|
Post by csulaguy on Oct 30, 2017 2:37:23 GMT
Howdy y'all. I'm pretty new to antique refrigerators. I originally found this site, as I would actually like a Monitor Top. But in the meantime, I won the high bid on this fridge: ebayI was told it came from Frigidaire's corporate museum, where it had been since the 1940s, and it does work, but won't maintain temperature long-term. I couldn't find much using google. Ideally, I'd be using them for storing fresh milk and eggs (I live on a ranch). Ironically, Samsung helped fund it. Because the ice machines in newer Samsung refrigerators are crap, and because I live rural, the company opted for a full refund than send a technician out. Works for me! Any thoughts or comments on this fridge would be appreciated.
|
|
|
Post by jake on Oct 30, 2017 5:40:53 GMT
NICE FRIDGE!! Congratulations on winning it and welcome to the forum!! I'm a newbie too but I can tell you the people on this forum are GREAT!! They've helped me out a few times and they're all very knowledgeable!! When you say it won't hold the temperature for the long term, exactly what do you mean? Does it pull down to temperature, shut off, then not want to turn back on? Does it not pull down to temperature but continues to run? Or is it too cold and continues to run? If you look behind the access panel where the compressor is you'll see that lever type of gizmo. That's the cold control. To decrease the cabinet temperature rotate it clockwise or toward the higher numbers. You can probably find the operating manual for it on eBay. It'll actually be a hard cover book. My first thought is the contacts in the cold control are sticking from lack of use. Sitting in a museum for 70 years makes me lean in that direction. Of course check the condition of the door gasket and the door alignment. I put a strong flashlight inside the cabinet, close the cabinet door, and darken the room. Carefully look for light shining through where the gasket meets the cabinet. If you see light, the gasket is leaking. Good luck with your fridge, it's a nice one!! HTH
|
|
|
Post by csulaguy on Oct 30, 2017 9:59:04 GMT
I'm actually not yet sure, as I have yet to pick it up (I'm in Central Texas, and the seller is in Western Ohio, north of Dayton).
The gentleman I got it from thinks it could be a gasket leak, since he said that's common for belt-driven compressors. Otherwise, the condition of the unit looks great, and I'm looking forward to getting it.
I also contacted someone on ebay about a monitor top; turns out her grandparents bought it new in 1929 and they still have the original bill of sale for it!
|
|
|
Post by ckfan on Oct 30, 2017 22:59:12 GMT
Oh wow, just noticed this thread after posting to your other one.
Again, very nice Frigidaire there. I would almost be willing to bet that it has leaked out its gas and doesn't work. I'm very skeptical of any old fridge as that says something runs but doesn't hold temp. Now it could be something as simple as a thermostat (which is actually complicated to work on with this unit) or it could be as bad as a shaft seal on the compressor which is very likely. One thing is for sure. Don't get your heart broken if it doesn't end up working. These things rarely work. Like very rarely. When they leak the SO2 combines with moisture in the air to form acid. This makes the internal parts corrode. So it may run but it most likely doesn't cool properly. If by some miracle it does have all of its gas and does work...don't ever stop using it. Belt drive compressors hate to sit. They love to keep running. The oil keeps the seal working. At any rate, if the unit still works, it can be recharged with a modern replacement, R124. Or the whole system can be replaced with a modern compressor and condenser without having to change the evaporator. Although I have to admit that I would hate to see the old belt drive go...I love them.
|
|
|
Post by Travis on Oct 31, 2017 1:11:40 GMT
The person you purchased this from is very knowledgeable. I have tried for years to get him to join us here.
|
|
|
Post by csulaguy on Oct 31, 2017 3:24:20 GMT
Oh wow, just noticed this thread after posting to your other one. Again, very nice Frigidaire there. I would almost be willing to bet that it has leaked out its gas and doesn't work. I'm very skeptical of any old fridge as that says something runs but doesn't hold temp. Now it could be something as simple as a thermostat (which is actually complicated to work on with this unit) or it could be as bad as a shaft seal on the compressor which is very likely. One thing is for sure. Don't get your heart broken if it doesn't end up working. These things rarely work. Like very rarely. When they leak the SO2 combines with moisture in the air to form acid. This makes the internal parts corrode. So it may run but it most likely doesn't cool properly. If by some miracle it does have all of its gas and does work...don't ever stop using it. Belt drive compressors hate to sit. They love to keep running. The oil keeps the seal working. At any rate, if the unit still works, it can be recharged with a modern replacement, R124. Or the whole system can be replaced with a modern compressor and condenser without having to change the evaporator. Although I have to admit that I would hate to see the old belt drive go...I love them. The person you purchased this from is very knowledgeable. I have tried for years to get him to join us here. That's what I'm figuring out. In response to ckfan, he thinks it's a bad or leaky shaft seal. I'm going to hope it isn't corroded. He did say it does get cold. This is specifically what he wrote when I first inquired about it prior to bidding: " I've run the refrigerator for a couple hours - evaporator gets cool. I can hear the refrigerant boiling and I suspect it's low on the charge. After all, it's been sitting idle for a very long time and as you may know, if belt-drive compressors are left idle for a long time, the seal can start to leak. This refrigerator used to be in Frigidaire Corporation's own museum." That would make sense about belt-driven compressors liking to stay running. I understand that most of these old refrigerators are on the low side as far as amperage, so it wouldn't be a problem, especially since I already have an intended use for it.
|
|
|
Post by timeswelding on Oct 31, 2017 8:34:18 GMT
It's nice that your Frigidaire came from the Dayton area. It hasn't moved far from home in it's life.
|
|
|
Post by cablehack on Nov 1, 2017 0:08:29 GMT
According to the Althouse & Turnquist book, "Modern Gas and Electric Refrigeration", your Frigidaire uses a low side float. You can see the rest of the info here babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89078537636;view=1up;seq=95;size=50Pages 68-71, and page 38 covers the Frigidaire. This online copy is the 1933 edition. According to the literature in my own copy of the book which is the edition one year later (1934), Frigidaire introduced a twin cylinder compressor in 1934, so your fridge would appear to be prior to this. They mention the change from SO2 to F12 in "recent years" and "in some of their units", but don't give a model or year. Anyway, at least you know it won't be some other kind of refrigerant like methyl chloride. Also, "The unit shown in fig. 43 was produced in the late twenties..." (i.e. the cooling unit shown above). So, it's fairly certain to say it's SO2. The compressor shaft seal is apparently a spring loaded graphite and asbestos type.
|
|
|
Post by ckfan on Nov 1, 2017 17:06:59 GMT
Graphite and asbestos?! That sounds like it wouldn't hold up at all.
|
|
|
Post by Travis on Nov 1, 2017 18:07:37 GMT
It’s metal. I have some.
|
|
|
Post by birkie on Nov 3, 2017 3:20:52 GMT
Graphite and asbestos?! That sounds like it wouldn't hold up at all. The sad thing is that addition asbestos seems to give things almost magical physical properties. Back to the fridge, though. It's really nice! I can hear the refrigerant boiling and I suspect it's low on the charge. After all, it's been sitting idle for a very long time and as you may know, if belt-drive compressors are left idle for a long time, the seal can start to leak. This refrigerator used to be in Frigidaire Corporation's own museum. That's a really good sign. So it at least has *some* refrigerant in it. That means it is under pressure, and it's less likely that any water-laden air got in and corroded things. Anyway, it would be really neat to try some R124 in it, if you intend on running it.
|
|
|
Post by ckfan on Nov 3, 2017 18:24:31 GMT
Yes! I want to see how a belt drive unit reacts to R124. It should work great. It should also help to keep them working and not corrode.
|
|
|
Post by blackhorse on Nov 3, 2017 21:29:41 GMT
Yes! I want to see how a belt drive unit reacts to R124. It should work great. It should also help to keep them working and not corrode. I have used R12 in a couple of belt-drive SO2 units (Fairbanks Morse and Kelvinator); it worked fine from a power and refrigeration standpoint. But only a couple of weeks before it leaked out. Maybe because of higher pressure than the seal was intended for (although I thought the pressure of R12 at frosting temp was probably not that much more than the pressure of SO2 at room temp), or totally possible that the seals were just worn out on machines of that age. I asked about a replacement seal from Fairbanks Morse and they had no clue that they had ever even made refrigerators.
|
|
|
Post by ckfan on Nov 4, 2017 0:04:57 GMT
That's sad. You know more about them since you actually worked on them. I would be willing to bet that the seals were leaky due to them being out of SO2 in the first place. I have heard of Fairbanks Morse and have seen a dark picture of one sitting in a basement. The unit was listed for sale near Gill. I have no idea what it used but it looked new enough to use R12.
|
|
|
Post by csulaguy on Nov 12, 2017 17:18:49 GMT
Graphite and asbestos?! That sounds like it wouldn't hold up at all. The sad thing is that addition asbestos seems to give things almost magical physical properties. Back to the fridge, though. It's really nice! I can hear the refrigerant boiling and I suspect it's low on the charge. After all, it's been sitting idle for a very long time and as you may know, if belt-drive compressors are left idle for a long time, the seal can start to leak. This refrigerator used to be in Frigidaire Corporation's own museum. That's a really good sign. So it at least has *some* refrigerant in it. That means it is under pressure, and it's less likely that any water-laden air got in and corroded things. Anyway, it would be really neat to try some R124 in it, if you intend on running it. Bern, the seller, said that he did some research and thinks R114 would be a good fit, so we're going to try that and see how it works out. He stated that "R114 has some similar pressure characteristics as sulfur dioxide, and it is non-flammable like SO2 but unlike SO2 it is safe with virtually no odor or acidic affects...Frigidaire did use [R114] in their later systems." So we'll see how it works.
|
|