Victoria
New Member
Just Got Peter Graves Old FEA-2-C16 - What Now?
Posts: 5 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Post by Victoria on Aug 10, 2019 23:48:24 GMT
My husband just removed this old refrigerator from Peter Graves widows house in Santa Monica this afternoon. Yep. THAT guy. The grey haired man on the 1960's show we all remember from our childhood- "Mission Impossible". Their house is beyond magnificent and his surviving wife & daughter have been really sweet clients. My husband said - I wonder how many times his brother (James Arness from Gunsmoke) and John Wayne opened this up to get a beer? We really like the history of this thing - especially knowing for certain who owned it. That's a little background about how we ended up with it today. So, the number on the metal tag is 46-053-332. It stopped working and no one in L.A. knew how to fix it - so Peter's son-in-law asked my husband to just come and remove it. He took one look and brought it home. We love and appreciate old things - but have no idea what to do. Should we keep it - and have my husband (who's extremely handy) try to fix it? Is it worth having someone else fix it? Is it special because of who owned it. Is all that irrelevant & we should sell it for parts? We just don't have a clue what to do. I saw the posts about - what to do before asking questions - and understand the annoyance of "newbies" who come here and ask questions and just leave - so I have been reading all kinds of posts for almost 4 hours trying not to be one of them. The flip side of that is - people on forums are always collectors and lovers of these things and enjoy the hobby of it. The rest of us - don't have enough understanding to even make an intelligent decision initially & we need some sound advice from people who know. The refrigerator was in a custom cabinet and doesn't have legs. My husband had to cut the hose that had the oil in it to remove it. We don't know what the problem was to start with. All I know for certain right now is - we aren't putting it out for the roving metal vendors, and I gotta make dinner. Can someone please start a thread just for "New Member - HELP, What Should I Do" - Questions? Then older members who like sharing their expertise could answer - if they felt like it? Can someone please give us some advice via email or give me a call? Victoria 310-502-9696
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Post by cablehack on Aug 11, 2019 0:56:52 GMT
My husband had to cut the hose that had the oil in it to remove it. Can you provide more details on where this hose is located?
Hopefully, it is nothing to do with the actual refrigeration circuit, otherwise the repair job will require a lot of work.
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btfarm
7 Cubic Foot
Posts: 103
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Post by btfarm on Aug 11, 2019 2:49:10 GMT
I'm no help with this model technically Victoria but I just had to complement you on your writing style... Very engaging and entertaining. Good luck with it, if you don't find the expertise here, I doubt you'll find it elsewhere.
Mike
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Post by coldspaces on Aug 11, 2019 16:43:56 GMT
FEA units are very reliable. It most likely needed a new start relay. Or possibly a condenser fan motor or cold control problem after that many years. I would love to see a pic of this cabinet so we can be sure if it was custom or not. The forum is out of space for pics so you will need to 3 party host it or such.
The FEA unit just setts on top of the cabinet, there should have been no need to cut any lines if it was still a factory set up. If you did cut a Freon line it will now take a lot more work to fix it. If you were close I would love to be able to say my frig was used by the those three and who know who else. Did you get a pic of the frig with his widow or some other way to document it?
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Victoria
New Member
Just Got Peter Graves Old FEA-2-C16 - What Now?
Posts: 5
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Post by Victoria on Aug 12, 2019 20:19:30 GMT
My husband does construction home repairs. He was more concerned about not tearing up their cabinets. He learned a huge lesson & we're already bummed out about it. It was a closed in area & he couldn't figure out how to get it out with out cutting the line to take the top off. He didn't know that the top even could come off until he got it out. He said there wasn't enough room to take it apart within the cabinet. So he cut he line to the compressor and the thermostat. A small amount of gas and oil came out. What can we do now? Can someone fix it & give the whole motor a tuneup and replace all the worn out connections? About how much will this repair be - can anyone estimate it? What members here would be the appropriate people to repair an FEA unit in the United States? I think shipping it internationally would cost too much. It might already be too expensive. I can't believe my husband made the decisions he did. In order to get it out in one piece he would have had to tear out a much larger part of the cabinet & so made some bad decisions. He didn't realize the age or the value of it until he removed it & started looking at it. Peter Graves son-in-law was the only one home & told him to just put it out on the parkway he'd call the trash company to come & get it. My husband told him he'd take it instead. When he got home and told me what he'd done I told him he should have torn out the cabinet and rebuilt it. Can someone fix it or is this now a really costly lost cause? We're upset about it.
My husband has a picture of the cabinet he tore it out of. He doesn't have a picture with Joan - Peter Graves widow - but I do have the invoices I've billed her and the one for the refrigerator removal. The next time he goes up there - I'll ask him to take a picture with her and some pictures in front of the house. My husband says that the house is just a stunning, large Western Ranchero style straight from the movies. All the wood work inside is huge and custom. Peter Graves brother - James Arness - the guy who starred in Gunsmoke - had it custom built while he was still doing that series. Sometime later - he sold it to Peter Graves who lived there during the 60's - Mission Impossible era - right up to the time of his death from a heart attack in 2010. The house is located in Pacific Palisades.
Someone please advise.... we'd like to save it.... I can send more pictures via email. I can create a channel on youtube and upload a video perhaps. I don't know how to 3 party host.
Victorialocke@yahoo.com
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Post by coldspaces on Aug 13, 2019 1:14:49 GMT
If all you have is the cooling unit its not really worth saving. FEA units do not sell for much. There is one for $100 with a cabinet near Chicago area on Facebook market. It sounds like it was not on a factory cabinet. To be more collectible it should be a complete refrigerator not just the cooling unit. If it was a custom cabinet maybe your husband couldn't help but make the decision he did at the time. He was doing what they wanted, saving the cabinet.
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Victoria
New Member
Just Got Peter Graves Old FEA-2-C16 - What Now?
Posts: 5
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Post by Victoria on Aug 13, 2019 19:06:11 GMT
I'm not quite sure about the terminology. What we have is the refrigerator in my picture identifier. It was used as an icebox until it recently quit working. So, if the "factory cabinet" is the icebox part - it's still intact. I've sent some interior shots to Kevin who said he'd post them here. Maybe just selling the latches, racks and hardware on eBay might be an option - or here if anyone's interested in them. If parts can still be used from it - we'd like that.
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Post by joneske on Aug 13, 2019 20:51:17 GMT
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