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Post by ckfan on Feb 20, 2017 16:21:59 GMT
Hello everyone,
I wanted to make this post to pick your healthy brains about the history behind our beloved first monitor top. I know about the audiffren machine, the OC-2, and most of the ins and outs concerning the very first DR monitor tops and how they evolved during their 5 year run. However, since I am going to be doing my next video on the DR I want to have as much of the backstory as I can. I just purchased an interesting book called "Refrigeration Nation". It has just a brief statement about the OC-2 and the Audiffren but I would like to learn more so that I can give a more thought provoking history and background to the famous DR. I think that the OC-2 in particular is an interesting step for GE because it shows that they really wanted to be sure and test the waters before going full bore and releasing their new baby to the masses. The book goes over the fact that GE took a much more calculated approach when it came to entering the market and I think that is one of the reasons why they succeeded so well. If any of you have any books or other resources that you can send my way I would greatly appreciate it. I've been searching but have so far come up mostly empty handed. This stuff really fascinates me.
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Post by coldspaces on Feb 20, 2017 18:05:28 GMT
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Post by ckfan on Feb 20, 2017 18:35:38 GMT
Gill, thank you so much. I had honestly forgotten about these articles that you had posted earlier in the year when I was still very green around the ears. Now I've got a lot of reading to do!
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Post by cablehack on Feb 20, 2017 22:19:03 GMT
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Post by ckfan on Feb 21, 2017 13:17:50 GMT
I tried to view the pdf last night on my phone and it came up with an endless string of blank pages for some reason. Now I'm viewing it on my laptop and I couldn't be more giddy if someone told me that an OC-2 was right down the street! Thank you so much John, this is gold. |
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Post by ckfan on Feb 22, 2017 15:15:56 GMT
I've been slowly working my way through the document that john posted. It is very fascinating. It is hard to take it all in at once because there is so much technical information. They really tested the OC2 before even thinking about making more than a couple. All of this has me excited. I can now connect the dots in relation to the history behind the DR. I am going to go one step further however. One thing that this report doesn't have is pictures. They were originally there but the photocopy that GE made of this report to preserve it was apparently very poor and the pictures turned out too dark. The text is fine however because it was digitally scanned and converted with OCR. Fortunately the report mentioned that the original photos still reside at the Schenectady museum. I am going to write an email to the director and see if I can get a few pictures of the various OC2 incarnations and possibly some of the first DR experiments. They will make digital copies of any photo they have...for a price. $20 a pop for a decent resolution. Less for a resolution that isn't worth it. Wish me luck. We will see where this takes my research.
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Post by ckfan on Feb 23, 2017 3:38:34 GMT
Well, today was an eventful day. As I mentioned earlier I emailed the Schenectady museum and asked if they could sell me some photos of the OC2 and the audiffren machine so that I could make my next video. The response I got was very friendly to put it mildly. I got a quick response from the archives manager. He told me that he would be happy to simply give me the photos. What is the catch? He wanted a copy of my video when I was done. Are you serious?! Now the ball is in my court, I need to step up my video making skills so that I can give them a quality video. If I get the video submitted in time (before June), and it gets accepted, he told me that they would show it alongside a display that they will have which will include various antique GE refrigerators. Whats more, this will be a special occasion because starting in June they will be celebrating GE's 125th anniversary. Wow, I need to get my game face on and make the highest quality, most factually accurate video that I can. All of you have already helped immensely by sharing your knowledge with me and for that I am very thankful. If anyone else has any more information that they think would be relevant in relation to the early development days in GE's refrigeration department I would love to see it. I told the guy that I had a crappy camera and that I would have to get a better one to do this special film. I think I know where I can borrow one. I gave him a link to my CA monitor top videos so hopefully he doesn't change his mind after seeing those. He did seem impressed that somebody actually knew a little bit about the OC-2 and Audiffren though and he immediately knew what I was talking about. As thanks for all of you being all around great people I now proudly share the photos that the archives manager sent to me today...just as a taste of what they have. Included is a picture of an audiffren powered refrigerator from 1911...the first year they were offered to the public. Also included is a high-res photo of a 1926 OC-2, two ads for the OC-2 which I would have thought didn't exist (I guess they did market these contraptions to a limited number of people), a picture of a neat looking direct drive Isko fridge, an assembly line photo showing workers installing textolite strips, a lovely picture of a 1927 DR-3 icing unit with a type A control, a wonderful picture of Alex Stevenson holding a watt-hour meter next to his first DR fridge built in 1926 (notice the strange flat plate evaporator) there is a 4 year old CA-2 next to it with that illusive door sticker proudly hanging on (the photo was taken in 38 apparently), another neat photo of a lady and a DR-1-A16 with the odd rounded off evaporator, one ad for the same type of DR-1, one very early ad for a DR-2, a more artistic ad for another early DR-2 with type A control, and one photo that I have seen on here before of Christian Steenstrup standing next to an early DR. Here is the link to these wonderful photos: drive.google.com/open?id=0B8_jm7K-ahMaQXJ4aUFuN1B2QUkHere's to hoping that I can get more photos and can help out the museum with a great video. Thanks for all of your help! |
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Post by coldspaces on Feb 23, 2017 4:15:24 GMT
Congratulations Ray, I know you are up to this challenge. I so would love to go visit Schenectady's museum, it has to be a awesome place for refrigerator dorks like all of us. You have progressed so fast in your knowledge, I am still amazed, all you need is sealed system experience to be a seasoned vet. Well got to go I haven't checked out the pics yet!
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Post by coldspaces on Feb 23, 2017 4:29:02 GMT
Those are some amazing photos. I love the big control box on the front of the OC-2 and the apparent fins on the copper tube of the condenser. I just love the way the early ones were called icing units.
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Post by ckfan on Feb 23, 2017 4:29:09 GMT
Thank you for the kind words Gill. I still have a way to go. Our server room AC unit got replaced today and I got to see some brazing action! Seeing that blue flamed torch was very neat. I really want to get some sealed system experience. The guys that work on it know me by now. They were impressed by the operation of the CA and how it was similar to the chillers they work on. They had two vacuum pumps pulling a vacuum when I left. Hopefully I will get to see them charge it up tomorrow.
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Post by ckfan on Feb 23, 2017 4:30:47 GMT
Those are some amazing photos. I love the big control box on the front of the OC-2 and the apparent fins on the copper tube of the condenser. I just love the way the early ones were called icing units. I noticed the fins on the copper tubes as well. They really went all out. Makes sense since they had converted the oc2 to be air cooled after originally designing it to be water cooled. That big control box is hilarious. |
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Post by cablehack on Feb 23, 2017 7:04:27 GMT
This is amazing stuff. Thank you for your efforts, Ray! I'm also impressed with the museum's response. This could lead to new and exciting things in the quest for knowledge. I'm sure they're intrigued by a group of enthusiasts who collect and are able to repair these machines.
The OC-2 ads are fascinating. Whether they were actually released for sale isn't clear. They could be ads made in preparation for public release (note the generic company name and address at the bottom). Note GE's promotion of "hermetic" before the DR existed. They were obviously aware of the problems of belt drive systems and weren't going to release a fridge unless it was sealed.
Given that the document only went up to 1925, maybe they did release OC-2's for 1926/27, as something consumers could buy until the DR was perfected. At this point it would be interesting to search for GE's ads in newspapers of the era.
One can only dream of having an OC-2 in one's kitchen....
The Audiffren pic was also interesting because this is the first time I've seen how the machine was actually used with a cabinet.
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Post by ckfan on Feb 23, 2017 12:15:50 GMT
This is amazing stuff. Thank you for your efforts, Ray! I'm also impressed with the museum's response. This could lead to new and exciting things in the quest for knowledge. I'm sure they're intrigued by a group of enthusiasts who collect and are able to repair these machines. The OC-2 ads are fascinating. Whether they were actually released for sale isn't clear. They could be ads made in preparation for public release (note the generic company name and address at the bottom). Note GE's promotion of "hermetic" before the DR existed. They were obviously aware of the problems of belt drive systems and weren't going to release a fridge unless it was sealed. Given that the document only went up to 1925, maybe they did release OC-2's for 1926/27, as something consumers could buy until the DR was perfected. At this point it would be interesting to search for GE's ads in newspapers of the era. One can only dream of having an OC-2 in one's kitchen.... The Audiffren pic was also interesting because this is the first time I've seen how the machine was actually used with a cabinet. Thank you for that document! It has really been eye opening. I wouldn't have contacted the museum if I hadn't seen mention of the pictures being there in the document. I hope that by the time I am done we can all know more about the history of the refrigerator division surrounding this time period. One of the last things I read was a memo attached to the document which told of the possibility of selling OC-2s through local utility companies in only a few cities scattered across America. I'll have to continue reading to figure out for sure if they actually went through with it. I'll see if I can take a few screen shots of what I read so that everyone can see it. From what I read they wanted a very limited release so that service techs were always nearby. Notice the utility company listed at the bottom of the ad, this matches up with what I read. I think they did in fact sell a few to individuals. I thought that they only would have sold to GE employees for testing. I'll have to make sure of this though. You are right about them not wanting anything to do with a belt drive compressor. I guess when you buy a patent for the only hermetic unit in the world you have a good starting point. I can't even imagine what I would do if I found one...I would be tempted to use it of course. Ah, who am I kidding? I would open up a museum at that point. |
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Post by 100yearfridge on Feb 24, 2017 4:07:23 GMT
Okay Ray, this is super cool. I had no idea those pictures still existed! I know of the photocopied report. I have it on good authority that the copy was actually made by Ruth Schwartz Cowan in the late 70s for research on her excellent book "More Work For Mother", which is a great read, and includes some very insightful background on the history of electric refrigerators and on GE itself. It also highlights the social impact of refrigeration and the difficulties in educating the public on the benefits of refrigeration. If you like this kind of stuff, I would suggest researching the history of the home economics profession. There are a few pages discussing the motivation and outcome of the Stevenson report. As I understand it, that photocopy was the only record as the originals were destroyed when GE was doing some purging of their technical documents library some years ago. The faded copy was transcribed by Bernard Nagengast and his daughter a few years ago, and can be found here: www.ashrae.org/File%20Library/docLib/Public/200611215455_347.pdf Berny told me, but looking at it now, I see it says that on the first page! I had a personal correspondence with Mr Nagengast last year, looking for more suggestions for refrigerator history documents. He was quite forthcoming as he is or was the chapter historian for ASHRAE in his area and has written extensively on refrigerators, ACs, and artificial cooling in general. In fact, I purchased a great number of service manuals and trade publications from him. It doesn't include a lot of GE stuff, but he may still have some. I also mention his name because he co-wrote "Heat and Cold, Mastering the Great Indoors". A large format book with a great number of illustrations. I bought a copy. I think it has a picture or two of the development of the Monitor Top, including the OC-2. It's a little fuzzy right now. I've read a lot of this stuff. www.amazon.com/Heat-Cold-Mastering-Indoors-Selective/dp/B000WTC4FI I'm sure you could find a copy for less money. It has some good history on the Audifren-Singren and the early Monitor Tops. That's where the old factory picture of charging them came from, I posted a while back. I've also read "Refrigeration Nation". They have it at the library. Surprisingly, I haven't purchased a copy yet. I thought it was well researched and written. Another book that I actually own is "Refrigeration" by Carroll Gantz www.amazon.com/Refrigeration-History-Carroll-Gantz/dp/0786476877Again, kind of pricey, and it has a number of technical and factual inaccuracies only a true nerd would get upset about. The only person I had to vent to was my wife, and she just rolls her eyes. The fascinating parts are in regards to industrial design (I believe it is the authors field), so those aspects of the subject are well researched. It also talks a lot about gas absorption refrigeration and how it could have dominated the market if if companies like Servel had the money to develop and promote their products. GE got an air cooled domestic refrigerator to market before Servel did, and GE spent more money marketing the Monitor Top than Servel was worth, I think. Another interesting read that excites me every time, is a paper titled "Model T Appliances" about the Electric Home and Farm Authority effort to electrify and modernize American homes during the depression. It involved major manufactures of refrigerators, utility companies, and dealers. Awesome. ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/AcademicJournalsDetailsPage/AcademicJournalsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=WHIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Journals&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=WHIC%3AUHIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE|A368073928&source=Bookmark&u=san92165&jsid=9b561d94c27ff012ddab46be2584519bI'm getting really long winded here, but I also have several editions of the great H.B. Hull's "Household Refrigeration", highlighting different phases of the Monitor Top. I'm in the process of transferring several photos I probably won't get up tonight, but soon. I can provide some information on the OC-2, but I'd need little bit of time to get it together. Hopefully is supplements what you have. You may want to contact Bernard Nagengast about this. He has got to be the foremost expert on the history of the domestic refrigeration in general. I can provide contact details, if you wish. I have been planning on photographing my book collection and listing the contents. I''ll get around to it someday. |
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Post by ckfan on Feb 24, 2017 14:54:28 GMT
Trust me, you aren't being long winded. You are being very helpful. I will need to sit down and take a look at these resources. I wish all of us lived close enough to get together and hash this out. It amazes me how all of you have different resources that are directly related to a subject that has long since been forgotten (by many). This is going to take me a while to sort out and I'm sure I will be asking you more questions but for now I'm going to finish off reading the paper that john provided and then work my way through these. It may take a long while but oh will it be worth it. I'm turning into a budding DR scholar and am being taught by the best!
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