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Post by 1940coldwall on Aug 23, 2023 16:05:57 GMT
Hello All,
I've acquired a vintage Frigidaire refrigerator and am doing a full restore to it. It's been a fun project thus far, but hoping for some advice from experts on a few areas of the project.
First, I want to ensure the compressor/mechanical is working correctly. The compressor runs, makes a bit of noise at first, but quiets down after a few minutes. I tested the resistance on coils and got the following: - Common to Start: 8.6ohms - Common to Run: 5.7ohms - Start to Run: 13.8ohms
The freezer in the unit gets to -1/0 degrees Fahrenheit and I clocked the temp on the compressor itself at 114 degrees after it ran for about 35-40 minutes (It's in the garage and it was a hot day, so that may be contributing). The thermostat seems to be working as it's kicking the unit off/on. Looking at the compressor, I don't see any oil leaks. I'm thinking that someone may have worked on it years ago.
One of my many tasks is finding a replacement seal for the door. It's definitely an interesting design. Any suggestions on how I should approach replacing this gasket, which seals and holds the inside panel to the door?
I've attached some pictures for reference.
Little history on the refrigerator. My wife's uncle and aunt recently purchased some land in northern Michigan, which included a campground that had been closed down since the late 70s/early 80s. The campground has a few abandoned cabins, and one of them contained the 1940 Frigidaire Refrigerator I'm currently working on.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
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marko
7 Cubic Foot
Posts: 144
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Post by marko on Aug 23, 2023 23:39:22 GMT
Hi Coldwall, It is kind of hard to tell from the photos, what is that big hole in the "breaker gasket"? Is it to fit around the stainless piece at the evaporator? I would be inclined to source the door seals in two parts, the breaker gasket, on the bevel of the door and the thinner door seal itself, along the 90 degree part of the door. The door seal looks to be what, 1/2 inch or so? And the breaker seal about 2 1/2 inches?
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Post by 1940coldwall on Aug 24, 2023 0:06:07 GMT
Hi Marko,
Thanks for the replay! Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Repair it in two separate parts. The 2 1/2 trim piece is going to be the tricky part. Thinking of fabricating it with some 1/8 to 2/8 inch plastic strips, with gasket material wrapped around. The hole is for the thermostat nob, it originally had an indented stainless piece. But what I think happened is they pulled it out when they replaced the thermostat. Well, that's my theory. lol. I don't think it's the original YK Thermostat. I also don't think it has the original YG 2 Starting Relay.
Any thoughts about the miter miser compressor? It seems to be running fine... It doesn't seem to be currently leaking oil, doesn't mean it won't... I think 114 degrees on the compressor isn't a bad temp. I'm very new to this, trying to get my head wrapped around all of the different aspects.
Thanks!
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Post by douro20 on Aug 24, 2023 23:44:27 GMT
Don't these use R-114?
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Post by turbokinetic on Aug 25, 2023 0:05:14 GMT
Some of the Coldwall units used both R-12 and R-114. The compressor was part of an R-114 circuit cooling the freezer evaporator. Then, there was a heat exchange loop attached to the freezer evaporator which cooled an R-12 circuit in the Coldwall fresh food liner. |
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Post by ckfan on Aug 25, 2023 1:04:44 GMT
Yep, that’s right. They used two separate loops. One is completely sealed and runs in the walls, hence the name. It gets its “cooling” from being attached to the freezer. The other is the one that is attached to the freezer and compressor circuit. I know that’s kind of confusing, but it is actually pretty simple and ingenious.
The compressor temp sounds fine. All of the meter misers will make a rattle when first starting after sitting for a long time. I have a 1941 with a full width freezer that I love. It did leak oil however and I had to shut it down. Eventually I will repair it.
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Post by 1940coldwall on Aug 28, 2023 13:17:08 GMT
Turbokinetic & ckfan thanks for the additional information. I was wondering what was contained within the liner coils. I've done a full leak test of the compressor, freezer lines, and liner coils using the soapy water method. I was unable to find any leaks, and believe me, I looked. I'm thoroughly impressed by the quality/reliability of the units from the era!
My aim for the project is to completely restore the unit and have it be one of our family's everyday refrigerators. I've completed the following thus far on the unit:
- New Insulation (After removing the liner, I noticed a fair amount of moisture contained in the insulation and wood support at the bottom of the unit)
- Replaced all electrical with silicone 14-gauge tinned copper, this includes soldering new wire directly to the light receptacles.
- I've restored multiple trim pieces by simply hitting them with some metal polish or for the heavily worn parts, actually repainting them with an oil-based paint. Note, I'm trying to keep as much as possible original to units from that era.
I'm currently starting to put the unit back together, but do have a few problems I still need to solve... Maybe you've come across these and have suggestions?
- Light/Door switch: The old door switch is broken and finding an OEM replacement seems impossible. My initial thought is to retrofit a newer style switch into the unit, but I hate the idea of moving away from the original design.
- Door: Gosh the door has proven to be an all-around challenge. I believe I have a solution for the fastening gasket. But would like to find a replacement handle, mine still works but one corner of it has been damaged. Any suggestions on where to look for a replacement?
I completely understand how people get addicted to restoring these units. This has been a very fun project all the way around!
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Post by 1940coldwall on Aug 28, 2023 13:19:38 GMT
Yep, that’s right. They used two separate loops. One is completely sealed and runs in the walls, hence the name. It gets its “cooling” from being attached to the freezer. The other is the one that is attached to the freezer and compressor circuit. I know that’s kind of confusing, but it is actually pretty simple and ingenious. The compressor temp sounds fine. All of the meter misers will make a rattle when first starting after sitting for a long time. I have a 1941 with a full width freezer that I love. It did leak oil however and I had to shut it down. Eventually I will repair it. Ckfan where has your unit started to leak and what's the process required to repair it? I'm assuming it's leaking at the power terminals, as everything I've seen indicates they had an issue with leaks there. |
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Post by ckfan on Aug 29, 2023 16:07:57 GMT
That is correct. Mine started to leak at the electrical terminals on the compressor. I fixed it with an add on seal kit that I was able to purchase from a clearing house. I don’t think those terminal seals are made any longer. Usually repairing leaks from the terminals is quite difficult and can sometimes result in the need to cut the compressor open. Fortunately I was able to use the add on seals for mine.
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Post by 1940coldwall on Aug 31, 2023 16:32:39 GMT
Hi ckfan, do you have any images of the terminal seals? I may be able to fabricate them in the shop. I have an idea of what I would create to solve this potential problem, but I am interested to see what was used in the past.
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Post by ckfan on Sept 1, 2023 0:57:10 GMT
I personally would not worry about it, if it isn’t already leaking. You just have to be careful when removing the electrical connections to be sure that you don’t put a bunch of twisting force on the studs. It would be impossible to show you how they look and work while installed on the compressor. I also had to have a friend make a special wrench for me so that I could remove the plastic terminal caps that would get in the way of the seal. It’s a very tight fit. I gave one to David who you have been speaking to, so that he could study them.
David, did you ever end up using those seals or could you take a picture of them and post them?
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