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Post by enthalpete on Nov 4, 2020 23:37:22 GMT
Hi Everybody! What a great forum here!! I'm a refrigeration mechanic from Canada and always wanted an old monitor top. I have browsed the forum finding out about my freshly purchased CA-1-B16. I also have a 1949 westinghouse but it's an R12 unit, I wanted something with a low pressure refrigerant so the CA seemed to be a good choice. This unit was supposedly in the same family since new. When I went to check it out, the compressor ran and it started to cool almost immediately, so I figured for $75 I'll go for it. Once home I gave it a NCG purge, installed a new power cord and replaced the door gasket. It runs quietly and frosts up to the top of the headers. Run time is 3:35 on and 6:10 off in my shop around 65F ambient. Evaporator temp gets down to 1F when the dial is set to 5. Pretty good I think so maybe I'll clean up the exterior and keep my beer cold for now.
I have a question on the cabinet. It's label states that it's a CX-50. It has a different latch compared to the pics of other CA units. Handle is vertical rather than horizontal. Any info you may have would be great. Maybe it's a Canadian cabinet? The model plate on the cabinet says Canadian General Electric (Toronto) but the top says General Electric ( Schenectady) I'll post some pics once I figure out how to- on my phone there doesn't seem to be a post pic option. Thanks for all the info stored here. I don't know how you could go about restoring old units like these without this forums collective expertise.
Edit- Looks like my run times aren't so good. Since the evap is getting cold enough there must be more leakage other than from the old the door gasket. I'm going to put a new gasket (if there is one, I didn't check) at the cabinet/top junction and see what happens. I saw this in another thread.
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Post by enthalpete on Nov 4, 2020 23:44:12 GMT
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Post by cablehack on Nov 5, 2020 1:01:36 GMT
That's a Canadian cabinet. The run time is OK, but the off time should be at least double for your ambient temperature.
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Post by enthalpete on Nov 5, 2020 12:08:06 GMT
Thanks. I guess they didn't make Canadian tops at that time. With the door rack missing and it only has one shelf I'm going to try to fabricate some to suit. First the short off time needs to be addressed. Is there any danger running it as it is? I've been running it closed overnight after purging then the door seal. I hope to get a gasket in the top this evening.
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Post by enthalpete on Nov 6, 2020 3:23:18 GMT
I've replaced the gasket for the top and found that it didn't make a difference for the cycle times so that isn't the problem. So I rechecked the evap temps and cycle times and spent some time checking and testing. What the problem seems to be is thermostat calibration and or the limits of what this machine can actually do. When the thermostat is set to 5 the machine runs down to 2.3F (coasting down to 1.2F) evap temp and cycles off then restarts at 10.3F, run time of 3.20 and off time of 5:45. Empty box temp of 30F It did this semi consistently varying times a few secs and temps of a few tenths. Acting similar to what should be a 9 setpoint on the thermostat. So I tried a setpoint of 3 and found cycle on at 15.4F off at 8.4F (coasting down to 6.3F), 31F box temp and cycle times of on 2:10 and off 7:50 consistently. Finally set to 2 and found cycling on at 17.1F, off at 10.6F (coasting down to 8.1F) with a box temp of 31.7F and run time of 1:50 and off time of 8:43. A 19% duty cycle. I kept the door closed throughout this testing which was done over about 5 hours.
Something interesting is that the time between shut off coasting down and then warming back up to shut off temp was about 3:20 alone during the #2 setpoint test where as with the #5 test the same off- coast down-warm back up was less than 20 seconds. I guess this kind of shows that these units weren't designed to have a below freezing box temp and be efficient too. Or maybe my machine has float valve issues among other 86 year old wear. As unscientific as my testing was it's easy to see if you use the machine as designed it works quite well. I'm sure replacing the insulation and probably the float valve or converting to a cap tube would help but I'd rather do those things only when absolutely necessary. I'll keep a close eye and ear on its operation( probably better than its ever had) and enjoy it and the cold beverages for as long as I can.
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Post by cablehack on Nov 6, 2020 7:34:56 GMT
Thanks. I guess they didn't make Canadian tops at that time. The Canadian equivalent to the U.S. made CA is the HA. It's quite possible the top failed at some time and was replaced with a U.S. made one. |
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Post by enthalpete on Nov 6, 2020 12:07:19 GMT
That's interesting too. I'm going to see if I can find an HA and see what the differences are. Thanks.
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Post by elec573 on Nov 25, 2020 18:36:32 GMT
Looks like it’s in decent shape for it’s year . I didn’t see any mention of the heater assumed you checked it out and replace if needed. I believe some of the Canada cabinets had shelves in the door was one difference. The feet look a little different on yours .
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Post by enthalpete on Nov 28, 2020 16:47:27 GMT
Yes the heater is still functional so I've left it alone at this point. Also the thermostat has lost It's calibration. It's set to 1 and is still keeping a 30F box temperature. I don't really mind since I'm using it as a beer/beverage fridge in the workshop. Once I get into either the heater or thermostat I'll replace all the wiring. The wire insulation has become hard but has no cracks or damage. The legs are a Canadian detail and the door latch seems to be as well. Now that it has been running for a few weeks the on/ off time is steady at 2:30 on and 9:45 off. The guy who sold it to me said that it probably hasn't run since 2004. It was his father in laws who passed away around that time. It looks to have been kept indoors its whole life and has minimal rust or damage. Just the expected wear and paint fade. The door hinges are solid and the door closes with a nice thump. It's pretty cool to work on a low pressure unit. A nice change from the regular high pressure modern systems (commercial)with the typical condensing unit and evaporator which are all pretty much the same.
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Post by coldspaces on Nov 29, 2020 15:20:28 GMT
Welcome to the forum. Always good to hear our efforts are helping others! Also always good to have another refrigeration person on the forum. I just looked at your user name closer and that is a good one!
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Post by enthalpete on Nov 29, 2020 21:49:06 GMT
Thanks! I'll offer any help I can. My extremely limited experience with these CA units probably won't enable me to offer much help. But hey opinions are better than nothing. I have extensive experience with commercial industrial high pressure refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Mostly refrigerants like R12, R134a, R404a, R407c and the like. Just lurking around here I found that these units aren't hard to work on. Since you have to be willing to service them yourself it makes it more interesting to me. This is the stuff I like. None of the mechanics I know would want to work on these units. Knowledge is key and without this forum I suspect there would be a lot less of these units functioning today. All you guys should be proud to be part of this forum! I hope to help out and make it even better.
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Post by elec573 on Dec 19, 2020 5:41:01 GMT
Glad you’re ca seems to be working,it’s always nice to have a professional on the forum.
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