How is a 1980's Litton Aire over the range microwave installed?

Answer 1

I came across this question because I was seeking the answer, too. (Presumably the interest is not in installation but in how to uninstall one.) From other web pages from Google, I found out, as you may have, that others are willing to answer the question for a fee. Since I couldn't find an answer for free in the time I was willing to look, I ended up using pretty much brute force to remove the unit, but I couldn't rest until I could see what the problem was.

There are two key concepts that eluded me:

1) The oven itself is slid, not dropped and rotated, into place. It goes into not a wall plate but a five-sided wall enclosure that includes the lights and exhaust fans.

2) The electrical connection from the wall cord goes to the enclosure, not the oven. The connection to the oven is by a plug from the bottom of the enclosure to the bottom of the oven.

Now that I can see how the unit is constructed, I offer these uninstallation instructions. Although I believe them to be correct, they are based on my analysis and not on actually trying it out on an installed unit. They are of course for my particular model, but I suspect that they will apply to similar models as well.

Remove the several screws along the edge closest to you of the bottom access plate of the enclosure and swing it away. This disconnects the front of the oven from the enclosure and exposes the fan with motor, light bulbs, and plug. Swing the left plastic vent louver up toward you from the bottom and set it aside. (Don't try to remove the right louver, as it is attached from inside.) Just disconnect the plug and, using the space to the right, slide the oven toward you. The screws holding the enclosure to the wall will then be exposed so you can remove them.

Don't forget to disconnect the power line from the wall receptacle first (e.g., inside your top cabinet), and only THEN disconnect the frame chassis. If you forget to disconnect the chassis, you won't be able to pull the out of the frame housing and access the frame's screws. That connector is the final key to the rest of the removal.

Also, the rear vent duct appears to have been installed pretty close to today's standard specs for new microwave ovens (location, dimensions), which means the existing wall vent is compatible with the rear venting configuration of today's ovens, and that was a BIG relief to me (actually the Litton rear wall vent is about 1/4 inch lower than today's spec which prevented me from installing the vent flap on the new oven. I am forced to simply rely on the primary vent on the outer wall of the house, but I don't see any adverse consequence of that. When the new unit's vent is on full, the outer vent flap opens all the way, so it seems to be functioning fine).

While the wall/cabinet surfaces that had been hidden by the Litton all these years weren't actually that badly grimed, the few spots that WERE there turned out to be extremely resistant to "industrial strength" cleaners. I ended up using a lightly acetone-damp paper towel, and the grime just wiped away like warm butter from the white backboard that comes up from behind the stove.

I uninstalled an 8294A, and in retrospect, the hardest step was making sure to correctly measure, level, and install the horizontal wall bracket for the new oven. A crooked oven is one mistake you don't want to make.