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Post by coldspaces on Jun 28, 2017 20:34:25 GMT
In the mid 80s my Gemline catalog listed exact fit gaskets for the BH12PC. Food door was a GE52 Freezer door was a GE55. I looked them up backwards in the part number reference and found the GE52 replaced a GE # WR24X168 and the GE55 replaced a GE # WR24X167. These may be hard to find but an least this will give you a starting point.
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nana
5 Cubic Foot
Posts: 70
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Post by nana on Jun 29, 2017 12:16:19 GMT
Thank you! I think the Lord helps those who help themselves as far as this repairman goes...I'll get right on it!
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nana
5 Cubic Foot
Posts: 70
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Post by nana on Aug 5, 2017 14:56:07 GMT
Hello again! My fridge was delivered Thursday afternoon, finally. For as long as it took, he said all it needed was a new power cord, and the gasket. He adjusted the door so the pedal worked properly, checked all the wiring for safety, and said it didn't even need a charge(of refrigerant). It's a 1959, by the way. We turned it on, it started humming and all seemed well. I had all my food and stuff in coolers overnight, and in the morning I checked the temp in the fridge, with the dial set at midpoint and it was 40*. I would have liked to see it a bit cooler, but anyway, I adjusted the dial, filled it up, and when I checked it again about an hour later it was up to 50*, which is way too warm. I thought maybe it was having trouble with such large amount of stuff to work on, so I gave it more time and and more time, but now it is a full day later, and with the dial set just below its coldest setting, I still can't get the temp below 45*. The freezer is no problem at all--ice cubes were solid within an hour. Before I get upset with the repair guy, I figured I'd ask for your collective expertise one more time. I'm pretty sure it was made to be able to keep a lower, more food safe temperature. What could be keeping it from doing that? It cycles on and off. I haven't timed it, but it doesn't seem to be excessively running or excessively off. I do notice that when it turns on it is very quiet, but it does make a louder sound after it has been running a while. Any ideas?
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Post by ckfan on Aug 5, 2017 15:02:03 GMT
Well, I'm glad you got it home at least. This has been a long journey for you. Sounds like the thermostat may be bad. The only way to properly test it would be to bypass it by taking the two wires that go to it and tie them together. If it has more than two wires we may need to see a wiring diagram if there is one. If it gets nice and cold without the thermostat, there's your problem. If it still won't get down to temp it could be a few things. I would try that first.
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Post by blackhorse on Aug 5, 2017 19:47:19 GMT
I'm thinking condenser problem; the longer it runs the less it can cool. Make sure the fan is running, and the coils are clean, or as clean as you can get them with a brush and vacuum. (Sparkling clean isn't called for). Sometimes they bend the fan opening with the hand truck while moving, so it works fine before but not after moving. If the fan blade hits the opening around it just bend it (the opening) back to clear. Or something (dead mouse?) is stuck in the fan.
The fan motors on those are still widely available, held on with 3 screws, unless it's been replaced with some jackleg thing before; if so get the fan blade at the same time.
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Post by coldspaces on Aug 6, 2017 2:19:12 GMT
Are all the coils in the top of the frig section frosting by the time it cycles off? Wow it has been a journey for this frig, you have had patience thus far so hold on a little longer and we will try to help figure it out.
Most of these have a constant cut in thermostat that only turns on after the frost has melted off the refrigerator section coil. The 62 Frigidaire I had did not get much colder than the upper 30s.
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Post by jake on Aug 6, 2017 3:46:14 GMT
Double check the fit of the new gasket(s) on the doors. I prefer the light test. Put a strong flashlight inside the fridge, close the door, and darken the room. Carefully look around the door gasket where it meets the refrigerator body. You should see no light. If you do see light the door is out of adjustment or the gasket is worn. This will also cause longer run times and excessive frosting on the cooling coils at the top of the refrigerator (lower) section. If that checks out, then I agree with the thermostat suggestion. On some of these there's an adjustment on the thermostat to increase or decrease the temperature of the dial's setting. You'll have to remove the dial and access the actual thermostat "box" that's behind the dial and and the dial trim. You'll be looking for a little screw that has "colder" or "warmer" with an arrow showing you which way to turn the screw for the adjustment you want. This is a very sensitive adjustment so only turn the screw a little bit at a time to get it right. Allow 24 hours between each adjustment to be sure you have it right. If your dial has 9 positions, number 5 is the normal setting. Hope that helps!
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nana
5 Cubic Foot
Posts: 70
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Post by nana on Aug 6, 2017 13:51:27 GMT
Thank you for all the advice and things to check. I'll try to answer the questions so maybe that will help narrow it down.
The fan does run, at least I do feel warm air blowing out at the bottom at the front and a little bit at the sides when it is running. It does not seem to me to be AS warm as the air that blows out from my other "newer" fridge, but it seems to be blowing at the same strength. I don't hear any kind of ticking sound that would indicate the fan is hitting anything as it is turning.
It is set at #8, one below the highest(most"cold") setting, but moving it from 5 through 8 didn't seem to make much differenceThe coils are frosting as it runs. When it kicks on they are cold, but wet, with a few drips. The repair guy told me they are supposed to drip a little when it is cycled off, and apparently the drips run down into a plastic pan that is under the fridge, which the fan then evaporates the drips, so the pan doesn't need to be emptied in normal use. I called him to tell him about the problem, and he said he had it running for a couple of days before he delivered it and it was getting down to just above 30*. He asked me to give it another day because these older fridges don't cool things down as fast as the newer ones, and to check the temp again Sunday morning (today) and see what it is after being closed all night. So I did. After not having been opened since about 6:00 PM the night before, at around 8:30 it was at 43*. So it's been plugged in since Thursday afternoon, and the food in it since Friday morning. I think 2 1/2 days should be long enough to be properly cooled, don't you? As far as on/off cycles go, here's what I timed:
After having been unopened all night, it was running when I woke up, and it shut off at 7:28, and kicked back on at 7:42, so off for 14 min. Then it ran, still unopened, until 7:57, so on for 15 min. I let it be and went about my morning, not timing it, and finally opened it at 8:36 (it was off and the coils had no frost, so it probably was close to kicking on anyway) to check the temp and take out the milk. It kicked on right away at 8:38, I opened it again to put the milk back in, and it ran until 8:57, so 19 minutes on. Then it was off until 9:08, so only 11 minutes off. Which brings me up to real time here. It's been running as I type this and I'm waiting for it to kick off again to complete the cycle and give you as much info as I can on how it runs opened and unopened. And it just now cut off at 9:21 (almost 9:22) so 13, almost 14 min on again. I'm only using a digital clock, not a stopwatch, so all these times have that margin of error, although if I noticed that the time changed RIGHT after I wrote it down I rounded up to the next minute.
To me, it seems that unopened it is on and off about equal times, and it seems to need a full cycle to recover to that ratio after being quickly opened just once or twice. If it was getting more use-- open and shut, open and shut like normal cooking or putting away of things would do, then it would probably take even more cycles to equalize again, I'm guessing. Yes, it just kicked back on at 9:34, so 13 min off again, unopened.
Are these cycle times normal? Good? Bad? Do they indicate anything in particular?
I will check the gasket with a light tonight--right now with the sun shining would be too hard to see! Just eyeballing it, it seems to be good, but I assume it wouldn't take much of a gap to make a big difference, just like weatherstripping your doors and windows for winter.
Sorry for how long and rambling this is!
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Post by coldspaces on Aug 6, 2017 14:33:06 GMT
Yes the frost should melt and drip off the coils in the refrigerator section during the off cycle.
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Post by blackhorse on Aug 6, 2017 17:39:07 GMT
So kind of short cycles for a top-freezer fridge, and too warm, but turning off and on regular cycles.
Somewhere the probe for the thermostat is attached to the coils in the refrig section. There's usually a piece of white plastic between the actual metal pieces (probe and coil). Little flat piece, the same screw that holds the clamp goes through the piece of plastic. If that piece of plastic is missing or not between the parts the probe will get too cold too fast (so shut off too soon, before the fridge gets cold enough). Might check that, it would be a cheap fix that would be easy to overlook. And of course, it wouldn't hurt a thing to put an additional piece of plastic there too, maybe make it run longer and colder. Just remember the probe is actually a tiny tube with fluid inside, so don't bend sharply or break it.
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nana
5 Cubic Foot
Posts: 70
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Post by nana on Aug 6, 2017 18:40:54 GMT
I looked, and I saw a thin wire coming out of where the thermostat dial is, which runs along the side of the fridge to the back, where it runs along the back edge of the coils, clamped to them on both ends and in the middle too, which doesn't sound like what you described. Am I looking at the correct thing? A picture is worth a thousand words. I couldn't get the whole thing, but the right side looks pretty much like the left. Short cycle? I thought 15-19 minutes running was a long time. Especially when it is not being opened up, like overnight. I didn't clean it really well yet, just gave it a lick and a promise as my mom used to say, so I don't think anything got knocked out or broken by over-zealous scrubbing...I really hope this can be fixed!
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Post by jake on Aug 6, 2017 21:19:58 GMT
With a cycle defrost model, like yours, run times and off times will be longer than a conventional refrigerator. Since the cooling coils in the refrigerator section are frosting over and the freezer is working well the sealed system sounds like it's in good shape! I'd check the door gaskets, thermostat, and clean the condenser (coils underneath). I agree with everything your repairman said, except for it possibly taking a couple days after loading to cool down. True, in a fridge like yours the heat exchange is gravity. Not fan forced like in a modern refrigerator. But when I load my '50 Frigidaire with bottles of iced tea they're at room temperature. I normally load 36 to 48 eighteen ounce bottles at a time. After about 6 hours they're chilled. Within 24 hours they're cold. One other thing that comes to mind. I have a small, early '50s GE combination in my basement. It has two aluminium caps that go over the drain holes that are on the freezer bottom and refrigerator bottom. They're notched to let water go through the drains but help keep the cold air in. Do you have those and did your fridge originally have them? Perhaps someone else can chime in as to whether you should have them. Just a thought.
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Post by ckfan on Aug 7, 2017 0:05:34 GMT
I agree with blackhorse. I think that the thermostat is getting too cold too quickly and is mistakenly turning the fridge off too soon. It looks like there is plastic sheathing over part of the thermostat capillary tube. I would make sure it is clamped on tight. Also make sure that none of the bare metal of the tube is touching the evaporator tubes. It sounds like the system is working fine other than turning off too quick. These types of models run for a good while. 30 to 40 minutes on is not unusual.
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Post by coldspaces on Aug 7, 2017 3:33:31 GMT
These have a constant cut in control at about 39F, the box will get colder than that by the time it cycles off but it will have to get to 39 at the top before it kicks back on.
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Post by blackhorse on Aug 7, 2017 5:26:51 GMT
I looked, and I saw a thin wire coming out of where the thermostat dial is, which runs along the side of the fridge to the back, where it runs along the back edge of the coils, clamped to them on both ends and in the middle too, which doesn't sound like what you described. Am I looking at the correct thing? I can't tell, I can't see the ends. That could just as easily be the capillary (the high pressure refrigerant line from the condenser). The thermostat probe just ends at some point. Blunt sealed end. The capillary connects to the other end of the cooling tube and supplies refrigerant into it.
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