/2017 at 09:37 (2,460 days old) by pulltostart (Mobile, AL)        

pulltostart's profile picture

Check the label on the can, but I think it would be safe.  Most of the oven racks were/are chrome plated and oven cleaners were suitable for cleaning the racks.  If using something like a Brillo pad, use lots of water - the chrome can be scratched.

 

Other opinions?

 

lawrence


Post# 946532 , Reply# 8   7/3/2017 at 12:57 (2,460 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        

combo52's profile picture
Use oven cleaner on the chrome door liner, DO NOT use any Brillo etc on the chrome, it will leave fine scratch marks.

Post# 946560 , Reply# 9   7/3/2017 at 15:27 (2,460 days old) by turquoisedude (.)        

turquoisedude's profile picture

Wow, Ken, great save!  I did not realize the GE ranges like this had light-up pushbuttons - very, very cool!!  

 

Is this the model that had the option to just use the inner coil of the 8-inch burner as a 6-inch?   I'm guessing the control for a burner like this is going to be easy to find....  

 

Congratulations!

 

 


Post# 946585 , Reply# 10   7/3/2017 at 19:07 (2,460 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        

Very nice!

Post# 946592 , Reply# 11   7/3/2017 at 20:23 (2,460 days old) by ken (NYS)        

ken's profile picture
Gave it a first cleaning today with oven cleaner. Got most of the gook off. Still some stubborn spots. I did use the oven cleaner on the chrome door liner. There are some scratches on it from previous steel wool use.

Paul: This does have the switch on the large burner to use either the inner coils only or the full burner. I'll have to take the back off and see how things look with the burner slide switch. Also might be a wire off or broken at the burner. Haven't checked them yet. The problem could also be with the sensor. I wish a switch for the automatic burner was easy to find. I'm sure they are rare as hens teeth if any still exist at all.

On my 67 GE which was also originally equipped with the automatic burner (though electric rather than hydraulic controlled) the control switch is rotary rather than slide like on the 57. When it went bad on the 67 it was replaced with an infinite switch. Easy fix considering its rotary and still available from Robertshaw. But that slide switch is a different animal for sure.




This post was last edited 07/03/2017 at 20:40
Post# 946597 , Reply# 12   7/3/2017 at 21:05 (2,460 days old) by ken (NYS)        
Louie

ken's profile picture
We all help by posting ads we find. Just one way in which we help each other.

Post# 946603 , Reply# 13   7/3/2017 at 22:11 (2,459 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )        
Just replace

the slide switch with another set of pushbuttons.

Post# 946614 , Reply# 14   7/4/2017 at 01:06 (2,459 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)        

ultramatic's profile picture

 

 

You know it Ken! I got my GE Frost Guard, the Caloric Ultramatic and the KDS-58 from postings! And not to mention all the invaluable advice and support you get from fellow members.


Post# 946646 , Reply# 15   7/4/2017 at 06:56 (2,459 days old) by spacepig (Floridas Emerald Coast)        
Ken,

spacepig's profile picture
Please take pictures if you decide to take off the back of the stove to look at the wiring. I'm especially curious where a yellow wire goes. I posted a while back about electrical issues about my 1958, but never did the follow up to that (which I guess I need to do).

Post# 946703 , Reply# 16   7/4/2017 at 16:03 (2,459 days old) by Kevin313 (Detroit, Michigan)        

kevin313's profile picture
A beautiful range!! Enjoy it!!

Post# 946719 , Reply# 17   7/4/2017 at 18:55 (2,459 days old) by ken (NYS)        

ken's profile picture
Did a second cleaning of oven and door. Got all the black stuff off. Found some rust spots/chips in the enamel on the bottom. Some rust also on the inner door. Still needs more cleaning. Also took the automatic burner loose and look at what I found. A broken ground wire. Hooked it back up and we're back in business baby. It then worked on both inner only and full coil and cycled on and off correctly.

Jeannine: Look at the wiring diagram on the back of your range. It will show where that yellow wire goes.


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This post was last edited 07/04/2017 at 19:12
Post# 946729 , Reply# 18   7/4/2017 at 20:23 (2,459 days old) by spacepig (Floridas Emerald Coast)        
Ken,

spacepig's profile picture
If we're reading it correctly, per the diagram on the back of the stove, it looks like the yellow and black wires should be on separate terminals/posts (or whatever they're called), but in the service manual, it shows two wires together on the same terminal/post, but no idea of the color since the manual is in black/white. On my stove, the wires were together as well, but black and red. For a refresher, my automatic burner was constantly on, even when turned off. I posted to the board, and it was suggested that I clean the thermostat. We did that, and put the wires back exactly as they were (based on the pictures I took prior to removal) but when we turned on the stove, there was a loud pop and flash of light and the yellow wire literally blew off of the stove, so something wasn't grounded right. We're not sure what happened, as I even took video of us taking the thermostat off so we could go back and rewatch and put things back together exactly as they were. When we reconnected the wire, the burner didn't come on at all, so we just stopped there. I've attached pictures out of the service manual for the thermistor and the wiring diagram as well as a picture of the thermistor before.

I was going to wait to post until we were ready to tackle the stove again, but so far we just haven't had the time set aside to take it on.


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Post# 946732 , Reply# 19   7/4/2017 at 20:43 (2,459 days old) by ken (NYS)        

ken's profile picture
I see what you're saying about the discrepancy. I'll take the back off mine, give a look and let you know. When you say the yellow wire blew off are you referring to the yellow wire shown behind the red/black on the thermistor?

Post# 946734 , Reply# 20   7/4/2017 at 21:11 (2,459 days old) by spacepig (Floridas Emerald Coast)        

spacepig's profile picture
Yes, the yellow wire is the one that blew off. It would be awesome if you could take a look at yours and send pix as I'm curious if yours is the same.

I would absolutely love to have that burner working as it is, and Kevin was so gracious to send a thermostat that we could use just in case cleaning did not work. I have also purchased a couple of piano key buttons that will fit in the slot of the slider in the event that the new thermostat doesn't work and we'll just have to us a regular burner.




Post# 946739 , Reply# 21   7/4/2017 at 22:53 (2,458 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
1957 GE Range

combo52's profile picture

Great progress Ken, these are really cool ranges. That loose black wire on the automatic burner was not a ground wire but rather the common power wire for both elements for the left front element.

 

Hi Jeannine, the yellow wire that blew loose on your range was the special resistor lead, a failure like this is not caused by a bad ground but rather excessive current flow through this wire, probably caused by something shorted.


Post# 946776 , Reply# 22   7/5/2017 at 08:36 (2,458 days old) by ken (NYS)        
Right

ken's profile picture
I should have realized the black wire wasn't ground especially because I had taken a look at the wiring diagram just before taking the burner loose to look under it. Guess I just equated black with ground.

Post# 946780 , Reply# 23   7/5/2017 at 09:01 (2,458 days old) by turquoisedude (.)        

turquoisedude's profile picture

Wow Ken, glad to see it was such a minor thing with the large burner (a loose wire can be the cause of so many vintage appliance woes...)

 

Looking great!! 


Post# 946840 , Reply# 24   7/5/2017 at 20:23 (2,458 days old) by ken (NYS)        
Thermistor Findings

ken's profile picture
Took the cover off the 57 and found red and black together and red in back (pic 1). Not seeing a yellow wire I took the cover off the 58 and found red and black together and yellow in back (pic 2) like in your pic. The other end of the yellow wire goes to the inner coil or full coil selection switch on the left of the backsplash as the diagram you posted shows. In your picture #3 above its easy to distinguish and follow the yellow thermistor wire because its bright yellow. But I don't see the other end of it at the coil selection switch. Maybe you should trace it from the thermistor and make sure it's installed correctly. Did you have it disconnected?

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Post# 946953 , Reply# 25   7/6/2017 at 21:58 (2,456 days old) by spacepig (Floridas Emerald Coast)        

spacepig's profile picture
Thanks for the pictures, Ken. After the wire blew off the stove, we did reconnect it, but I don't recall what we did. I don't think I have pictures, but I have may taken a video--will have to check. Whatever it was didn't work, as then we had zero power to the burner. We were too rattled by the experience to keep going and we didn't want to do further damage, so we disconnected the burner again, just in case and haven't tried anything since due to lack of time.

Post# 970702 , Reply# 26   11/29/2017 at 20:55 (2,310 days old) by spacepig (Floridas Emerald Coast)        

spacepig's profile picture
We finally had some time together this past weekend to open up the stove and try and figure out what happened last time (see previous posts in this thread).

Ken--we did see that we had the yellow wire on incorrectly. We reviewed our old videos from when we replaced the thermostat, and sure enough our yellow wire was where yours is located, in the back of the thermistor. However, per the schematic diagram on the back of our stove, the yellow wire was hooked on the right (pole?) of the thermistor, so that's what we did which didn't work.

We put the yellow wire behind the thermistor as per the diagram in the service manual and your picture and verified that there were no broken wires at the burner/coil. We also replaced the thermostat with one that I got from a donor stove just in case we fried the other one. We plugged the stove back in and nothing happened. The calrod slide thing lit up, but there was no heat coming off of the burner/coil, and flipping the inner/outer switch didn't do anything.

So, using a voltmeter, we decided to check and see if the burner/coil was even getting power. When we lifted up the coil and pulled it back to expose the connections to test, once again we got a loud pop and a lot of smoke.

We figured that was our cue to stop, so we disconnected that burner/coil completely again. The only difference this time around is that now the lights in both ovens are no longer working. We tried just changing out the bulb, but that didn't work so it's something more than that. Our original plan if that didn't work was to try and replace the calrod sliding thing and the sensi-temp with a set of piano keys and a regular burner/coil from the donor stove, but decided to stop in case we did more damage. So, we're back to square one, but this time with no oven lights :(




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