Crown Stoves - Repair Parts

"Not firing on all pistons" reminds me of when I would run my car engine in the dark to look for sparks jumping from the ignition wires. Have you looked for high voltage "leaking" with the top off?

Elso, maybe you can contact these guys for help:

Most of the Crown line was hand assembled. What was left of the company was bought by Roper who then sold the range parts to GE.

Is the problem the igniters themselves the switches or the spark unit? If you have say two burners that don't light while the others work fine then it's probably a wiring problem to them. I don't think I have ever seen the igniter tips fail unless they are physically damaged. They are usually very simple spark gaps.

If the problem is that none of the burners work then it may be the spark unit itself. That could be more difficult to deal with because you will need to figure out how the switching works. Most use a simple switch in each control that are parallel wired to the spark generator. Others used individual switches that connect to a common buss. Either way you would find the point where they connect up and wire in a different spark generator. You should be able to use a newer unit depending on the problem.

What sort of spark generator? A piezo pushbutton or something with an actual coil hooked to AC? If you cruise around the big boxes, you can usually find piezo replacements over in the grill section this time of year. Usually fit into a 3/4-7/8" hole. Might be all that's needed is to clean the spark gaps and regap. Wiring might have perished insulation, too. No spark if it's jumping out somewhere other than the gap.

Stan

I've worked on stoves, where the spark worked. But, the little hole that let some gas to the sparker got clogged by food residue. Had to take it all apart, and clean the burners with oven cleaner.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

Crown has been out of business for decades now.

Does anyone know where to buy parts, or retro-fit parts? For instance, I bet the same spark igniters were used on numerous makes and models of stove, so there is likely something that will fit.

Thanks,

Joe Gwinn

I did look for that, and found nothing. (It was the usual problem with pilot-light stoves.) The other clue is that one does not hear a spark from the burner that one is trying to ignite.

Joe Gwinn

It is electronic, powered by 120 vac. When one turns the gas all the way up on a burner, a switch closes and the generator makes a spark every second or so. When the burner ignites, one sets the knob to the desired flame height. From listening, it seems that a given spark generator drives two burners, but I'm not quite sure.

Spark leakage may be an issue, but it doesn't kill the other spark.

Joe Gwinn

I'm not sure. In one case, I hear some other burner sparking, while the intended burner is silent. In another case, there is no spark sound, so I may have both problems.

I don't have any service manual information. Are such available anywhere? One assumes they are available somewhere, in some form.

I have looked at these, and one did have a broken ceramic, but was able to repair or replace it ten years ago, if memory serves.

Most of the burners do work, so the main spark unit is OK. Only one oven lights, though; used to be both worked. But something is busted, and will need repair or replacement. Thanks for the URLs - I'll browse them.

Thanks,

Joe Gwinn

I have, but by listening. This works better with a stove than an engine. I suppose there is no harm in doing both at the same time on the stove.

Thanks - I'll check them out.

Joe Gwinn

Hi Joe,

Do you still have this stove? Does it work? Would you be willing to part with it? Would your wife??

I'd be interested in anything you can tell me about keeping it working. My Mom's is a similar model. It should really be replaced, but we can't find anything that has the same features (two ovens large enough to fit her pan s) and that fit in that spot in the kitchen.

I'd appreciate any hints or tricks!

-- mmd

On Feb 18, 2017, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote (in article):

Deckman,

My Crown does work, and is used every day. The clock/timer wore out years ago, and was disconnected to prevent an annoying clicking sound.

Those Crown stoves are beasts straight from the 1950s. No electronics, so they degrade slowly.

As for the failing igniters, the leftmost two burners rarely light on their own, so we use a handheld spark igniter. A friend of my wife also has a Crown, and she uses a handheld igniter for all burners. I can hear a spark, but it is somewhere elsewhere than at the problem burners. I?ve tried tracking the spark sound with the stove top off, but have not yet found the problem. Probably need to poke around with a stethoscope slowly, but have not had the time. When found, this will be easily fixed.

What problems are you having? Have you found a suitable source of the spark igniters et al? All my spark igniters seem to work in that one always hears a spark, even if the burner doesn?t light, but they won?t last forever. I did have one burner theat didn?t work or make a spark sound. When I tok the top off the stove and looked, I found that the control wire had worked its way off the switch body on the burner control valve. Reconnected the wire (push-on spade terminal) and the burner would light.

Do you have or know of any service documentation?

As for a possible sale, I can talk to the wife. Where do you live? (I?m in the Boston area.) Replacing the stove is by itself a big deal, and crating and shipping the old stove well enough to survive shipping is also likely to be a pretty big deal.

Joe Gwinn

Have you tried these guys?

ance,

Imagine if cars had pilot lights. Ha!

...

...

Stanley Steamers had a pilot flame, with pilot fuel like hexane vs main fuels like kerosene. shows some people a couple of years ago trying to get the pilot going on a 1910 Steamer, using a propane torch. I suspect owners back in the day had some smoother ways of starting up.

Perhaps so. I watched those guys trying to blow themselves up and the next video on YT was Jay Leno with his boosted (30" upsized boiler vs standard 26", fuel pressure. bumped from 140 to 180psi) Stanley Steamer. He gives a great talk on how it all works, and shows their work on baffles to equalize the flow to get more even burner heat.

Fascinating video, 2 thumbs up.

"When you're made of wood and you're on fire going 65mph down the freeway...it's fascinating." Jay said.

Then, I followed his links to the Baker Electric car.

instance,

There's been a Jay Leno's Garage marathon all day today on CNBC. Fun show.

I have the same American Crown 6 burner stove that doesn't light without me physically lighting it. I have the double oven, but the temperatures are k ind of out of whack. I need it repaired, but American Crown is out of busin ess. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get this fixed before Th anksgiving?

Thanks Jill

Jill, most appliance repairmen may be able to get the part. I believe they're called a "starter" for electronically lit burners and "pilot generator" for the old pilot-flamed models. If they have trouble, try

I had a gas Merrit and O'Keefe DeVille 4 burner with chrome griddle in the middle, a fully adjustable height broiler on the left, and stove on the right. Great old beastie from the '20s. Had it re-orificed for propane by a plumber who installed the gas line.

I have the same American Crown 6 burner stove that doesn't light without me physically lighting it. I have the double oven, but the temperatures are kind of out of whack. I need it repaired, but American Crown is out of business. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get this fixed before Thanksgiving?

Thanks Jill

Another source for parts and repair is

good luck. Art