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Post by turbokinetic on May 25, 2018 12:24:46 GMT
Nice job ! Hopefully it works all right. Liked the video.
Thanks! It did work all night, cycling as it should, although the control was on "B" position. After the door gasket is replaced and I'm sure the cabinet is sealed properly, then I will mess around with the control calibration a little more!
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Post by birkie on May 25, 2018 12:31:10 GMT
Very nice - I like the rounded look better as well. I finally re-watched video again to get an understanding of the broken tab issue mentioned in the comments - it was a good d thing that piece was symmetrical and had tabs on both sides! The kids (2 and 5 years old) like watching these videos as well. They seem to pick up on things faster than I do
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Post by turbokinetic on May 25, 2018 12:38:02 GMT
You're welcome. Glad to help! Sounds like you're heading in the right direction. I was concerned, at first, that the feeler tube had possibly lost it's charge. But since it is cycling on the warmer "A" setting it certainly seems like it's just out of adjustment. I agree with you that it's probably the threaded contact that needs adjustment. Just a guess here, but after thinking about it, I'd try making the adjustment with the knob at the off position and at room temperature. Seems like it would make sense to set it so the contacts are open there. Then close when you turn the knob to about the first "F" in the word "Off" on the dial. The freezer testing method worked very well for me. At least I knew it would cycle with the dial on the number 1 position. Of course I didn't know if it would maintain the proper temperatures until I reinstalled the thermostat. On number 1 my Frigidaire stays at +34°F to +36°F in the fresh food section and +8°F to +12°F in the freezer. One interesting thing about my Frigidaire is on the "Defrost" setting it won't defrost. I have to turn the temperature dial off for overnight defrosting. Even so the cabinet never gets warmer than 40°F after the fridge has been off for about eight hours. Very good info! As you mentioned, I was also concerned about the bellows having cracked because it had been allowed to move without restraint.
As for the "off" position, there are two cams which are mounted on the inside of the control connected to the knob shaft. One of them has a very small eccentric which moves the pivot point up and down as you change the temperature setting. The other cam has one large segment protruding from it. This one directly lifts the contact arm up and forces the contacts open, regardless of the position of the bellows. The large segment is only used for "off" position. So, it really would not matter the adjustment of the control, Off is always Off.
I believe that with your temperature info, I will be able to get it working acceptably!
I didn't realize there had been multiple replies, so I didn't combine them. In the first, mentioned that the door gasket is bad and I think it needs to be replaced before making the adjustments. There is a lot of heat and humidity in my barn where this is located. I think it might result in a false adjustment if the gasket is bad.
Very nice - I like the rounded look better as well. I finally re-watched video again to get an understanding of the broken tab issue mentioned in the comments - it was a good d thing that piece was symmetrical and had tabs on both sides! The kids (2 and 5 years old) like watching these videos as well. They seem to pick up on things faster than I do
Wow that's good that the youngsters are interested in these technical videos! Your kids are definitely doing better than the majority of them these days who can barely understand how to flush the commode after using it..... Of course it's the parents' teaching them that makes the difference!
Yes it's interesting how the control had that symmetrical design to the arm inside there. Strange that the threaded boss on that side wasn't lined up with it, though. It's almost as if that control base plate was used in more than one type of control.
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Post by jake on May 25, 2018 15:49:00 GMT
Interesting how the contacts are forced open for the off position! I hadn't thought about that! Good point about the door gasket! If it's questionable the fridge might just not be cycling because the appropriate temperatures can't be obtained. As you said once the gasket is 100% you can determine if the thermostat needs adjusting. Not sure if your supplier can use it, but the part number for the door gasket, or "Seal-Food Door" as it's called in the parts book, is 5859272. Another good thing about these older fridges is they were designed for the hot conditions of a kitchen in the summer without air conditioning. I see the difference between the Frigidaire and my modern fridge. They're both in my kitchen and when I'm not running my air conditioning the modern fridge seems to never shut off. The Frigidaire, on the other hand, still cycles. Run times are a bit longer, but not excessive. So with the new door gasket, if needed, I doubt the hot humid conditions in your barn will phase your old timers.
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Post by turbokinetic on May 25, 2018 15:56:19 GMT
Interesting how the contacts are forced open for the off position! I hadn't thought about that! Good point about the door gasket! If it's questionable the fridge might just not be cycling because the appropriate temperatures can't be obtained. As you said once the gasket is 100% you can determine if the thermostat needs adjusting. Not sure if your supplier can use it, but the part number for the door gasket, or "Seal-Food Door" as it's called in the parts book, is 5859272. Another good thing about these older fridges is they were designed for the hot conditions of a kitchen in the summer without air conditioning. I see the difference between the Frigidaire and my modern fridge. They're both in my kitchen and when I'm not running my air conditioning the modern fridge seems to never shut off. The Frigidaire, on the other hand, still cycles. Run times are a bit longer, but not excessive. So with the new door gasket, if needed, I doubt the hot humid conditions in your barn will phase your old timers. Hi Jake, yeah the door gasket was missing about 1/4 the way around at the top; and the bottom is not a whole lot better!
Good point about these being designed for a non air conditioned kitchen. It is about the same in the barn, with the sun on the metal building. The worst thing that seems to stress the fridges is (believe it or not) when I run my big shop fan. This will draft in a lot of moisture laden, hot air through the defective gaskets. I have ordered new gasket for the mini fridge, so hopefully that will arrive soon and I can have it completely mechanically restored.
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Post by jake on May 25, 2018 17:13:40 GMT
Definitely sounds like it's time for a new gasket. Very glad you found a replacement for it!! I can believe that running the shop fan would put an additional heat load on a refrigerator. Especially if the door gasket isn't up to par. The moving air can be pushed in the cabinet past the gasket. Makes sense.
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Post by turbokinetic on May 26, 2018 3:07:49 GMT
Definitely sounds like it's time for a new gasket. Very glad you found a replacement for it!! I can believe that running the shop fan would put an additional heat load on a refrigerator. Especially if the door gasket isn't up to par. The moving air can be pushed in the cabinet past the gasket. Makes sense. Yep, thankfully Antique Appliances Co. has the gaskets. They are not cheap but they are made of better materials than what was available back in the day.
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Post by turbokinetic on May 31, 2018 1:39:34 GMT
So the door gasket Santa Claus came! The mini-Frigidaire got a new gasket today.
The old one was getting pretty raunchy. It pretty well crumbled apart upon removal!
New one in place. The corners wanted to pucker down a little bit, so I tucked some foam under them to hold them in the correct profile until the gasket adjusts to its new position.
I bet that will slow down the excessive frosting and run time!
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Post by jake on Jun 1, 2018 4:15:38 GMT
Nice job on the new gasket!! Looks just like the original!! I agree, you'll see less frosting and run times!! I'm assuming that the new gasket is one piece, just like the original one. How did you get the bottom, square, corners to fit? Did you use the old gasket as a pattern and snip the inside of the new gasket to make the corners? Thanks for the pictures and sharing your progress!!
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 17, 2018 20:07:56 GMT
Nice job on the new gasket!! Looks just like the original!! I agree, you'll see less frosting and run times!! I'm assuming that the new gasket is one piece, just like the original one. How did you get the bottom, square, corners to fit? Did you use the old gasket as a pattern and snip the inside of the new gasket to make the corners? Thanks for the pictures and sharing your progress!! Hi Jake. Sorry I didn't reply earlier to this. I see that I "liked" it but must have got distracted between that and making an actual reply.
The gasket is indeed one piece. It forms around the curved corners at the top, and at the bottom I cut a triangular notch out of it. That notch allows it to fold into a mitered corner. The top corners are not without issue, however. The material is soft and wants to "pucker" around the curve. I'm not sure how the factory prevented this unless the original gasket was molded with curved corners in it.
I placed some soft foam behind the gasket at the corners, to try and keep it formed out correctly. It may be that some small soft foam backer rod inserted inside the gasket will be able to hold the shape at that point.
Another little update! I made adjustment to the collar around the thermostat sensing tube, moving it away from the "colder" location. The fridge cycled normally all night and seems to be holding about 30 degrees cabinet temperature overnight on setting "1." I am sure it's not at factory calibration, because I don't have any scientific way to check it. But it is working and cycling so I call that a win!
The collar will turn without twisting the tube or bellows. I moved it out (to right in picture above) 1.5 turns.
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 25, 2018 2:05:11 GMT
So, today I took a little time to work on the mini-Frigidaire. It' not a vitreous enamel cabinet and the paint had become less than pristine after all the years. So, I took off the trim and did a little work with the DA sander.
There were some deep scratches in the paint, but only a couple dents in the metal. I was able to sand out the scratches so that the new paint won't show them. The areas that I don't want painted got taped off, as well. I know that it would be better, and I probably should have taken the whole fridge apart but that's not in the cards for this one. I plan to make it nice but not going to do a full restoration quality job.
Then it was time for some paint! This is a lacquer paint in bright white. It took 3 cans to get a good coat on the fridge but it turned out fairly nice.
Did the edges of the door and the door jamb area on the cabinet as well.
While that paint was drying, I cleaned the door trim. It wasn't in that bad shape, other than the missing paint down in the "Frigidaire" lettering. I used a white paint marker to replace the missing white paint.
The gold inset I will have to redo. The copper paint is too red. Will get some gold paint sometime and get that corrected. But otherwise it's not so bad looking. Some pictures with emblem set in place temporarily:
Not to bad for someone who is not a professional painter at all! It's out of my comfort zone to say the least.
Tomorrow I hope to get the door inner cover and gasket back in place, and this one will be a Finished Project!
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Post by ckfan on Jun 26, 2018 3:40:34 GMT
I really like what you did with that badge! Very nice work. We’re tbose the original colors (almost)? I’ve never seen one like that. I like the blue on the Frigidaire F.
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 26, 2018 13:11:54 GMT
I really like what you did with that badge! Very nice work. We’re tbose the original colors (almost)? I’ve never seen one like that. I like the blue on the Frigidaire F.
Thanks! As for the colors, the Frigidaire "crown" logo was some sort of gold color, but that was severely corroded. The paint I used is much redder than the original. The blue I'm not sure about. The paint in there was gone. It seems that I've seen blue in that "F" area before on others, so I went with it.
I did repaint the gold part with a more "gold" paint and hope to have another picture of it when it's back on.
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Post by turbokinetic on Jun 27, 2018 3:06:13 GMT
So I finally completed a project!
Obviously I can't re-plate the gold onto the logo, but the next best thing is some gold metallic paint and clearcoat.
Door gasket gets good compression.
Nice and clean!
Gasket detail.
I wouldn't call this a "show quality restoration" by any means. It is, however fully electrically restored with all new wiring and 3-wire grounded cord, new door gasket, and a coat of paint that looks OK for spray can paint! And it didn't take me a lot of time to do it, either!
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Post by elec573 on Jun 27, 2018 3:54:27 GMT
Congratulations it looks good. And more importantly it we’ll go on to live !
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