Tappan

[KeithGregory]

Can anyone tell me how to light a Tappan Stove out of a 64 trade wind?

[dfpartridge]

I have the same model. To light the stove burners, I just turned on the gas at the tanks, then turned one of the valves to the on position and held a Bic (long) lighter next to the burner until it caught a flame. It takes a few minutes for the gas to get there. If that doesn't work, you might try cleaning out the burners....spiders can make nests in there that clog up the gas flow. Having said all that, I can't get my oven lit. Have any ideas? I took it apart and removed one spider nest, and the pilot light stays lit, but the burner won't ignite. (I'm missing my morning biscuits!)

Good luck and thanks,
Debra

[Foiled Again]

We had a Tappan in the basement rec room when I was a kid. It was so old it was up on legs... probably 1920's or earlier. There were two little drawers under the burners, and we always had wooden matches in those drawers. A neighbor had a little cast iron match holder attached to the wall beside her stove, complete with a rough spot under it to strike the matches on.

As an Aging Boomer - I find myself reminded just how fast things are changing. Remember Lily Tomlin's "one-ringy-dingy" telephone operator with the three pound headset, the rotary dialer and the cordboard? Those started to go away in the early sixties. Now I have a candlestick phone with a rotary dialer as a "museum piece" in my answering service - the kids can't believe we had to work that hard to dial numbers - and NO redial or index of stored numbers. The first auto-dialers used punch cards to dial numbers. Mom got rid of her wringer washer when my baby sister was born. Egad! She let me use that thing as a 4 year old (of course I had to have my hair in a bandana and she let me feed clothing through the wringer using two wooden spoons to keep from getting the fingers caught - no wonder they used to call that thing "the mangle!".

Oh... and wait... do you believe that there were THREE channels, THREE networks and to change the channel, you got up, walked across the room and turned the dial?

IBM did a survey that found that women who converted from using a manual typewriter to an electric gained 6 pounds in the first year. So as I sit in my automatic transmission car with electric seats and windows... I know it's a conspiracy!

So KID, if you're going to work on a VINTAGE Airstream you've got to find someone who was actually alive then and old enough to remember the old days - to keep your head in the era.

Have fun, Paula

[Grand Master]

I have a 1962 with a Tappan Mity Mite oven.
After spending hours trying to get the oven to light, I think I have finally figured it out. There are two pilots to the left of the burner. One is the safety pilot that should be lit when you turn the gas on to the stove or you will smell propane. The second pilot is ignited by the first pilot light when you turn the oven knob on. This second pilot burner has a larger flame and heats the thermostat bulb that is attached to the safety valve in the bottom of the oven. When is reaches temperature the safety valve opens the valve sending gas to the burner.

Whalla.... the oven is lit.

Having said all that, my thermostat (oven knob) seems defective and therefore the the second pilot doesn't light, the safety valve doesn't open, and the oven doesn't work.

There is a second secret. Underneath the oven knob is a screw that adjusts the second pilot flame. Turn to the right to turn down the flame (or completely turn it off). A previous owner might have turned it off as a safety measure. Turn it to the left to turn the flame up.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

We had a Tappan in the basement rec room when I was a kid. It was so old it was up on legs... probably 1920's or earlier. There were two little drawers under the burners, and we always had wooden matches in those drawers. A neighbor had a little cast iron match holder attached to the wall beside her stove, complete with a rough spot under it to strike the matches on.
Have fun, Paula

Hi, if your stove was like the ones my Mom had and everyone else at that time, I wouldn't keep matches in those little drawers. Those drawers under the burners were for grease drippings and accidental overflows. I can just picture hot grease dripping on a box of matches.

[dfpartridge]

So KID, if you're going to work on a VINTAGE Airstream you've got to find someone who was actually alive then and old enough to remember the old days - to keep your head in the era.

Have fun, Paula

Thanks for the memories....I'm old enough to remember some of those things, but we emigrated from England when I was four, so my parents left all their "good stuff" in the Old Country when we came to the States and got all the new-fangled technology like a television, electric fridge, etc.

I also have a Vintage 1963 Shasta and the oven on it (a Princess) works like a charm....the Airstream is a challenge, but I'm resolute!

[dfpartridge]

Originally Posted by Grand Master

I have a 1962 with a Tappan Mity Mite oven.
After spending hours trying to get the oven to light, I think I have finally figured it out. There are two pilots to the left of the burner. One is the safety pilot that should be lit when you turn the gas on to the stove or you will smell propane. The second pilot is ignited by the first pilot light when you turn the oven knob on. This second pilot burner has a larger flame and heats the thermostat bulb that is attached to the safety valve in the bottom of the oven. When is reaches temperature the safety valve opens the valve sending gas to the burner.

Whalla.... the oven is lit.

Having said all that, my thermostat (oven knob) seems defective and therefore the the second pilot doesn't light, the safety valve doesn't open, and the oven doesn't work.

There is a second secret. Underneath the oven knob is a screw that adjusts the second pilot flame. Turn to the right to turn down the flame (or completely turn it off). A previous owner might have turned it off as a safety measure. Turn it to the left to turn the flame up.

This is very helpful! I located the two pilots...they both stay lit. One is larger (like you described) and actually has a larger yellow flame. How long should it take for the safety valve to open? A couple minutes? Longer? Maybe I'm just being impatient! I'm assuming that the safely valve has to open before gas gets to the burner, which is why I can't just light it with a lighter....and bypass the pilot. I'm also assuming that the control knob works, because when I turn it to a higher temperature, the second pilot light also gets bigger. I'll play around with the screw under the control knob, too, and see if that has any impact.

After I get my biscuits cooking, I'm going to try to figure out how to get warm water to wash my dishes! LOL!

Thanks!
Debra

[Grand Master]

The Tappan oven manual says that the main burner should light in 20 - 30 seconds.

Does your second pilot (larger flame) go out when you turn the oven knob to off?

[dfpartridge]

Yes, the second pilot goes out when I turn the knob to off. The smaller pilot stays lit (and the oven will actually feel warm after a while).

Thanks for your help!

[Grand Master]

Yesterday I finally solved all the mysteries of a vintage Tappan Mity Mite range. I got the second pilot to ignite by turning the small set screw (under the oven knob) to the left. The safety valve bulb still did not get hot enough to open the valve and ignite the burner. It seemed like I had enough flame. The flame was deflected by the shield to the end of the bulb, but no burner ignition.
I then kept turning the small screw under the oven knob to the left (turning the flame up) and finally the burner lit. The secret is that the second pilot flame must be big (hot) enough to allow the safety valve to open. It now takes about 20 seconds for the burner to light.
I had both the Thermostat and safety valve checked by a company in Everman, Texas named Repco. They checked both controls for $20.00 each and assured me they were in good working order. If they had not been, they would have rebuilt them for about $150.00. I spoke with Dick, and he was very helpful.