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Topics Discussed:

• Frigidaire Refrigerator/Freezer Has Frost on the Coils
• 2007 Samsung Gas Dryer Lint Clogging Up the Outside Vent
• 1994 Maytag Glass Top Range Making a Popping Noise and the Burners Are Pulsing On and Off
• Whirlpool Refrigerator Icemaker Not Producing Ice
• Frigidaire Refrigerator Has Water Pooling Under the Crisper Drawers
• Range Door Is Making a Screeching Noise When Opened
• 2004 Maytag Microwave Touchpad Is Not Working Properly
• 1987 Sears Refrigerator Is Freezing the Food in the Refrigerator
• Maytag Dishwasher Not Getting the Dishes Clean and Soap Is Still Left in the Dispenser at the End of the Cycle
• 1950 Thermador Oven Thermostat No Longer Works

 

Frigidaire Refrigerator/Freezer Has Frost on the Coils

 

JOHN SOWDEN

I think we're going to go to Greg, in Macomb, with a refrigerator that's having some problems. 

 

GREG

I have a Frigidaire refrigerator, and a couple weeks ago I noticed that the refrigerator side wasn't working.  I checked the freezer, noticed that there was frost all over the evaporator coils and all the sides.  So I went to your website...one thing I noticed about a week or two prior to that was the freezer door had been left open a crack.  So, I shut off the refrigerator, let it defrost, and ran it again.  Two weeks later the same problem occurred.  Since then I went to your website and checked the defrost timer, that seems to be working and it's advancing.  The continuity is where it should be.  Two of the connectors read zero in one mode, and then a different two read zero on the next mode.  I checked the thermostat and that seems to be reading correctly, it's reading infinity when it's hot, you know between room temperature.  When it gets down to the thirties and lower it seems to be giving me some readings, and then the same thing I checked the defrost heater, and that seemed to be, it was reading about twenty one ohms, which I don't know for my model what that heater should be, but it seems to be working.  So, I was hoping you guys might have some ideas of other things I could check out.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, that's something that...the freezer door being left open will definitely cause the coil to ice over, you're drawing in a lot of hot moist air.  The first thing you have to do is make sure the coil is completely clear.  So if you remove the panel, obviously if you've checked these components...and was all the ice removed, did you give it a complete defrost?

 

GREG

Yeah, I let it sit for a couple days before I started even checking that.  When I tried it the second time, every time I walked by for the two weeks that it ran, I made sure that the freezer door was shut.  We only had a couple of things in the refrigerator because we have a second fridge, so we left most of the stuff in that one and we just put a couple things in this refrigerator and really didn't even use it.  So every time I walked by I made sure that it was closed and sealed, and that's when it then frosted again after two weeks. 

 

JOHN SOWDEN

It sounds like you have a defrost system failure, and from what you're telling me, it sounds like the components that you checked, which are the three components in there, the defrost timer, the heater and the thermostat from what you're describing they all checked to be good at the time you checked them which tells me you've got an intermittent problem. Normally, the element or the defrost heater is either good or bad.  It's kind of like a light bulb, once they burn out that's it.  If you've got 21 ohms that sounds about right, you might also want to check and make sure that it's not shorted to the shell, check it to ground as they say.  After that, the only two things in there that can be intermittent are the timer, where it's not advancing, or the contacts in the timer are actually burnt and with a meter you will show that you're getting continuity, but when you apply line voltage to it, you will not always get line voltage out if the contacts are burnt.  That's the same condition with the defrost thermostat.  You could try to, right now if you remove the kick plate and turn the timer into defrost, it shuts off, do you hear the heater turn on, do you hear anything going on in there?

 

GREG

No.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Normally, you hear cracking and stuff as that heater comes on.  One thing you can do to check that is to bypass that thermostat for testing purposes only; you certainly don't want to leave it that way.  You could jump out the thermostat, and then if you put it in defrost and the heater comes on, then you know that the thermostat, even though it might check well with the meter, is still not passing line voltage to allow the heater to come on.  If that seems to work then I would suspect the timer.  Or, you could take the carpet bomb effect and just replace the timer and the thermostat, if the heater checks good then that should put you in pretty good shape.

 

2007 Samsung Gas Dryer Lint Clogging Up the Outside Vent

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

We'll go to Art, in Highland, on the Appliance Repair Show on News Talk 760 WJR, sponsored by RepairClinic.com. 

 

ART

I've got a four-week old Samsung gas dryer, that's been clogging up the outside vent with lint.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You're talking about the vent outside of your home?

 

ART

Yes, that's correct.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And, do you have straight walled or smooth venting, or is it the corrugated type of venting.

 

ART

No, they're just straight aluminum venting.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And how long is the run going outside?

 

ART

About twelve feet.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.  Well, normally as a general rule of thumb for dryers, they allow between forty and fifty feet of venting, but for every elbow you have, subtract eight to ten feet, and then with the outside vent cap or damper, subtract another eight to ten feet.  You might want to look at that and make sure you still aren't too long with that.  I'd also inspect the outside damper, clean the venting, make sure that you have airflow, and if it still keeps plugging up it could be that you don't have enough force coming from the blower assembly in the dryer, which could be a problem in the dryer or it could be just the way that particular dryer is designed, you might want to look at the owner's manual and see what the specs are on that particular unit.

 

ART

Okay, even though we clean the lint filter after every load?  We don't seem to be getting, trapping a lot of lint with the factory filter, the pullout filter.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

That's somewhat unusual, especially if you dry towels and stuff like that.  Be sure the vent is correct, and not too long and if you're still having problems with that, I would, since it's only four weeks old, contact the manufacturer, maybe they could send somebody out to look at it.  It could be that something is not sealing properly in the blower housing and the air is escaping.  If you're sure it's not in the venting I would at least have them come out and look at the dryer.

 

ART

Okay, very good, thanks very much.

 

1994 Maytag Glass Top Range Making a Popping Noise and the Burners Are Pulsing On and Off

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

It's a Maytag range that's popping with Shirley, in Warren, on the Appliance Repair Show.  Hi, Shirley.

 

SHIRLEY

I have this Maytag glass top range, and I had the unit on, and it was probably after four or five minutes, and all of a sudden I heard this pop. I pushed the pan aside, and the element would go on and off, on and off, so I tried another burner and I had two other ones do the same thing.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

The burner goes on and off and on and off without a pot on it?

 

SHIRLEY

When I turned the other two units on to see what they did, and they popped the same way.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You say they popped?

 

SHIRLEY

They popped like if you blew a bubble with bubble gum and someone popped it, that's what it sounded like.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And did you turn these burners on in conjunction with the one you had still on?

 

SHIRLEY

Yes.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.  And this popping did it seem like it was coming from the cook top or the control panel?

 

SHIRLEY

Well, to tell you the truth I really don't know, I want to think that it was probably coming from under the glass top but I don't know for sure because I guess I was just looking at the burner.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And there was no spilling, no liquid that hit that hot surface?

 

SHIRLEY

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Because that'll sometimes cause...normally, a sound like that is either something heating up and expanding, which could be a burner.  Or, the switch itself, that's why I asked about the control panel, sometimes you'll get a popping sound if the contacts are sticking in the switch; you'll get an electrical popper or arcing inside there.  Now the burner going on and off and on and off is normal operation as long as you have it set anywhere but high.  The burner is made to pulse the heat so if you set it at medium it will turn the burner on until it reaches a certain temperature, and then it will turn off.  It cycles on and off, on and off, so it should only glow bright red all the time when you have it on high.  I would try each burner individually and see if that makes a difference, but from what you're describing, I would say that it's probably one of the switches, sometimes they'll make a popping.

 

SHIRLEY

I couldn't start a fire by doing that?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

If the switches are shorting it's possible you could have an electrical issue and if you're uncomfortable with it I'd always recommend having somebody come out and look at it. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

 

SHIRLEY

Well I was just wondering, I mean I didn't know if this would be a big problem and the range is thirteen years old.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

If you need to put a few switches in the stove it's maybe a one hundred and fifty dollar repair.  It would probably be worth it, glass tops are fairly expensive and I would say it hasn't reached its useful life yet, so I would look into it.  Even if it's just for peace of mind, if you notice it continues to pop then I'd definitely just have it looked at.

 

Whirlpool Refrigerator Icemaker Not Producing Ice

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

And John, in Oxford, here on the Appliance Repair Show.  Go ahead, John.

 

JOHN

I've got a Whirlpool refrigerator out here, and it's got the water in the freezer door and the ice in the freezer door. And the water flows, everything works on it and then all of a sudden it just quit making ice, because I don't think there's any water getting to it in order to freeze it. 

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay.  Now you say this is a dispenser in the door?  Side-by-side?

 

JOHN

Correct.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And is the ice bucket in the door?

 

JOHN

No, it's in the freezer.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, so the ice bucket's in the freezer on this model.  And you say it just quit making ice?

 

JOHN

Right.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And first thing you want to start with is what temperature do you have in your freezer section?  That's always the first place.

 

JOHN

Okay, everything; the meat and things that are in there are all solid as a rock. 

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, that's good.  If it's questionable, the ice maker needs to get to about twelve or thirteen degrees normally on the icemaker temperature in order to initiate a harvest, so a lot of people, if you're having other problems and the freezer's twenty degrees, everything looks frozen and yet it's not still cold enough to actuate the icemaker.  Now that's obviously the first place to look.  One thing you can do is kind of the cheating way to do it is to just take a half a cup of water and manually fill the mold in the icemaker and see if a couple hours later it dumps it out.  If it does, then you know you're not getting water to it but the rest of the icemaker is doing what it's supposed to do.  You've manually filled it.  If that's the case then I would look at the inlet going to the icemaker being frozen, and that's normally caused by low water pressure, either from the valve not working properly, or in a lot of cases the incoming supply line is restricted.  A lot of things have been installed with the self-piercing type valves mounted to your household plumbing, and all that does is poke a really small hole into the pipe, and then you mount your quarter-inch line to that, and over a period of time that little tiny hole gets plugged up.  They do make something that generally provides better water pressure, its a little more work to do, but you have to end up drilling a quarter-inch hole into the pipe and then mount the saddle valve and that's a lot less likely to restrict, as well as, much better water pressure to the valve.  The water valve normally needs eighteen pounds of back pressure in order to seat properly, so low water pressure from the house can also cause the valve to malfunction.

 

JOHN

Okay, we'll go to work, we'll check all that stuff out and hopefully that'll take care of it.

 

Frigidaire Refrigerator Has Water Pooling Under the Crisper Drawers

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Carol from Warren, you're next here on News Talk 760 WJR.

 

CAROL

I have a Frigidaire refrigerator/freezer, it's a frost-free, and I have water pooling underneath the crispers.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And this is a freezer on top?

 

CAROL

Yes.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And you're getting water in the crisper area?

 

CAROL

That's correct.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, that's normally caused by a defrost system drain restriction.  What happens is when it goes into defrost it melts all the ice on the coil and then it's supposed to travel through a little tube and go to the underside of the refrigerator into a pan that then evaporates into the room.  That has probably plugged up, and there's a few ways you can do this.  One way is to empty the refrigerator and turn it off and let it defrost for a few days, and then you can remove the back panel.  In the freezer section, in the center of the back area you'll find a small drain hole about a half-inch wide.  And you can take a turkey baster with some hot water and flush out that drain.  You can do the same thing without removing all the food and turning it off, but you might need to get a hairdryer or something in there to remove the ice and other buildups that are in there, and in doing so you want to be careful because most of those have a plastic liner, and if you put too much heat in there you can burn the liner or melt it, or all kinds of bad things can happen.  As long as you're careful it's okay.  From what you're describing, that's what I think you have going on there.

 

CAROL

Okay, I would have to, all right without moving the refrigerator to get to the back...

 

JOHN SOWDEN

No, no you can do all this from the front.

 

CAROL

Okay.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

It's the back wall in the freezer section that normally has to be removed.  If there is no back wall that can be removed, then you have to slide out what they call the divider, which is the insulation package in the floor of the freezer between the refrigerator and freezer section, and in order to do that you have to take the doors off and remove some trim pieces and that becomes a little more labor intensive.  So if that's the case, you may want to have somebody come out and have a look at it. 

 

CAROL

Okay, so basically you're saying I take everything out of the refrigerator and defrost it?  For two days, you said?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah.  If it's ice buildup in there, it takes at least a couple days to get rid of that and to help dry out that area.  If it reoccurs you're going to have to get in there, manually and flush out that drain.  At times that will over time that insulation gets wet and that will keep freezing over in that area, and you can on some models install a small heater in there that turns on with defrost, or you can actually take out of a piece of wire and wrap it around the defrost heater and put it down the side the drain and when it goes in defrost it will transfer heat down that drain tube and keep it from freezing over.  If you have any other detailed questions you can get the model number off the machine, go to our website Repairclinic.com and they can research a little more and tell you what options along those lines if you think flushing the drain doesn't work.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Thanks for the call. I hope that works out for you, Carol.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Without having a model number and knowing exactly what she's looking at, I'm just giving her all the options.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Would she see a couple little screws there?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, normally there's a series of screws around the perimeter of the panel that comes up.

 

Range Door Is Making a Screeching Noise When Opened

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

With a question on a range door that is screeching, here is Virginia, in Wassian, Ohio, on News Talk 760 WJR.  Good morning, Virginia.

 

VIRGINIA

I've got a problem with this range, and it's gone on for several years, actually.  When it's hot and I open the oven door, it screeches.  Both hinges screech.  I've tried simple things like Vaseline, even.  But it doesn't help a bit.  It seems to be, you know how the surface of the hinge is obvious, when the door is open, and it seems to be behind that.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Right, the hinge mechanism, it's all one assembly on that.  It looks like a roller and then a spring behind it, and from what you're describing it's probably that the roller is worn or the hinge arm riding across it when it's warm is causing the loud high pitched noise.

 

VIRGINIA

What can I do?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Well, you can try to lubricate that roller assembly; you might have to remove the hinge in order to do that.  Or, you could just replace both hinges and start over. 

 

VIRGINIA

Oh.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

In order to access these, after you take the oven door off, you can take the screws mounted to the frame and kind of slide them out of the existing slot.  Other types of ovens you have to remove the side panel of the range in order to gain access to them.  So that becomes a little more of a job where you have to pull the unit out and take the side panel off. 

 

VIRGINA

If I were to try and lubricate deep in, what would you suggest I use, and you know there's something I think it's...hmm...

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You could try opening the oven door, grab a good flashlight and shine it down in there and see if you can locate the roller assembly, and then probably some white lithium grease, and you can buy it in a spray, and some of them come with that long extension that you can mount to the applicator and then spray it in there.  I wouldn't get too carried away, but a few shots on each side of that, and see if that helps, if it works itself in.  If not, then the only way to get rid of it is to replace the door hinges. I'd replace them as a set, if an oven door spring breaks normally people put one on, and then six months later the other one breaks, too.

 

VIRGINIA

Uh-huh, do them both.

 

2004 Maytag Microwave Touchpad Is Not Working Properly

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Here's a question on a microwave from Dean, in Brandon Township, on the Appliance Repair Show.  Hi Dean, go ahead please.

 

DEAN

I've got a Maytag microwave, and it's possessed. 

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Really?  We don't do exorcisms here, but we do try to help all we can.

 

DEAN

Well, I'll have to call another show.  You push a button and you never know what you're going to get.  You could push light and the fan will come on or it might start, push cook and it might come up program, you just never know what you're going to come up with when you push the buttons.  Sometimes it actually even works.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Oh.

 

DEAN

It does cook, when you get a program right it will do just a fine job, but you just never know what you're going to get when you push the buttons.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And how old is this?

 

DEAN

Almost three years.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And it has a touch pad?

 

DEAN

It has a touch pad, yes.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Has this gotten progressively worse over time?

 

DEAN

No, not really, it just started that way and it stayed that way, and I don't have the model number because it's built-in and I haven't taken it out.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Normally, the model number will be around the door frame, for obtaining parts you don't have to take it off the wall in order to get that.  Sometimes you have to search around a little bit, but there will either be a sticker inside or around the frame or even on the door that will give the model and serial number.  From what you're describing, it sounds like one of the pads inside the touch pad is sticking, and when you hit something close to it, it's still sticking and actuating that.  You can try to access the control panel and the touch pad plugs into the main board, it's a ribbon connector, and you can make sure that that is secure in the board.  Sometimes you'll get moisture buildup and it will cause intermittent connections, and if you re-secure it and it still does it I'd say you probably have a bad touch pad.

 

DEAN

Is it a dangerous thing?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Not necessarily, other then having to fumble with it.  The worst thing that could happen is if it sticks on it could cause it to stay running when you didn't want it to or overcook foods that you put in there.

 

DEAN

We have done that. We've overcooked some things.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, so that's not good because you don't want a fire in there and if you turn it on and walk away and whatever, and it maintains running, that's not a good scenario, so I'd definitely get it working if you could.

 

DEAN

Okay, well thank you very much.

 

1987 Sears Refrigerator Is Freezing the Food in the Refrigerator

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

With a question on a twenty year old Sears refrigerator, here's Eli, in Southfield, on the Appliance Repair Show.

 

ELI

I was calling, as you mentioned, about the refrigerator that's at least twenty years old.  It's a frost-free, top freezer, fridge on the bottom.  I've had a problem with the thermostat in the fridge, on the warmest setting possible before it would shut itself off. And yet I still notice when I put things in there, liquids and foods, that after a couple of days they will be frozen.  So I'm not sure why it's getting that cold when it's on the warmest temperature.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

So the thermostat is set at the lowest number and you're still freezing food in the refrigerator section?

 

ELI

Right.  If I were to turn the thermostat any more, it would just turn itself off.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, so it's almost off, you have it at the lowest setting?

 

ELI

Correct.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And, do you have a lot of food in this refrigerator?

 

ELI

Not a lot...

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Basically, some of the problems that actually cause intermittent run times are that there's not enough food in the units, so if the freezer's almost empty and the refrigerator's almost empty, you can get some...

 

ELI

I wouldn't say it's really empty, I usually have a number of bottles that are always in there, grape juice or apple juice or foods, it's not really, I'd say its average full.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And there's only one control on this?  Is there a freezer control and a refrigerator control?

 

ELI

I think so.  I've only noticed one control, in the refrigerator section.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Right and do you find that the things freezing are always in one spot in the refrigerator or freezer?  Like on the top shelf near the air vent duct where the freezer is located?

 

ELI

Well, more towards the back, it will freeze more.  But I've found recently that even if I put a bottle of water towards the front, on the top shelf, it will freeze there as well.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

There are a few things that can cause this.  One is air flow.  If you have something that's always in one spot, some people put a box of baking soda in the spot and it will block the air flow or divert it and that will cause things, so if you have something that's always in the same spot you might want to look how the actual unit's loaded.  If that's not the case, I'd say you've probably got a thermostat that's sticking, after twenty years, and the thermostat itself is probably the culprit, where it's just lost its ability to stay within calibration.  If you get the model off the unit, go to our website and put the model number in you can see all the common parts for your machine, as well as get an idea of what a new thermostat would cost to get that thing back in working order.

 

ELI

What's your website?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Repairclinic.com or you could give us a call, and they could tell you.  It's 888-343-4948, if you do not have internet access.

 

ELI

Would I get the model number and then call that number?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

That's how we do it, yes.

 

ELI

I see.  Okay, thank you.

 

Maytag Dishwasher Not Getting the Dishes Clean and Soap Is Still Left in the Dispenser at the End of the Cycle

 

JOHN SOWDEN
I guess we're going to go to Don, in Fenton, who has a Maytag dishwasher problem. 

 

DON

We have a Maytag dishwasher.  The soap tray is at the end of the cycle, the soap tray still has soap in it, and the dishes in the top half of the dishwasher do not seem to wash properly.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, well those two are probably tied together. Without any detergent in there, you're not going to get good wash action.

 

DON

Makes sense.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

The dispenser on that is actuated by what they call a wax motor.  It's actually a small component that's got a piston in it, and there's a heater and it's full of substance that when the heater heats up it pushes the piston out to unlatch the door.  It's possible that wax motor has failed, or part of the...

 

DON

The door opens, though.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Oh the door opens?  Okay.

 

DON

The door on the soap dispenser opens up, but the soap just kind of sits on the lip of that little cup.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Okay, so it's not washing the soap out of the cup, all right.  That's a different animal.

At that point, I'd look at how much water you're getting into the dishwasher.  The washer's on a time fill, normally ninety seconds it will fill up.  If the water valve is restricted, and you're not getting enough water in there it will cause it to not wash the soap up.  You could also have a situation where the wash arm is split and the water's not being pushed through the holes designed to move the wash arm around. It's spraying out the sides.  Or, if you've got a hole in the silverware basket and one of the knives is sticking down and stopping the wash arm it can cause the same thing. 

 

DON

What I did was, I took a screwdriver and I pushed it through the top of the door that actuates the machine.  And the bottom arm seems to be throwing a lot of water, because I got splashed in the face.  But it didn't seem like the top arm was moving, are those on two separate gears or belts or something?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

No, no, it's, the pump housing that diverts the water, and generally to just kind of open the door and look in there, all you're normally going to get is wet.

 

DON

That's right!

 

JOHN SOWDEN

It's hard, it takes a second for the whole system to start circulating the water and getting that upper wash arm to spin properly.  One thing you can do is, after the main wash cycle, you normally can hear it fill, and open up the door of the dishwasher, you should have roughly about an inch of water across the whole bottom of the dishwasher.  If it's not, what I normally recommend is just take a couple pitchers of hot water and dump it in there.  When you put it back into operation see if you can noticeably see a big difference in the way it sounds.

 

DON

Sounds like a good idea.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

If that's the case then I'd lean towards the water valve itself being restricted.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Now when you say a timed fill, I always envision things filling up sensing where the water's at, but that's not where it does, it times that, or some of them do.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Well, yeah, they have a float in there, and that's normally for safety.  Meaning that if the timer tells the water valve to fill forever, that float will rise up and cut power off to the water valve.  It's there as a secondary device.  The actual unit itself is going to just fill according to time.

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

That's an eye opener to me.

 

1950 Thermador Oven Thermostat No Longer Works

 

JOHN MCCULLOCH

Here's Sally, in Southfield, who is looking for a Thermador part on the Appliance Repair Show on News Talk 760 WJR.  Hi Sally.

 

SALLY

This is an old house, well, figuratively, it was built in 1950.  The oven is a Thermador, and it is twenty-two inches wide, by twenty-six high, and the thermostat has gone on the blink.  We've replaced it several times, and then we've had to kind of jerry rig it and now it's dead.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Yeah, those old Thermadors! Is it a single wall oven?

 

SALLY

Yes, and this is since 1950.  Time for a change, the new ovens are wider!

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Too big, yeah. 

 

SALLY

I'd have to tear out a whole wall and it's a nightmare, where can I get a small oven that will fit in this space?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

You might want to try your local appliance store.

 

SALLY

I've been to the big box stores, and everything's like twenty-seven inches.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

It's been a while, but they used to make-and I could be wrong- but I think it was actually Magic Chef that made a smaller profile oven.

 

SALLY

It's called Magic what?

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Magic Chef.  That was the brand several years ago, the last time I ran into this problem, they did make something that was I think a twenty-four inch were they could shave down the sides of most installations and still slide it in there.  They may not make that anymore because the demand for it was pretty low; I mean people want a big oven these days, not a small oven. 

 

SALLY

Well, I'm wondering about people that have small spaces like boats.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Right, that could be another thing, but even an RV dealer would be something to try.

 

SALLY

RV dealer, that's a good idea.

 

JOHN SOWDEN

So, but for the most part, they're not a huge market for it, but you're not the first person to run into this, and I've seen people that have had to tear out bricks and all kinds of stuff in their kitchen in order to facilitate the new oven.

 

SALLY

Well, this would be a major overhaul because there's overhead fan, built in....

 

JOHN SOWDEN

Most of those, most of the parts for the WO16 and WO18 models for the Thermador era have been discontinued for quite some time.  You may find somebody who can take a thermostat and kind of retrofit it for you, but that's what it would be, is something that was made to work.

 

SALLY

Well, we've already done that once, and the oven is very touchy.  You barely turn in on, and oh boy, it's at broil!

 

JOHN SOWDEN

And plus, the other thing is all the wiring and stuff in that unit is almost sixty years old, so it might be time for a new one anyway.

 

SALLY

Okay, I'll try the RV dealer.