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Post by lindym on Aug 4, 2016 1:21:53 GMT
I was given this 20" free standing stove out of a vintage (1950-60 +/-) travel trailer. I would love to use it in my off grid house. We just had a 150 gallon propane tank installed so that is now available to use. DH is very good at the fix it stuff and got the oven thermostat knob working (wouldn't turn) and the top burners all work but the oven is having issues. This is a pilot-less unit and needs to be lite for each use. The oven/broiler burner will light just fine but the flame is the same at 150* or set for broil. Any help would be awesome! I've searched the web but can't find troubleshooting. This little stove would look so cute in my use-what-I-have kitchen but if I can't get it going I will have to break down and buy a new one at $480.00. I am not a big spender and the idea hurts  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2016 4:39:08 GMT
Put an oven thermometer in and check it every 10 minutes for half an hour at the low setting and then put it on broil and check it every 10 minutes for half an hour. I don't know the first thing about camper stoves, but I don't recall my own having a flame that is appreciably larger at the higher temperature settings. Perhaps using it even for the test might clear up any carbon deposits that may be blocking the gas. Maybe a light cleaning of the jets would help.
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Post by hermitjohn on Aug 4, 2016 15:43:15 GMT
If its one of the old suicide type ovens with no pilot, then it works just like a large stove top burner. You increase heat by opening the control valve wider. The suicide stove without safety features was kind you used to read about in old books where somebody stuck their head in oven and turned on gas without lighting it in order to commit suicide. 1950s up have had the pilot light and safety valve for oven. Not so much to prevent suicides, but cause if breeze happened to blow out burner, you had room filled with gas relatively quick. Unintentional suicide/homicide quite possible. On a safety oven, pilot goes out, everything shuts down.
Long ago and far away, I was tired of just two burner "camping unit" made in 1930s. Had bought some land with no buildings and trying to camp out in an old bus. Wanted an oven to bake bread. So salvaged a clean looking stove at village dump (had open dumps back then). Top burners/grates missing. Suspect they just dumped it off back of a pickup and loose parts went flying. So when I got it home.....
I plugged the lines to the top burners. Just set my old 2 burner camp stove on top. Hooked it up and oven pilot worked but not the control. I suspect it was tossed cause oven stopped working and it was too old to get a new control valve or they just didnt want to bother. I replaced the safety control valve with simple gas shut off valve like you would use in a gas line going to an appliance. Checked for leaks with soapy water of course. I used an oven thermometer and a sharpie to mark where handle was at what temperature. Hey it worked, my own simple suicide oven. I didnt want pilot light anyway as I didnt want to waste gas on such. Had to buy gas in a 100 pound tank.
Saying all that, if you have such a suicide oven, and its not going over 150F, then suggest you have a blockage either in the control valve or line to burner in the oven. Usually you can take valve apart and clean it out, carb cleaner works well. Saying that, be sure to check connections and valve itself for leaks with soapy water. Anything this old is probably well worn. Old gas valves get leaky.
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Post by Bear Foot Farm on Aug 4, 2016 22:46:35 GMT
The size of the flame doesn't change for different temperatures.
The length of time it burns is what changes.
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Post by hermitjohn on Aug 4, 2016 23:59:36 GMT
The size of the flame doesn't change for different temperatures. The length of time it burns is what changes. Read initial post again, this stove does NOT have a pilot light. It is apparently like the older pre-WWII gas stoves where oven burner was lit and controlled like a stove top burner. The suicide ovens I mentioned earlier. Guess you have to like old novels to be aware of such things as most people from that era are gone or nearly gone. Though I would think some here probably had elderly relatives or friends with such. I really dont know when exactly they started requiring the safety oven controls with the pilot light. I know I had elderly friend with some huge fancy stove from around 30s when his house was built and you lit the oven with a match. No standing pilots. This was big luxury model for the time. |
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Post by Bear Foot Farm on Aug 5, 2016 5:34:22 GMT
Then it's impossible to control the oven temperature.
I think it just doesn't have a "pilot" that stays on when it's not in use, but actually does have one when the valve is open and the thermostat is set, otherwise you'd constantly have to monitor the temperature and relight the burner.
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Post by hermitjohn on Aug 5, 2016 12:47:46 GMT
Then it's impossible to control the oven temperature. I think it just doesn't have a "pilot" that stays on when it's not in use, but actually does have one when the valve is open and the thermostat is set, otherwise you'd constantly have to monitor the temperature and relight the burner. I guess then you cant control the burners on top of your stove? Do they just go on and off?? Really???? The ovens in old gas stoves BEFORE safety valve on oven were just like a big stove top burner in a box. You adjusted flame height to adjust temperature. The flame burned CONSTANTLY, didnt go off and on like stove with pilot light. They only went to the safety valves with standing pilot light because if flame on that big burner went out from say gust wind through open window, you flooded room with gas. I have personally seen and used these stoves. THEY EXISTED! What is confusing to me is that these suicide stoves were definitely pre WWII that didnt have safety valve and original poster is mentioning 1960s??? I would think by then even stoves sold for travel trailers would have had standing pilot lights by law. I mean back long ago there wasnt lot concern for safety, but stoves that didnt fill house with gas and whole house go up in big explosive ball flame, were one of them. Making your house go boom, also upsets the neighbors. And the suicide stoves do work just fine. As I say I converted that one I got at dump into one, just replacing regular valve with a simple line valve. I just adjusted heat by turning the valve to let more or less gas in thus changing level of flame on oven burner. I just had to learn how far to open for a particular temp. I only used the thing to bake bread so not like I needed lot of settings, though could been done. |
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Post by Bear Foot Farm on Aug 5, 2016 23:15:08 GMT
The burners on top don't have a thermostat
The oven in the OP does.
You're not reading what she said:
You're confused because it's obviously not a "suicide" stove based on the OP.
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Post by hermitjohn on Aug 6, 2016 18:03:51 GMT
The burners on top don't have a thermostatThe oven in the OP does. You're not reading what she said: You're confused because it's obviously not a "suicide" stove based on the OP. And yet original poster says it DOESN'T HAVE A STANDING PILOT LIGHT!!!! Thats only available technology back then to use a safety thermostat type control valve. They didnt have electronic ignition back then. Remember if you want actual truth, you have to look at all facts, not just grasp at descriptive words that support your argument. No easy google of when gas stove technology changed, but pretty sure last of the factory made suicide stoves were in 1930s, those boxy square industrial looking gas stoves that looked like they were trying to imitate a wood range. All the gas valves on them look identical and usually the oven valve was over to end of the gas manifold pipe. Nothing hidden on appliances from that era so you could see the valves. When all valves look identical, then its a suicide stove. Just looking and Wedgewood stoves from 50s had standing pilot and thermocouple, least ones sold for home use. there are people that restore them and sell them to crazy people for price of a small new car. Place I clicked on even sold some parts. Just replacement thermostat control valve is like $400. I just cant find any technical info for the pre WWII era gas stoves, just a few pics. Be fun to see an owners manual for one. |
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Post by Bear Foot Farm on Aug 6, 2016 23:12:55 GMT
It doesn't have to have a "standing pilot" that burns 24/7. It can have one that only operates when the controls are turned on. Otherwise it would be pointless for it to have a "thermostat" which controls the temperature. Then the OP example can't be one.  |
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Post by lindym on Aug 10, 2016 5:16:49 GMT
Thanks for all of the input! Tomorrow I will light it up with a thermometer in it and see how the temperature goes.
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