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Is it safe to use a gas oven if the outside housing has rust hole/soon to be holes in it? Our nonprofit was offered this stove to purchase and we want to make sure it is safe to use with the rust that is evident.

enter image description here

Christina Pierce
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    It might be better to ask the folks at the home improvement stack exchange : https://diy.stackexchange.com/ – moscafj Jan 25 '23 at 00:23
  • It's impossible to say whether that appliance is safe to use from a single picture of the outside. I'm not an appliance technician so I couldn't really say. Personally, I wouldn't take that for free, who knows what else is wrong with it? – GdD Jan 25 '23 at 10:29
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    There seem to be other patches that have been painted over. What else is there that you can't even see? Don't do it. – RedSonja Jan 25 '23 at 11:55
  • I really hope that when you say "buy" you mean "for $25". Because that's the kind of appliance you should really be getting for free, and even then being skeptical. – FuzzyChef Jan 25 '23 at 21:30

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I'm assuming this is a used oven and not a new one that carries the manufacturer's warranty, that was stored in a wet location by an authorized seller.

The rust, itself, isn't really the main thing that should be of concern. With any gas appliance, particularly an older one, and which will be transported, you'd want to get it inspected, installed, and tested by an appliance repair professional. Even if it's in great shape, transporting it can shake things loose or it can get damaged in the process.

When there is also that much rust, the bigger concern than that there's rust is why there's rust, and where it's located. The outer cabinet isn't air tight, so one more small hole in a non-critical location won't affect anything.

But with the amount of rust in the picture, you want to know whether anything might be affected by it (like something mounted to the cabinet that is now fastened to rust instead of solid metal). And you want to verify that the rust wasn't caused by something internal, like a problem venting the combustion byproducts.

An appliance repair technician has access to assembly diagrams and can check what's located behind that panel. They may even be able to remove the cabinet to inspect everything. They can also verify that everything is working properly.

There isn't really any other way to know for sure. But consider that the service call is likely to run hundreds of dollars, even if no repairs are needed. If it turns out repairs are needed, that can run hundreds more, if replacement parts are still available.

As a general rule, it usually isn't cost-effective to invest in an apparently damaged older appliance. You might save a little money compared to a new one, but if it fails and the repair parts are obsolete, your annualized cost of ownership will be high after sinking a lot of money into it up front.

fixer1234
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