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Post by stevehawkins on Mar 24, 2019 20:00:16 GMT
I recently bought a GE. CK-15-A16
The guy I got it from said it was 1945. But I can see from a little research
It’s a 1931, correct? He said it ran perfectly but has sat unplugged for a couple of years.
My question is, after sitting for a couple of years, he said to shake the top before plugging it in, in order to mix the chemicals. IS THIS CORRECT???
I thought if he was wrong about the date, he might be wrong about this. I brought it gone from Houston (To Dallas) 275 miles, in a trailer standing up. Is the road vibration enough to “ shake up “ the chemicals ?
Is this year all ammonia? Other chemicals??
Thanks Steve
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Post by stevehawkins on Mar 24, 2019 20:41:54 GMT
I recently bought a GE. CK-15-A16 The guy I got it from said it was 1945. But I can see from a little research It’s a 1931, correct? He said it ran perfectly but has sat unplugged for a couple of years. My question is, after sitting for a couple of years, he said to shake the top before plugging it in, in order to mix the chemicals. IS THIS CORRECT??? I thought if he was wrong about the date, he might be wrong about this. I brought it gone from Houston (To Dallas) 275 miles, in a trailer standing up. Is the road vibration enough to “ shake up “ the chemicals ? Is this year all ammonia? Other chemicals?? Thanks Steve I see from my research my CK-15-A16 uses sulphur dioxide coolant. IS IT NECESSARY TO “ Shake” the top to stir up the chemicals? I was told to do this by previous owner. Steve |
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Post by elec573 on Mar 25, 2019 5:39:43 GMT
Hi Steve Welcom to the forum
No need to shake it up , and yes it has sulfur dioxide in it .
Cks were more reliable than the dr,ca fridges .
They don’t need a heater in them . But the wiring is usually bad so needs replacing and the door gasket also .
If you have any questions let us know glad to help .
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Post by turbokinetic on Mar 25, 2019 14:53:25 GMT
I recently bought a GE. CK-15-A16 The guy I got it from said it was 1945. But I can see from a little research It’s a 1931, correct? He said it ran perfectly but has sat unplugged for a couple of years. My question is, after sitting for a couple of years, he said to shake the top before plugging it in, in order to mix the chemicals. IS THIS CORRECT???I thought if he was wrong about the date, he might be wrong about this. I brought it gone from Houston (To Dallas) 275 miles, in a trailer standing up. Is the road vibration enough to “ shake up “ the chemicals ? Is this year all ammonia? Other chemicals?? Thanks Steve Hello Steve. I thought I answered this last night, but now can't see where my post went! Anyway; this is not correct. Shaking the top will only serve to agitate the oil inside the compressor, and possibly stir up sludge or debris from the bottom of the compressor housing. The less you shake it, the better.
As far as we have been able to find*, there has never been an ammonia refrigerant used in any compressor-type home refrigerator. They have all used lower-pressure refrigerants including SO2 (sulphur dioxide); butane and isobutane (R600 or R600A); methyl formate; methyl chloride (maybe); methylene chloride (maybe); and the range of lower pressure Freon-type chemicals such as R114, R12, R134A. Today, the vast majority of new refrigerators come with R134A or R600A.
Ammonia vapor-compression systems are used in large industrial scale facilities, where they can use water cooling on the system. The pressures are extremely high and were deemed unsafe for home use at the time.
I put a * by "been able to find" because there have been such a huge range of machines made during the early days. There could have been an anhydrous ammonia system marketed with the refrigerant given a trade name and never referred to by its chemical formula. I'm not saying it doesn't exist nor saying I have seen all of the designs! I would love to find one, just we haven't seem an example yet.
There are single-pressure absorption refrigerators available which use water mixed with ammonia and hydrogen gas. These are still made today but are not compressor-based systems and contain only a small amount of ammonia.
Hopefully this little bit of trivia is interesting! 
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Post by hawkeye708 on Nov 26, 2020 13:21:23 GMT
I recently bought a GE. CK-15-A16 The guy I got it from said it was 1945. But I can see from a little research It’s a 1931, correct? He said it ran perfectly but has sat unplugged for a couple of years. My question is, after sitting for a couple of years, he said to shake the top before plugging it in, in order to mix the chemicals. IS THIS CORRECT??? I thought if he was wrong about the date, he might be wrong about this. I brought it gone from Houston (To Dallas) 275 miles, in a trailer standing up. Is the road vibration enough to “ shake up “ the chemicals ? Is this year all ammonia? Other chemicals?? Thanks Steve |
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Post by hawkeye708 on Nov 26, 2020 13:25:53 GMT
I recently bought a GE. CK-15-A16 The guy I got it from said it was 1945. But I can see from a little research It’s a 1931, correct? He said it ran perfectly but has sat unplugged for a couple of years. My question is, after sitting for a couple of years, he said to shake the top before plugging it in, in order to mix the chemicals. IS THIS CORRECT??? I thought if he was wrong about the date, he might be wrong about this. I brought it gone from Houston (To Dallas) 275 miles, in a trailer standing up. Is the road vibration enough to “ shake up “ the chemicals ? Is this year all ammonia? Other chemicals?? Thanks Steve I see from my research my CK-15-A16 uses sulphur dioxide coolant. IS IT NECESSARY TO “ Shake” the top to stir up the chemicals? I was told to do this by previous owner. Steve I recently bought a GE. CK-15-A16 The guy I got it from said it was 1945. But I can see from a little research It’s a 1931, correct? He said it ran perfectly but has sat unplugged for a couple of years. My question is, after sitting for a couple of years, he said to shake the top before plugging it in, in order to mix the chemicals. IS THIS CORRECT???I thought if he was wrong about the date, he might be wrong about this. I brought it gone from Houston (To Dallas) 275 miles, in a trailer standing up. Is the road vibration enough to “ shake up “ the chemicals ? Is this year all ammonia? Other chemicals?? Thanks Steve Hello Steve. I thought I answered this last night, but now can't see where my post went! Anyway; this is not correct. Shaking the top will only serve to agitate the oil inside the compressor, and possibly stir up sludge or debris from the bottom of the compressor housing. The less you shake it, the better.
As far as we have been able to find*, there has never been an ammonia refrigerant used in any compressor-type home refrigerator. They have all used lower-pressure refrigerants including SO2 (sulphur dioxide); butane and isobutane (R600 or R600A); methyl formate; methyl chloride (maybe); methylene chloride (maybe); and the range of lower pressure Freon-type chemicals such as R114, R12, R134A. Today, the vast majority of new refrigerators come with R134A or R600A.
Ammonia vapor-compression systems are used in large industrial scale facilities, where they can use water cooling on the system. The pressures are extremely high and were deemed unsafe for home use at the time.
I put a * by "been able to find" because there have been such a huge range of machines made during the early days. There could have been an anhydrous ammonia system marketed with the refrigerant given a trade name and never referred to by its chemical formula. I'm not saying it doesn't exist nor saying I have seen all of the designs! I would love to find one, just we haven't seem an example yet.
There are single-pressure absorption refrigerators available which use water mixed with ammonia and hydrogen gas. These are still made today but are not compressor-based systems and contain only a small amount of ammonia.
Hopefully this little bit of trivia is interesting!
I recently bought a GE. CK-15-A16 The guy I got it from said it was 1945. But I can see from a little research It’s a 1931, correct? He said it ran perfectly but has sat unplugged for a couple of years. My question is, after sitting for a couple of years, he said to shake the top before plugging it in, in order to mix the chemicals. IS THIS CORRECT??? I thought if he was wrong about the date, he might be wrong about this. I brought it gone from Houston (To Dallas) 275 miles, in a trailer standing up. Is the road vibration enough to “ shake up “ the chemicals ? Is this year all ammonia? Other chemicals?? Thanks Steve |
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Post by hawkeye708 on Nov 26, 2020 13:28:40 GMT
I have a GE. CK-15-A16
I lost my HS0. I read that R134 is the best replacement
What else needs to be done before recharging?
Thanks
Steve
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Post by turbokinetic on Nov 26, 2020 13:52:26 GMT
I have a GE. CK-15-A16 I lost my HS0. I read that R134 is the best replacement What else needs to be done before recharging? Thanks Steve Hi Steve. These units had SO2 (sulphur dioxide) refrigerant. R134A is a poor choice of refrigerants for multiple reasons; including very high discharge temperatures which are hard on the valves in the compressor; as well as high head pressures which put strain on the compressor motor. In general terms, the older refrigerant and more accepted in the professional trades would be R124. The down-side of this is that it is available only in 30 pound cylinders and the cost is very high. Also it will blend with the oil in the machine (unlike SO2) which could, possibly, stir up contaminants which have been deposited in the system over the years. It's perfectly safe in any rebuilt or new system; however there are several old time guys who described failures. These conversions were widespread back during the "beginning of the end" of the SO2 era. One easier to obtain refrigerant is R152A which has been discussed here several times. It is higher pressure than SO2 but not nearly as much so as R134A. This has been used in CK Monitor Tops for quite a while with good success. This is available in cans because it is sold for use as dusting spray or "canned air." You have to use an R12 can tap which punches a hole in the side of the can. There isn't much to do before recharging, aside from leak-checking and evacuation. If you are going for the 100% original look and avoiding addition of any extra service fittings, you will have to charge via the connection on top of the float valve. This is the high-side port. There are some tricks to this. It's easier if you have installed a low-side port in the system and can therefore evacuate from both sides of the system at once. Sincerely, David |
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Post by hawkeye708 on Nov 26, 2020 14:29:40 GMT
Thank you David. I have a friend that is a former refrigerator repair man. He can charge it for me.
My leak developed from a dent in the top. It is about the size of a pencil lead.
What is the best way to repair it? Solder? I’m concerned about the heat from the torch, being inches from the thermostat. A mig or tig weld? less heat?
Would a JB Weld and a piece of copper wire to plug the hole work?
Thanks
Steve
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Post by turbokinetic on Nov 26, 2020 14:46:33 GMT
Thank you David. I have a friend that is a former refrigerator repair man. He can charge it for me. My leak developed from a dent in the top. It is about the size of a pencil lead. What is the best way to repair it? Solder? I’m concerned about the heat from the torch, being inches from the thermostat. A mig or tig weld? less heat? Would a JB Weld and a piece of copper wire to plug the hole work? Thanks Steve Can you share a picture of the puncture? Normally, we use silver-bearing solder such as StayBrite to repair punctures. It flows at a temperature low enough to avoid damage to the system. If the puncture is on the condenser, near the thermostat control knob, the thermostat can be removed relatively easily. Or at least released from the condenser mount and "pushed back inside" where you can stuff damp rags around it to protect it from the torch. Definitely don't use JB Weld. That will not be a reliable repair and also it will contaminate the metal making a proper solder / braze repair nearly impossible in the future. The condenser runs at about 100 to 150 PSI and if that puncture is on the front near the condenser, you wouldn't want a chance of the repair failing and spraying a person's eyes and face with refrigerant. That could cause a devastating eye injury. It is very hard to know without seeing it firsthand, but if you share a picture we can help more. I expect that a safe and permanent repair could be done easily with StayBrite or StayBrite-8 with liquid-acid StayClean flux (note that it must be liquid and not paste!!!). Fashion a plug to fit in the hole (solid copper wire as said, is a good choice). This is important to keep solder from going inside and blocking the condenser, as well as to ensure a structurally sound repair. I would use a carbide tool in a Dremel, to ream and clean the puncture so that it is bare metal without any paint. Do this while injecting nitrogen through the high-side port. The nitrogen will escape through the hole and will expel any grinding chips so they don't go inside the system. Once the inside of the puncture "crater" is completely clean of all paint, ensure the puncture hole is round. If necessary, use a round instrument such as an awl or punch and place it in the hole. Orbit the tool around to force the puncture hole to be a round shape. This will facilitate the plug going in and sealing in the hole, to keep the solder from flowing inside. Grind a taper on the end of a piece of solid copper wire and use this as the plug for the hole. |
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Post by turbokinetic on Nov 26, 2020 15:12:27 GMT
I forgot to answer about the year. It's hard to perfectly pinpoint the dates on these, but as a general rule if it's a CK it would be a 1935 through 1937 model. They did sell replacement CK cooling units for replacing older CA and DR machines for a couple years later but if the fridge cabinet came with a CK on it from the factory, the 35 through 37 years would likely be it. I'm a technical type with the machines themselves, but we have other members who are well versed in the history and model identification. Hopefully someone will chime in!
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