Forum Discussion

pauldub's avatar
pauldub
Explorer
Jan 24, 2019

Range Replacement Options

Our Magic Chef oven has a failed mercury flame safety switch and no replacements seem to be available. Unless someone knows an easy way to replace the safety switch with one operated by a thermocouple, I'm going to head down the path of replacing the range with a new one. Looks like I can go with a Suburban or Dometic (Wedgewood/Atwood) and I can choose sealed burners or conventional burners on the cooktop. Any pros or cons regarding the Suburban or Dometic ranges?
  • Last year I replaced the Magic Chef (I think) range in my RV with a Wedgewood Vision unit for a similar reason; the mercury thermostatic valve, not the safety valve, failed and was leaking gas from the valve body when the oven was on.

    I like the replacement; it seems to work quite nicely, all three burners have (easy) variable temperature control vs. just the center one, and the spark igniter for the burners is more convenient than a separate lighter. Installation wasn't too difficult, though it did require a bit of shimming the cutout and moving the gas line to the other side of the range. (Actually, the installation did take a bit more effort than I anticipated, but that's only because I discovered some of the hidden cabinetry structure underneath and beside the range needed a little bit of reinforcement and remediation...nothing about the stove itself.)

    If you want, I can try to look up the details on the safety valve for my stove, and if it will work and you want, send it to you with my compliments. Goodness knows it's not very much useful to me at present.