1947 was the switch over  to the square pin plug.

 

Its been a while, but last time I looked, you could still buy unfused round pin 15Amp sockets and plugs; they were still legal as of 4-5 years ago. Mostly being used by HiFi buffs on dedicated supplies to their hifi.

You can still buy 5A round pin plugs and sockets so you can have a switched lighting ring for lamps.

Got the oven out of its enclosure (After disconnecting the 30 amp supply at the consumer unit, BRS and wall point), and its condition doesn't look too bad.

 

Just needs a bit of degreasing , mainly on the inside of the fascia and around some of the electro-mechanical controls, replacement of the oven element and light, drilling out of the remaining shank of one of the element fixing screws and replacement of the element screws and quick -clip retainers. On closer examination all of the wiring has insulation on it and is good i.e. there are no breaks/holes. The grill element shows  as having a circuit in it as does both sides of  the step-down transformer. And all the rubber seals are in A+ condition - far better condition that the Bosch Dishwasher I just repaired !

 

The construction is interesting.

 

Its basically a series  (3) of ever larger  steel enclosures, nested in each other, with fibre-glass insulation, covered with tin-foil, in between the inner enclosure i.e. the actual oven chamber and the next enclosure going outwards. Interesting. The power supply wires to the grill and the oven have some sort of toughened finish (With braids embedded) in the insulation, whilst the rest of the wiring looks like the same sort of stiff you'd find in a 13 amp cable. All the  connections are tongue and spade, per motor industry dimensions. There is also liberal use on the fixings side of  flange-head self-tapping screws, appropriate friction washers and quick-clip folded spring steel retainers - again as used in the motor industry.

 

The cabinet into which the oven fits is good condition. Apart from a little bit of marking in the front of the baseplate, where previous applications of oven cleaning fluid obviously leaked through the front door seals leaking, it cleaned-up well. No rot, no broken chipboard.

 

The only thing to be worried about was the wonderful standard of fix achieved by the professional electricians work on the 30 amp wallpoint - although channelled into the wall and secured with an internal metal box (Splitting the wall-plaster extensively in the process)  a screw on the plastic front cover won't secure properly. But as its been like that for the last 30 years sans difficulty . . . . ?

 

As far as the alternative is concerned, i.e. replacing the electric oven with a new one, that possibility was looking less and less easy the further I looked into it. Not only would the existing gas pipe have to me moved right to the back of the enclosure, so as top ensure that the increased depth of the new unit could be accommodated, but there was a possibility of interference with the top of the new  oven casing from the straight down brass housing which connects the 15mm copper gas pipe to the hob. So that connector would have to be swapped for a new right angled elbow and even then it might not clear the oven case, depending on which model of new oven was bought (it might have involved changing the hob, with all that involved, . . . No thanks !). To get round this I considered the possibility of using a flexible gas pipe, but apparently, the most recent regs say that your're only allowed to use these if the hob manufacturer says its OK (So, restricting the permission to hobs of recent manufacture) and the BSI standards and industry good practice advise not using a flexible gas pipe where there's an oven underneath - the critical temperature for the piping being 70C, presumably being the melting point of the rubber inner.

 

 

Consequently, after a bit of hmming and hrrhing,  I decided to go down the refurbish route.

 

So I've ordered a new oven element and light, some self-tappers and spring clips.

 

Probably take me a few weeks to complete the dissambley and clean, by which time all the new bits should have arrived.

 

Then, testing oven supported on two wood blocks on the kitchen floor. If OK, it gets re-installed.

 

Nick

Edited 27 April, 201610 yr by Clunkclick

As an aside, I couldn't find some of my screw/bolt gauges, so did a quick search on the web and came across this:-

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DrillSpot-BOLTSIZE-IT-BLUE-Bolt-Size-It-Gauge/dp/B001FZOCCG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1461761121&sr=8-4&keywords=bolt+gauge

 

That's taking a huge amount of Michael at that price, given that the they are on sale Stateside for as low as $6 and even with $15 worth of shipping its still cheaper .

 

I seem to recall paying less than £15 for a metal one obtained fro  a genuine tool merchant  25 years ago !

 

I couldn't find one over here. What is it now with the Tool Merchants over her, don't they want to do business ? Even Buck and Ryan didn't have one. At this rate they'll all be out of business.

 

Obviously, the bloke selling the U.S. produce over here has spotted the gap in the market.

 

 

Nick

Edited 27 April, 201610 yr by Clunkclick

I am finding that a lot now, it was cheaper for me to buy something new from a Chinese maker, or 2nd hand from a US supplier, than from anywhere I could find in the UK.

 

The UK guy wanted £50 (used).

 

The US guy wanted $1 plus $36 shipping (used).

 

The Chinese guy wanted £8 inc P&P brand new.

 

Part for an old Dell USFF PC.

Most of the replacement parts have turned-up now, so, this weekend, in the absence of a major health excursion (Luckily, I've managed to get my OPD Call-back appointment called forward so that I can get my swollen bits examined sooner rather than later), I should be able to make a start getting it cleaned-up.

 

 

As the oven design is pre-PCB, there are wires flying everywhere. But fear not, I've enumerated all the connections on each component and catalogued them (Via photo and paper record) as regards "From" and "Too", so  the trauma of re-connection and re-assembly should be eased.

 

 

Nick

 

Most of the replacement parts have turned-up now, so, this weekend, in the absence of a major health excursion (Luckily, I've managed to get my OPD Call-back appointment called forward so that I can get my swollen bits examined sooner rather than later), I should be able to make a start getting it cleaned-up.

 

 

As the oven design is pre-PCB, there are wires flying everywhere. But fear not, I've enumerated all the connections on each component and catalogued them (Via photo and paper record) as regards "From" and "Too", so  the trauma of re-connection and re-assembly should be eased.

 

 

Nick

 

As long try to put the reassembled oven back in upside down. :-0

Possible solution.

All the gas ovens appear to have a significantly reduced depth requirement circa 43 Cm upwards.(Why, you ask, intuitively you would think the reverse is true)That would easily fit without the need to move the gas pipe.. And that's gas ovens with an electric grill.

But they are £100 more expensive than the electric equivalents.

There's a few on AO that would fit and they do a fitting service inclusive.

Optimistically, I'm thinking that all that's required is the fitting of a T-piece in the gas supply and a flexible hose - surely the householder can do that ?

The electric grill can be wired back into the existing 30 amp junction box.

Question is could the existing 15mm gas pipe supply enough for both a gas oven and the hob simultaneously - seem to recall in the old days that the flexible connectors to free-standing ovens were one inchers.

Nick

A 15mm supply may be big enough to do a hob and oven, HOWEVER, it depends on the length of the pipe run and the resistances in the pipe (more bends = more resistance) as to whether it will safetly do so.

Yes the homeowner can technically do gas work in their own house, but anybody with common sense wouldnt.

Unless you know what you're doing, know how to test it, have the equipment to test it etc etc you shouldnt touch it unless you like blowing your family up.

Im a Gas Safe engineer and the bodges ive seen are rediculous. Not unless you're qualified do people quite understand how dangerous what they're doing/done is.