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Post by ckfan on Apr 19, 2017 14:28:12 GMT
Well, the time has come. It has almost been a year since my return from St Louis with a truck full of precious cargo. There is only one fridge left that I haven't touched. A jade green flat top, the first year of the flat top, a 1935 CF-1-B16. The last of the mohicans, I mean, fridges. I was impressed to find out that this fridge has its original relay. It is a type "E" relay which is essentially the same type of relay found in the CA series and the CK series. I have actually never seen one though, they must have worn out over time and gotten replaced with the much more prevalent type "R". This flat top is on the tiny 4 cubic foot cabinet. It doesn't even have a light socket in there. Must have been one of the cheapest models you could get. It is so small and cute, it makes me want to hug it. I completely rewired it last night but kept the original relay. I fired it up and boy is it quiet. I thought my other flat top was quiet (and it is). This one puts my other flat top to shame. You can hear it kick on for a second and then once the start winding kicks out it gets almost silent. There is even a cardboard baffle on the back of the cover plate which helps to hush the already silent compressor. This is missing on my other flat top. I also noticed that the suction line coming to the compressor was bent pretty bad at some point. Hopefully it doesn't decide to start leaking, maybe that is why it is so quiet. The relay makes a soft clunk when it cuts the start winding out. I couldn't even tell when the unit stopped, it is that quiet. The evaporator got cold and frosty quickly. I think this one has a lot of life left in it. It lived down in Texas according to a sticker that states where it came from. That means that it has very little rust and only in spots where you can't normally see it. I am going to take care of some slight surface rust on the compressor, lines, and condenser. I'm going to hit it with some rustoleum and let it ride. As I mentioned up above, this flat top is jade green. Somebody got artistic at some point and painted it. While the paint job isn't perfect, it is nice enough to leave alone. It has a few scrapes and scratches that show the white paint underneath but overall it looks very good. I'm going to take some before and after shots tonight as I clean it up with soap and water. It will make a huge difference. The no-ox-id cloth, insulation, and top cover seal are all in fantastic shape. You can tell that this one has never had water intrusion issues. Even the evaporator bolts which are usually rusty from condensation are surgically clean. I think this unit is quiet, and nice enough, to go into my room so that I can keep a private stash of drinks and snacks for myself. One of my roommates has gotten a little too handsy with my beer lately so this is a good solution (in my mind). If somebody complains about turning on yet another fridge I will start knocking $1.50 off of the utility bill...pictures will come shortly!
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Post by elec573 on Apr 20, 2017 3:38:54 GMT
LOL I love it don't even have to get out of bed to get an ice cold beer! Looking forward to your resto project.
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Post by birkie on Apr 20, 2017 16:27:55 GMT
It is a type "E" relay which is essentially the same type of relay found in the CA series and the CK series. I have actually never seen one though, they must have worn out over time and gotten replaced with the much more prevalent type "R". Our CK still has an E-type relay. The manual mentions them being noisy - that's especially true for us. I think the condenser of the CK amplifies it, and places it at the right place to broadcast the noise around the house. We can even hear it switch on and off from upstairs! |
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Post by ckfan on Apr 20, 2017 16:30:24 GMT
That's funny. On my CK when it had the replacement type R relay the control was all you could hear. That is especially true when I switched it over to a solid state relay. I didn't think that my flat top with the type E was particularly noisy. Maybe that will change once it is in my room and cycling when I'm trying to go to bed!
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Post by ckfan on Apr 21, 2017 17:56:33 GMT
Well, I spent the better part of last night cleaning up the green flat top. It was filthy. Now that it is clean it looks a lot better. Don't look too close though because there are a lot of scratches in the paint that shows the original white beneath. It looks good enough though. I also sprayed the condenser, lines connecting to the condenser, and the compressor with rust conversion paint. There wasn't much rust at all but you can't be too safe. Here are some pictures of it sitting in my room. drive.google.com/open?id=0B8_jm7K-ahMaWDZ4NlVoS2VDR2cI thought that the fact that it would be turning on and off would disrupt my sleep but it really didn't. Even in my quiet room you can barely hear this thing running and you sure as heck can't hear it turn off except for the few drips of oil that you hear after it stops. It really is working quite nicely. The decal looks great on the door. Also, notice how bad the power cord was. Somebody got "smart" and spliced on a 70s "FSP" cord to the end of it. Amazing that it didn't catch anything on fire. The cord was taped with black electrical tape for the whole length and then some sort of red fabric tape over that. Sketchy. At least now I can grab a drink without even having to leave my room! Now I just need a liquor cabinet and a tray of ice and I'll be set! |
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Post by elec573 on Apr 22, 2017 1:43:54 GMT
Looks nice Ray Hope it works out for you.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 22, 2017 1:45:06 GMT
Thanks Herb. So far so good. She is nice and cold. I just can't get over how quiet it is.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 27, 2017 14:02:33 GMT
I'm very happy to say that my flat top is performing wonderfully. 18:57 off, 1:58 on! You can't beat that. I still need to do a power measurement. I bet it is going to be super low.
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Post by ChrisJ on Apr 30, 2017 2:46:19 GMT
I'm very happy to say that my flat top is performing wonderfully. 18:57 off, 1:58 on! You can't beat that. I still need to do a power measurement. I bet it is going to be super low. You know what you can do with those 2 minutes on 19 off times? You can go ahead and (insert Basil Fawlty comment).  It really is amazing though how much better the CK and similar machines work isn't it? |
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Post by ckfan on Apr 30, 2017 17:08:01 GMT
It is amazing. I think a lot of it has to do with the tiny 4 cu ft cabinet and the gigantic "size 2" compressor and condenser that it uses. If I'm not mistaken, the same setup, with the larger evaporator, was used in flat tops all the way up to 8 cu ft! The compressor is just so under stressed. I think Doug is onto something. I could probably make this little guy into a freezer!
Oh, and I love Fawlty Towers. That show had me in stitches multiple times. Especially the "Germans" episode.
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Post by timeswelding on Apr 30, 2017 18:02:59 GMT
I was never insinuating that a CK could be used as a freezer. That would take sub zero cabinet temps. I do, however, often have a hint of slush in my beer kept at 29 degrees in my CK2, my D35 and even my DRA2. They are all incredible machines.
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Post by ckfan on Apr 30, 2017 22:48:21 GMT
I was never insinuating that a CK could be used Z a freezer. That would take sub zero cabinet temps. I do, however, often have a hint of slush in my beer kept at 29 degrees in my CK2, my D35 and even my DRA2. They are all incredible machines. Fair enough. Beer slush is good enough. That sounds delicious after having helped Travis move a tremendous early 60s GE pink monster. Instead I'll have to deal with tepid brew from my friends new Frigidaire that we are staying with. Every time it kicks on I can hear the compressor groan to life as it sheds off some more metal shavings... |
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Post by timeswelding on Apr 30, 2017 23:21:01 GMT
Beer slush is the best. Then there is bourbon slush. Ahhhh.. bourbon slush
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Post by ChrisJ on May 1, 2017 0:29:53 GMT
It is amazing. I think a lot of it has to do with the tiny 4 cu ft cabinet and the gigantic "size 2" compressor and condenser that it uses. If I'm not mistaken, the same setup, with the larger evaporator, was used in flat tops all the way up to 8 cu ft! The compressor is just so under stressed. I think Doug is onto something. I could probably make this little guy into a freezer! Oh, and I love Fawlty Towers. That show had me in stitches multiple times. Especially the "Germans" episode. I've been watching it a lot lately on Netflix. I never realized it was based on a real guy before. There's also an episode I saw the end of probably 50 times but never saw the beginning so it never made much sense until yesterday. It ends with Basil fighting with his wife, getting pissed and leaving with a garden gnome. I always assumed he had enough and was taking his gnome and leaving. Come to find out, at the beginning he warns someone if they mess up he's going to insert a garden gnome in them. I think it made it 10 times funnier, never knowing that until now. |
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Post by ChrisJ on May 1, 2017 0:30:58 GMT
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