Hello All,

First of all, thanks to all of the dedicated and knowledgable posters in this forum. I have referenced this forum and others for various repairs and owe a debt of gratitude.

I have a miserable Magic Chef in-wall oven that I believe most would agree is about the worst quality appliance available, the one with the oven door hinges that always break. I grew up with a unit similar to this, and this seems about as old.

I need to replace the thermostat. My local parts stores did not stock this thermostat so I ordered one online. Without pulling the unit out, I used a mirror to find that the thermostat is a Robert Shaw Model U.

Here are my questions:

1. I am not sure where to shut off the gas, but it looked like there may be a shut off valve in the back of the broiler, but I could not easily verify this, so any insight would be appreciated.

2. I have supplied as many photos as possible to compare the installed thermostat to the one that I purchased. The installed part has three lines going into it, one small line and two larger lines. In the photos I have labelled them arbitrarily as 1, 2 and 3. The part I purchased has FOUR gas line connections. What is the forth line for?

3. The line I labelled as line 3 on the installed part goes into a really strange looking brass fitting that attaches to the top of the thermostat. The part I purchased has a vertical threaded receptical, though it looks like this whole connection can be removed with two hex screws so the strange connection that is on the installed unit could be used. Anyone have any thoughts on this or have seen this kind of thing before? I don't want to get involved in elbows, etc. if I don't have to.


I know it would be advisable to just replace this ancient oven, but I am in an apartment, so I don't have a say in this. I am fairly skilled and used to own a house upstate before moving to NYC, so have done my share of plumbing and electrical. The only gas I have worked on was to install a new gas range in my old house, but that was simply connecting a single line, checking for leaks with soap bubbles, and that was it. Very simple. Between not knowing where to shut off the gas and not understanding how to adapt this part, I don't want to jump in and make mistakes and blow myself up.

The pics show my oven, the installed part, the three different lines and the new part and where those lines correspond to the fittings on the new part.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any and all help.

Sincerely,
Dan

Adding pics of the new part that was purchased.

Dan