# Old gas kenmore range....no oven, but burners work



## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

wow, that is a very old oven, you may be out of luck. your oven does not have a thermocouple , it has the old style flame switch, which I'm sure is bad. the really bad news is that part is no laonger available with not substitutions, sorry


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

Really? That stinks.

Its my grandmother's stove.....would really mean a lot to her if I can get it working again...the thing looks showroom new!

Is it a long-gone part or recently discontinued? Maybe a chance I can find one "somewhere" not sold yet?

Do you think it could be the gas valve unit itself? The little bar of the flame switch that is in the pilot flame looks Ok....so it is the other end (round unit where the wire attaches) that is the issue?

So, with no thermocoupler, what controls the pilot gas being allowed to be on?


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Get Grandma a early Christmas Present. Ranges start at around $330 for a low end gas range at Lowe's. You may even be able to find a Scratch & Dent at Sears, Lowe's, Home Depot, local appliance shop.


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## kenmac (Feb 26, 2009)

here is a pic of a typical oven safety. I think you can still order them


you don't have to get them from sears


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

gregzoll said:


> Get Grandma a early Christmas Present. Ranges start at around $330 for a low end gas range at Lowe's. You may even be able to find a Scratch & Dent at Sears, Lowe's, Home Depot, local appliance shop.


LOL Already tried that. Lots of sentimental value in it to her.

frankly, todays ranges arent made anywhere NEAR as solid and of such high quality as they were back then. Comparing my 1992 Roper to her 1960-something Kenmore is like night and day.

Its worth repairing if I can find the parts I need.


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

kenmac said:


> here is a pic of a typical oven safety. I think you can still order them
> 
> 
> you don't have to get them from sears


Thanks! So what is the correct way to test the flame switch to see if thats it or if its the safety/valve you show?


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

*not the same*



kenmac said:


> here is a pic of a typical oven safety. I think you can still order them
> 
> 
> you don't have to get them from sears


this is not the type she has, she has a flame switch, big difference


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

shadango said:


> Thanks! So what is the correct way to test the flame switch to see if thats it or if its the safety/valve you show?


 

do you have a ohm meter?


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## kenmac (Feb 26, 2009)

hardwareman said:


> this is not the type she has, she has a flame switch, big difference


 

She must have elec t.stat then. If that's the case the ones I referenced won't work


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

shadango said:


> LOL Already tried that. Lots of sentimental value in it to her.
> 
> frankly, todays ranges arent made anywhere NEAR as solid and of such high quality as they were back then. Comparing my 1992 Roper to her 1960-something Kenmore is like night and day.
> 
> Its worth repairing if I can find the parts I need.


There is more deeper, than sentential value on a hunk of metal. Tell her that it is unsafe to use, and that the family is concerned for her safety, due to the unsafe nature of her old stove.


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

hardwareman said:


> do you have a ohm meter?


Yes, I do.


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

gregzoll said:


> There is more deeper, than sentential value on a hunk of metal. Tell her that it is unsafe to use, and that the family is concerned for her safety, due to the unsafe nature of her old stove.


Why is it unsafe? Seems to me that "something" is doing its job....something has failed and therefore the gas wont start in the oven.


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

to do this the flame switch still needs to be hooked up and the pilot lit, just take your ohm meter and ohm acroos the two wires on the flame switch. for safty reasons kill the power to the stove and unhook 1 wire from the switch first. if it reads open it is a bad switch. I'll do a little checking tommorrow to see if there is a cross for this that you can use, I used to use a semi universal one back in the day when I saw these on occasion, but I have not seen or used one of these in probably over 10 - 15 years.


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

Thanks for your help.

Looking at the schematic, there is only one wire going to the flame switch (137).....there is also a "capacitor" listed that looks to have two wires (#92)....is this what you mean?


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## Jacques (Jul 9, 2008)

if you do an inter-net search for Flame switch you should be able to find something that works. you have to stay within spec's. cap lenght too long doesn't mattter... a dirty pilot will cause this also. first thing to do is pull pilot and blow through to clear carbon build up. if pilot is now ok [good cover flame]- jump F/S and see if burner comes on.


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## kenmac (Feb 26, 2009)

check the elec. t.stat. they will also go bad


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

your flame switch will have 2 wires going to it, in your diagram they are showing the capillary tube not the electrical wires. I had no luck finding that switch, I did however find a Robertshaw switch that may work, only problem is no one stocks it. it would be a special order part and it costs around $100.00. I think maybe it is time to give it up and look at new. SORRY...........................


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

Jacques said:


> if you do an inter-net search for Flame switch you should be able to find something that works. you have to stay within spec's. cap lenght too long doesn't mattter... a dirty pilot will cause this also. first thing to do is pull pilot and blow through to clear carbon build up. if pilot is now ok [good cover flame]- jump F/S and see if burner comes on.


Thanks Jacques....I also got this advice from a local parts place I called. They said they have flame switches they can substitute in should it be that. Also told me that if its the thermostat/valve, I am out of luck, much as you guys are saying.

So, when I look under the oven, the capillary tube from the FS 'sensor" at the pilot looks like it threads onto a round piece.....but it pokes thru a metal plate/cover.....I assume I need to remove that cover to get to the two wires, as I see no wires anywhere else there...

RE: the pilot....should the pilot change at all when I turn the oven gas control/valve on? Should that "sensor" in the pilot glow red?

Thanks folks.


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## Jacques (Jul 9, 2008)

tube should glow-should have nice blue flame around it..yeah you have to pull that sw to get to wires..kill power and jump out-make sure it won't short to case- turn power on and then thermo-see if it lights. if not could be thermo or valve. they're all in series-120vac..make sure the clock is set for manual-otherwise the oven won't light.


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## kenmac (Feb 26, 2009)

I would test that t.stat b-4 replacing parts. I've seen those t.stats go bad. You can sometimes apply a little more heat (using a match along with the pilot burning) to the flame switch (if that's the problem) & get it to close & make the circuit


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

Well, went over to tinker a bit (grand-dad would be proud...LOL).....

First thing I tried was pushing the top control in to go to "manual" mode....nothing.

Then I took the cover off of the control valve and found the two wires for the flame switch. Jumped those. Nothing.

Then went up top and jumped the two wires at the control.....nothing.....then decided to test the thermostat and found that it seemed to be passing voltage fine.....then back probed the two wires for 120v...NOTHING.

Started messing with the timer on the BOTTOM and lo and behold I got voltage at the two wires....put the control back together and it lit right up!

So not sure if the timer just needed some movement after not being touched for years or if it is going bad.....

Oven seems to be working for now at least.....cycled on and off a couple times.

So I guess we'll see...will keep you all posted.

Thanks so much for the advice and help! I dont know how people learned stuff before the web....something called "books" I assume...LOL


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## hardwareman (Oct 9, 2010)

so what you are saying is that it was set for a delay bake cycle, LOL, glad its working for you. I can't begin to count the number of stove service calls I've run that the customer had bumped the dials and set it for delay.


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## shadango (Jun 8, 2008)

I really dont know.....at the start I turned the top dial (the one marked 'push for manual') and pushed, etc.

After I di all the other stuff it was the bottom dial.....I turned it a couple times and noticed the voltmeter spike....

Still seems like something is wrong with the dials/timer to me.....I was pushing the top one like crazy and nothing. According to the manual, I shouldnt have had to turn the bottom one at all..... ???

I guess I'll know if the "fix" sticks or not after a while.

:whistling2:


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## Jacques (Jul 9, 2008)

Yeah, that was your problem. all three dials have to be at the same time, regardless if timer still works...you're Grammys little manie-in spite of what Gramps used to say about you.:thumbup:


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