Health & Condition of a CK Monitor Top

I've deleted my previous posts to clean things up.
I managed to remove the side plate to inspect the insides, everything looks mint.
Removed the temp knob screw cover (exacto knife without a scratch or hole), and started playing with the range as you suggested, I was off by about one full turn. I had doubts at the beginning of this as even after re-adjusting the knob, I couldn't get an ON - OFF action on the radius traveled by the control knob. Just has to wait for the temp inside to cool a tad more, and things started to stabilize and soon the thermostat was kicking in and out of service to maintain about 40ºF middle rack in a 90ºF garage. 

I've attached a graph of what the temperature is doing inside, you can see nicely when the fridge kicks on and off, and the overall drop I'm assuming is due to the ambient temp in the garage cooling.

One question, since the unit is running less now to get 40ºF, is it normal that some parts of the cooling system are close to frozen and sweating? (Top of the evaporator's header, some lines in the rear have drips and right hand side frost doesn't go all the way up). Or those old fridges are supposed to refrigerate foods at a colder standard than 40ºF?

Thanks so much for the follow-up! That's very good that you're getting good functionality with the thermostat now. They sometimes get corroded internally and stop working correctly. In your case it must have just been a little wear on the moving parts. 

In general, the older fridges do run colder than newer ones do. I like the mid 30's personally; since I only keep drinks in mine.

One more thing, I couldn’t find much on the search, but how does one go about re-wiring the cabinet light? Might as well since I’m gonna have the top up, and the switch is flickering on its last leg.

I assume you take off the textolite liner on the door to access the switch, but what about the rear with the lamp socket and male plug? And do you fish the wires?

That video is perfect, thank you! I will also get that Gorilla seal tape you mentioned, the original is showing its age!
I read that a little too late and took the textolite off... Only a couple of screws were a pain to remove, and they stripped themselves on the way out.

The wiring is original for the lighting circuit, and conductors still have decent flex on them. Considering I don't have anything fancy to keep the top lifted other than old 2x4s and those being in the way of accessing the area below the old tape, I'll leave that alone for now, the main issue was the momentary switch flickering the light from worn out contacts. (If you know an adequate replacement switch brand or part #, I'm all ears!)

And speaking of, I did get the top up, and now have access to the compressor terminals. One thing mentioned in another thread that made it sound easy but truly wasn't, the cardboard surround. At least on my CK it is a single piece where spacer wood posts for the evaporator plate are stapled top and bottom, all around. It was mentioned to take all screws out but the two closest to the evaporator. If those screws are kept in through the posts and cardboard, I cannot see how one goes about removing that surround. And removing the corner 3 staples does nothing as well. So I grabbed the exacto knife, and sliced the two corners on the left side of the machine. Came off clean, and when it's time to put it back, they'll be held by the posts again and I'll wrap the cardboard with Gorilla sealing tape as well.
I added some pictures, hopefully useful to you all

Lastly, there is a really sticky goopy remnant of what seemed to be a yellow cream rubber gasket going around the inner lid, that would have rested on the outer edge of the cabinet top. Is that anything special or can I still obtain a replacement as well?

Hey Miles; that's looking very good! You're right that the cloth covered cords are not correct for these machines, insofar as keeping an original look. In spite of that my personal preference is to use them for my repairs, because they are convenient for me to obtain locally. Furthermore, they have a "flat plug" where the cable comes out at a 90° angle and doesn't get sharply bent as it exits the plug. The factory supplied cord from GE was a round smooth rubber cord, with a flat plug for the same reasons. I prefer the factory made cord such as the cloth covered flat cord with a molded-on end; or a round cord with a molded-on end. Those look nicer, in my opinion, as opposed to a round rubber cord with a self-installed end on it. In my opinion, that always looks like a repaired cord or a hack job.

I would expect the vacuum cord to last forever in an application like this where it isn't bent or moved except on the rare occasion the cabinet is relocated. I would like to see the end result as well. Do you have a link to where you got yours?

Sorry some of our descriptions made the cardboard surround seem easier to remove than it actually is. I normally open it up at one corner, and just "hinge out" the back side of it. You do have to do some damage to the cardboard, which will be concealed by the top once it's back together but I feel as if this is an easier method than trying to get the surround all the way out.

As for the outer top gasket, Lowe's has a weatherstripping which can be used for this; or you can order one from McMaster-Carr. This one is easy to get locally, for me: https://www.lowes.com/pd/M-D-13-ft-Expand-N-Seal-Foam-Window-Weatherstrip/3434324

Sincerely,
David

I would expect that cord is perfect for this application. I normally rewire the internal wiring with 18AWG wiring. That is good for a continuous 9 amps, while the compressor uses less than 3 amps. Plenty of safety factor.

As for the light switch, I have had success with disassembling them and refurbishing them. The swtich can be removed from the top, by taking the insulation blocks out between the cabinet liner and shell; then pushing the switch back through the hole and lifting it up by the wiring.

I have done a video about that somewhere. Oh! Here it is: https://youtu.be/tsrE4hLzoBo

Sincerely,
David