Details of a Tappan Deluxe Restoration

Jerry sent me the following email with great information on how he restored his Tappan Deluxe:

"I just finished restoring a 1948 TV 65-16.    I purchased this stove for $100 in Butler, PA just north of Pittsburgh.   I also purchased a TV 662-26 in Pittsburgh that was in poorer condition as a parts stove for $125.  I actually combined the elements of both to make one I like.  The TV 65-16 was missing one of the white bezels and a knob.  The 662-26 lost some screws, the chrome bezels, the chrome handles with the back painted centers, a drip pan, a hinge from the broiler oven, a knob for the oven light switch and the wire rack shelf in the left drawer.   I was able to adjust the pilots and burners on the stove top to work.  I also adjusted the oven and measured the temperature with my electronic bi metal thermometer.

The oven doesn't have a pilot light but is match lit.   The thermostat works but was way off and out of adjustment.  I suspect this is why this stove was taken out of service, the thermostat was off and it was burning way too hot..  I adjusted the thermostat and adjusted the flame height during the 'hold' position and was able to get the old girl to hold 350-349 degrees for 30 minutes.  The flame height on the burner "hold" position was way too high and of course the oven would heat far beyond the thermostat heating.

The back splash and all components were cleaned.  The clock took some work, but 60+ years of kitchen grease had jammed up the works.  Some spray solvent dissolved the mess after I disassembled the Telechron and then lubricated the gears and turning points with some light oil.  It's keeping perfect time now.  The Visitimer works great and the Visiminder cleaned up nicely.   New light bulbs in all. 

The "OVEN ON" light was not working on the stove.  I figured the heat switch was bad.   I cut the wires off the switch and touched them together.  Sure enough the "OVEN ON" light lit up.  I was able to purchase a normally open bi-metal thermal switch on eBay for $1.49.  The switch stays open, no current, until it reaches 140 degrees then it closes thus lighting the oven on light.  I placed it in the hole where the old switch was up against the back wall of the oven.  Now when the oven begins to heat, the light comes on.   When it cools off, the light goes off.   The TV 65-16 looks brand new now.

What I thought was corrosion was usually old food and grease.   I had to strip and repaint the center pieces of the oven and broiler handles.  I also repainted the back of the clock face to cover up some scratches and bare spots.  This stove was restored to use in the new house I purchased, a 2700 sq. ft. 1909 Foursquare that I'm lovingly going to restore.  The kitchen, of course, is going to have a late 40's theme.  This old girl should last another 63 years now.  I think she's beautiful."

And here are photos of Jerry's beautifully restored stove. I only hope mine looks that good when I am *finally* done with my restoration work!

Amy's Mid-Century Modern Stove

Amy emailed me a few weeks ago to see if I had any information about her stove as she was planning on selling it.  She was able to find the model number under the right burners - DCV-5776 13 with the serial # K08 1418.

Her house was built in 1948 and the stove was included when she bought it. She described the stove as a gas, four burner stove, white, 36 inches wide. The oven in on the right, with a broiler underneath. On the left is a storage area. There's a large clock on the top front.

I haven't been able to discover too much yet about the Tappan models that followed the Deluxe, but in looking at the back splash and clock, we came to the conclusion that this stove was most likely late 1950's.

My favorite feature of the entire stove is the back splash....especially the clock.

(Amy just sent me an update - she was able to sell her stove to a theater group that is going to use it in one of their productions.) Thanks, Amy!

Working the Clock

The Tappan Deluxe has two different versions of clocks.

The first is the Telechron Clock, generally found on non-CP stoves.  It functions as a clock and has a timer that buzzes. Pretty simple.

There appears to be a few different versions of this clock. Mine has large red numbers on a face plate (and does not say "telechron" on it), but I have seen older stoves with smaller numbers with intervals for timing. If anyone has more info. on this, I'd be interested in hearing it.

The second style is the Time Control Clock.  This is the clock style found on CP stoves. It has three knobs on the right side (black, red and metallic or white).  It functions as a clock, but it also works as a timer to turn the oven on and off. Tappan advertised that you could set this clock with your full meal int he oven and then leave the house. I don't think I'd be brave enough to try that, but a handy feature nonetheless.

P.S. I realized that I had the blog comments accidentally set so you had to register in order to comment. Oops. That has been fixed. If you tried to comment before and it was a huge hassle, I apologize.

Clocks