Late '40s Coldspot not cooling

Very nice Coldspot!  That one is in such good condition. 

As for the non-cooling problem, that could be a touch tricky to diagnose without seeing the unit; but there are some things you can look at.

You did say it worked when powered on at the seller's place, which is good. 

When you try to run it now, the compressor does run; but there is no cooling at all.

I have repaired two similar Coldspot models recently but they were apparently larger models, with a larger freezer compartment. On both of them, the freezer compartment had leaks in the evaporator coil. There were visible signs of bulging in the evaporator where moisture had become trapped between the tubing and the freezer compartment shell, and pushed the wall inward. Yours may be constructed differently. Could you provide detailed pictures of the inside surfaces of the freezer area? 

I don't see any obvious signs of damaged lines around the compressor; but the pictures are pretty dark. 

Ironically, one of the two I repaired recently was from Holland, Michigan.  The other one was from Florida. The other owner was unable to find anyone local to fix it. He had shipped it to Georgia once and received it back in unsatisfactory condition; then shipped it to my shop in Alabama for follow-up work. 

Share the pictures of the inside of the evaporator, if you will.
Sincerely,
David

Thanks for the detailed pictures!  The evaporator in the freezer is made of stainless steel, as opposed to aluminum. The aluminum ones are the ones which fail all the time. You should be good on that.

The red nuts beside the compressor are transport lock nuts. They hold the compressor rigidly during transportation, to prevent it from bobbling around on the mounting springs and breaking lines.  

Under normal operation, the nuts are to be backed off, so that the compressor sits on the springs and is suspended, so that vibration does not transfer to the cabinet. If they are tightened all the way, vibration noise will be the result.

However, apparently, during transportation, they were loose. There might be a broken line near the compressor. It's hard to tell, but is this capillary tube connection cracked here? I have highlighted it here:


Check all the lines near the compressor for any oily residue where they could be cracked. If this is the case, you'll need to repair the broken line, change the filter-drier, and recharge it. 

That's good that the vibration was solved! 

These are rotary compressors, which have a high-side housing design. That means that the high pressure part of the system passes through the compressor housing before it goes to the condenser.  This is important because it allows refrigerant to collect and become trapped there.  That causes the system to require a long time to start cooling, if the compressor is cold, from not running in several days.  If this happens, normally after 30 minutes or so; the unit starts cooling.  You did say it ran overnight and never cooled, so that would not be the problem, unfortunately.

In the cabinet near the evaporator (freezer box) there are two lines which go into the evaporator. Look closely at those and be sure there isn't any oily residue around them. Pay close attention to the solder joint where they attach to the evaporator. That can be a problem spot. 

Whoever looks at it will need to use an electronic leak detector, and / or nitrogen charge and soapy water solution. That will allow them to pinpoint the leak.

Unfortunately, it will probably be very difficult to get anyone to work on it. That seems to be a repeating theme these days. Hopefully I am wrong, but you never know.

Yes, this is a high-side dome system. It is possible that the high-side could fill with oil and result in a restriction.  However, she allowed the machine to run overnight, which should have allowed the oil to pass through the cap tube and things to return to normal.

Agreed that the sniffer is a good investment. Especially if you plan to repair even two or more antique fridges.

That is a very good point; and yes it's probably out of Freon completely.  The "sniffer" detectors are incredibly sensitive. They can pick up trace amounts. If there is a leak point large enough to leak the whole charge out in a day or so, there should still be enough residue around the leak to trigger the detector.

That's good you were able to get a sniffer so quickly!  Harbor freight? 

Hopefully the people in the area will be able to assist you in getting it going!