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Post by ckfan on Apr 15, 2016 13:24:54 GMT
Hey everyone,
Hope you all are doing good out there. I woke up this morning and went about my normal routine. As I was walking out the door I noticed that the light on my GE chest freezer, (stays on when the temp is not too hot or cold) was off. I immediately panicked and looked at the thermometer inside. A dense fog billowed out and the thermometer was pegged at -20F! Obviously the cold control was stuck. Normally when the freezer turns off the control makes a loud clunk, not unlike the type of clunk that my CK cold control makes. Thinking about what to do for a second, I took my fingers and gave it a solid tap on the face plate where the knob is. The unit came to a halt without the clunk sound. I couldn't investigate it any more since I had to run to work. I'm thinking that the contacts in the control are somehow welding themselves together. Now I'm worried that this freezer which houses quite a bit of food is not going to be reliable and might either spoil my food or work itself to death! Since neither of those are good options I guess I need to take the control apart and see what is going on. Maybe I can carefully file the contacts to give them more life? Not sure exactly what to do at this point but I don't want this to happen again. Who knows how long that poor freezer was running. Hell, it may have even been colder than -20 because that is as low as my thermometer goes.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 15, 2016 13:26:05 GMT
Here are some pictures of the cold control located behind the back wall of the freezer and the freezer itself with its light on indicating a "normal" temperature. Attachments:
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Post by ChrisJ on Apr 15, 2016 15:00:29 GMT
That light actually is triggered by a temperature switch? My 2008 GE freezer has a neon lamp that is just connected across the mains.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 15, 2016 15:10:27 GMT
Yes, the light is activated by a temperature switch that will only turn it on when it is in the "safe" freezing zone. It is a really handy feature. If not for that light, I would have walked right by this morning and wouldn't have paid attention to my run away freezer! Also, the light is replaceable so I already replaced it with a cool blue led night light style C5 bulb. It looks great!
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Post by coldspaces on Apr 15, 2016 17:05:06 GMT
That control may be special to work such alight feature. If not a new control will probably work or work everything but the light. I would think maybe this freezer is new enough that the overload is not built into the control but they might be. That would complicate the finding any replacements. Post the model number and I will try to look up the control in my books. And the control part # if you find it.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 15, 2016 18:51:23 GMT
Gill,
I appreciate the quick response and willingness to help out. I am going to take a look at it tonight and see if I can simply (and carefully) take the control apart and file down the contacts. I would rather do that vs. having to replace the whole dang control. I am also going to have to be very careful because all of the wires go into the box where the control is. So I'll have to very gingerly move things around. Stay tuned...
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Post by stlvortac on Apr 16, 2016 0:28:21 GMT
Hope everything works out. Interesting its pegged the thermometer at -20. Goes to show its not even trying at -8*
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Post by Travis on Apr 16, 2016 4:18:43 GMT
You're learning a valuable lesson. There are two categories of vintage things: restored and needs to be restored. There's little getting around this.
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Post by ChrisJ on Apr 16, 2016 13:18:08 GMT
You're learning a valuable lesson. There are two categories of vintage things: restored and needs to be restored. There's little getting around this. Yeah. I learned that my self after ignoring the wiring in my CA cabinet because "everyone else does, so it should be fine". After putting it all together with my re-wired top and feeling leakage to the cabinet after a week. Then using an isolation transformer while I waited for my dad to bring the engine crane down and having to tear it all apart. I'll never do it again, ever. All of my monitor tops will be 100% rewired as well as all of the other usual restoration procedures before put into use. New gaskets, taking care of rust, oiling / greasing hinges etc.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 18, 2016 15:09:54 GMT
Hey everyone, Sorry I didn't reply back for a while. I went camping this weekend and had a great time at the highest point in Missouri, Taum Sauk mountain state park! Anyways, I was able to "fix" the freezer on Friday before we left. So far the freezer is performing just like it should and has not had any issues. So, this is how I got into the thermostat to do a little work. I first took off the plate that goes over the control and has the numbers for setting the dial on it. Two screws and it was off. I then had to unscrew a junction box that was attached to the side of the control housing. The only reason it is there is to just give it a place to be. All of the power feeding the different items in the freezer comes into this box. I carefully pulled it out of the way, the wires weren't happy and I can tell that they need to be replaced when I get a chance to. I heard some cracking as I gingerly moved them. Eventually I need to completely re wire and inspect the fan for this freezer but since it is in use...I'm going to let it ride for now. Next, you unscrew the plate that holds the control onto the side of the freezer, two more screws. Then you can move the control out a little and pull a spring clip off which holds a plastic plate to the thermostat housing. Now you can see the inside of the control. Boy, was I right. The contacts were pitted and burnt. I at first thought that there would be no saving them. Then I realized that there was enough material there to just file away the burnt and pitted section. So I did just that and tried to get both sides as smooth as possible. Its not perfect but so far it seems to be working great. Temperature is holding steady and it is cycling like it should be. I think that the contacts were just so worn out and pitted that they weren't making proper contact. That caused arcing which led to them welding themselves together. Hopefully it continues to work well.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 18, 2016 15:14:03 GMT
Here you can see the junction box, inside of the control, the before and after pics of the contacts, and the model number for the control on the plate that covers it.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 18, 2016 15:15:17 GMT
Here you can see the surroundings of where I spent my weekend. The second picture is of a waterfall that is one of the tallest in Missouri! The water was nice and cold on my tired feet. Attachments:
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Post by coldspaces on Apr 18, 2016 23:33:19 GMT
I am glad that cleaning up the contacts helped. If you ever had to try to find a new one it looks like the only thing listed by Gemline in the late 80s is this universal control the GC 608
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Post by elec573 on Apr 19, 2016 1:08:56 GMT
Didn't know Missouri had hills that big though it was mainly flat looks very nice! Glad you got your freezer fixed.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 19, 2016 13:31:50 GMT
Gill,
Thank you very much for looking that up for me! I will probably order one just to have it on hand should the original control really fail. I think I am going to leave it alone for now though since it seems to be working fine. The temperature range listed for that control looks to be about spot on in comparison to what is in there. Eventually I plan on completely re wiring the unit, oil the fan and maybe put in an oil access hole, replace the original relay with a solid state type to make it more reliable, and replace the door gasket even though it isn't in that bad of shape. Oh, and repaint it of course. Then it will really shine!
Elec573,
Yes, Missouri has many hills around the central and northern areas. Not so much in the southern areas but there are always exceptions. Around the area we were at there were all kinds of curvy, hilly roads to enjoy! My civic loves those kinds of roads but my roommate didn't want me to take them that fast so I had to dial it back!
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