Post by ckfan on Jun 9, 2016 17:19:47 GMT
Hello everyone,
I have been going through my new fridge collection and have been making the necessary fixes to get them up to snuff so that I can use them when I feel like it. One fridge that needed some work to get going was the 1936 (according to the manual) CF-1-C16 fridge that I picked up. This fridge is neat because it has two features that I really like. It has a foot pedal for opening the door which I really like. It also has a badge that I have only seen in one other place, the stove that I picked up from Travis. My eventual plan is to paint this fridge and have it become my main kitchen fridge. That way I can have a "matching" set! From what I experienced last night, this fridge has a lot of life left in it. It started cooling a mere 1:20 after I kicked it on. The compressor was pretty noisy at first (lots of oil dripping noises) but it quickly got quiet. I mean, really, really quiet. So quiet that I had to strain to hear it even when I bent down and put my ear under the hole in the front. Good old scotch yoke unit, can't beat 'em. Within five minutes of running it got so cold that it froze my washcloth to the surface of the evaporator when I barely touched it.
Anyways, some of you may have a flat top that you need to re wire yourself. I say this because I can pretty confidently say that if you do have a flat top with original wiring, you need to re wire it. Maybe there are a few exceptions to the rule out there. This particular unit looks like it has lived a hard life (lots of rust on the compressor) but I haven't found any GE product from this period or even beyond that hasn't needed new wiring. This particular unit's wiring was so bad that I didn't even dare to plug it in. The re wiring process on these isn't hard at all if you have a little knowledge of how to wire things in general. You will need basic soldering skills though. I did this project in 4 hours and that included wiping down the interior. The flat tops are one of the easiest fridges to re wire (hence why I did this one last).
Lets get started!
First off, pull the bottom cover off of the front of the fridge. On mine, you open the door, press down on the cover and pull out. It sits on rods that have some spring to them. Next, take a flashlight and look at the current wire. You will probably see many cracks in the insulation like I did. If you look, you should see a mount for the relay somewhere on the side of the compressor. Figure out how to undo the clip and remove the starting relay. Most of the time it is just a piece of spring wire that holds it on. Once you have the relay removed, go ahead and pull the relay towards you and study it. Take careful note of where all the wires go. The first picture you see here is a diagram of how my relay was wired up. This only applies to flat top models that DON'T have a fan. If your unit does have a fan, it will hook up wire for wire where the compressor leads go (red on red, white on white, black on black, etc.) Also, if you have a fan, make sure to pull it out and take the cap off and oil it if you can. It will greatly extend the life of the fan. These fans are difficult to replace so take care of it while you can. They are also very efficient too since they are a two phase motor. Look up my "How I re wired my GE chest freezer" post in the "other vintage refrigerators" section of the forum to see how I pulled my fan motor apart and lubricated it.
Take careful note of how the wires are ran into the relay box and where they go. You should have (at least) a lead coming from up top, a lead going to the compressor, and a line cord. You may also have a fan cord.
Once you have noted where the wires go and what colors go where, unscrew the terminals of the relay and pull the wires out of the way. Make sure that you replace each screw immediately back into the relay. This ensures that you don't loose the precious screws and that the right screw is in the right hole, yes they are different. Shine your flashlight to the back of the fridge cavity and you should see a screw clip holding the cord going up top and a refrigerant line going to the condenser (if you have a back plate condenser). Unscrew this clip so that you can remove the wire and then screw it back in.
The next step I took was to prepare my wire for the compressor. Then lean the whole cabinet up against the wall. Be very careful at this point. Put a solid object in front of the rear feet so that they don't scoot forward. Also, make sure that there is enough weight put against the wall to hold the unit firmly in place but not so much as to put undue strain on the condenser. This was actually quite easy for me to accomplish after a little adjustment of position of the back feet. You just want to make sure that it is in a safe position so that it will not fall on you or damage the machine. Now that you have easy access to underneath the compressor, unscrew the terminal cover. This will expose the terminals and their old wires. Again, take careful note of what color wire goes where. After that, you can clip the wires a few inches from the terminals and then pull the cover and the old wires out of the way. Next, heat up a soldering iron and lay the tip against the terminals. If you are using a wimpy iron like I was, it will take quite a while before it gets hot enough for the connector and wire to slide off. Be patient, it will come off eventually. Once it does, set it to the side. Get all 3 wires off and then solder on your new wires one at a time making sure that the colors match up (I substituted green instead of red since my wires had green). Make sure that your newly soldered wires are holding on tight and that the solder penetrated the wire. Put the wire through the hole in the terminal cover and then screw the cover back on. You are now done with the compressor.
The next step is to set the fridge back up and take the top lid off of the cabinet. Two screws hold the top on at the back. Take those out and then slide the top forward and up. It should lift right off. Remove the piece of covered insulation and set it aside. Also move the loose insulation out of the way to uncover the wires. Carefully inspect the wiring up top. There should be a round junction block that has the thermostat wires, light bulb wires, and feeder wires from the relay coming in. Take careful note of which wires are tied together. Next you need to run a 3 wire cable from the top to the bottom. To accomplish this, I first cut the feeder wire from below after it came through the rubber "bend" that also houses the refrigerant lines. You will see what I am talking about when you look at yours. Carefully pull the wire out of this bend making sure not to damage the nearby refrigerant lines. Then, take a sharp knife and cut the middle section of the rubber boot out where the wire was. I say to do it this way because I tried to pull the new wire in using the existing wire. It didn't work. I then tried to push the new wire into the boot. It didn't work. The bend is too sharp and the space is too small for a good 3 conductor wire to go into it. So I simply notched it out leaving a a tiny bit where it enters the condenser plate. I then took my new wire, pushed it through the hole in the back metal wall, routed it into the notched out area and then pushed it through the hole in the bottom of the boot going towards the bottom of the cabinet. I then pulled it all through until I was left with just enough wire to complete the wiring up top.
Speaking of that wiring up top, lets inspect that next! All of the rubber insulated wires needed to be replaced. That is, the thermostat wire and the feeder wire from below. Fortunately the cloth covered wires leading to the switch and the light socket were in excellent shape. I left them alone. Next, refer to my second diagram showing how all of the wires get connected. Make sure that this matches how your unit was wired and then proceed to tie everything together. Take appropriately sized wire nuts and tie the appropriate wires together. Use electrical tape to seal up the nuts. I should mention that at this point I had already connected a two wire lead up to replace the existing wire going to the thermostat. You should see a wire going through the metal plate up top. This is the thermostat wire. Unscrew the thermostat from the evaporator plate and then disconnect the two wires going to it. Then pull the old wire out and push the new wire in its place being careful to not damage the rubber grommet that prevents moisture from getting into the top. I placed tape over mine since the grommet had stretched out over time.
Great, now your top is done! Lets move on to the bottom again so that we can finish up the wiring by completing the start relay. If you refer back to the first pic you will see how my start relay was wired up. Simply compare this diagram to your fridges wiring and make sure they match, if they do go for it!. If they don't, carefully match up your new wiring with how the old wires were ran. If you have two or more wires going to one terminal on the relay (one of mine has 3) it may be helpful to tie those wires together with a jumper wire and then attach that jumper wire to the relay terminal. It saves space and headache. Now that you have the relay wired up, place it back on its mounting making sure to point the "up arrow" up. If you point the up arrow down the relay won't act right and could damage the start winding of your compressor. It should also go without saying that you should have a new line cord hooked up now since the wiring to the relay (where the line cord goes in) is done.
Go through everything in your head to make sure your connections are right. I go through it step by step to see how the electricity flows from one point to another. Also, you can take an ohm meter and hook it to the leads on your line cord. With the door closed and the thermostat off, you should have no continuity. With the door open you should have a slight reading. With the thermostat on you will get a full reading. Plug it in and pray to the gods of power and light that you got it all right!
So, here is a text checklist version of what the wiring diagrams go over.
For the Relay connections:
Bottom Left Terminal:
Black wire from compressor
White wire from line cord
White wire from top cord
Bottom Right Terminal:
Green wire from compressor
Top Right Terminal:
White wire from compressor
Top Left Terminal: Green wire from top cord
Tie the black cords from the line cord and the top cord together.
For the top connections this is your guide:
Tie one of the thermostat wires to the green wire coming from the relay
Tie the other thermostat wire, the black wire from the light circuit, and the black wire from the relay together.
Tie the white wire from the relay and the white wire from the light together.
Let me know if any of you have any suggestions or comments about my methodology. Oh, and make sure to enjoy the last piece of the monitor top puzzle and be proud that you are part of the monitor top heritage! Just because the compressor is below the cabinet doesn't mean that it can't still be cool!
I have been going through my new fridge collection and have been making the necessary fixes to get them up to snuff so that I can use them when I feel like it. One fridge that needed some work to get going was the 1936 (according to the manual) CF-1-C16 fridge that I picked up. This fridge is neat because it has two features that I really like. It has a foot pedal for opening the door which I really like. It also has a badge that I have only seen in one other place, the stove that I picked up from Travis. My eventual plan is to paint this fridge and have it become my main kitchen fridge. That way I can have a "matching" set! From what I experienced last night, this fridge has a lot of life left in it. It started cooling a mere 1:20 after I kicked it on. The compressor was pretty noisy at first (lots of oil dripping noises) but it quickly got quiet. I mean, really, really quiet. So quiet that I had to strain to hear it even when I bent down and put my ear under the hole in the front. Good old scotch yoke unit, can't beat 'em. Within five minutes of running it got so cold that it froze my washcloth to the surface of the evaporator when I barely touched it.
Anyways, some of you may have a flat top that you need to re wire yourself. I say this because I can pretty confidently say that if you do have a flat top with original wiring, you need to re wire it. Maybe there are a few exceptions to the rule out there. This particular unit looks like it has lived a hard life (lots of rust on the compressor) but I haven't found any GE product from this period or even beyond that hasn't needed new wiring. This particular unit's wiring was so bad that I didn't even dare to plug it in. The re wiring process on these isn't hard at all if you have a little knowledge of how to wire things in general. You will need basic soldering skills though. I did this project in 4 hours and that included wiping down the interior. The flat tops are one of the easiest fridges to re wire (hence why I did this one last).
Lets get started!
First off, pull the bottom cover off of the front of the fridge. On mine, you open the door, press down on the cover and pull out. It sits on rods that have some spring to them. Next, take a flashlight and look at the current wire. You will probably see many cracks in the insulation like I did. If you look, you should see a mount for the relay somewhere on the side of the compressor. Figure out how to undo the clip and remove the starting relay. Most of the time it is just a piece of spring wire that holds it on. Once you have the relay removed, go ahead and pull the relay towards you and study it. Take careful note of where all the wires go. The first picture you see here is a diagram of how my relay was wired up. This only applies to flat top models that DON'T have a fan. If your unit does have a fan, it will hook up wire for wire where the compressor leads go (red on red, white on white, black on black, etc.) Also, if you have a fan, make sure to pull it out and take the cap off and oil it if you can. It will greatly extend the life of the fan. These fans are difficult to replace so take care of it while you can. They are also very efficient too since they are a two phase motor. Look up my "How I re wired my GE chest freezer" post in the "other vintage refrigerators" section of the forum to see how I pulled my fan motor apart and lubricated it.
Take careful note of how the wires are ran into the relay box and where they go. You should have (at least) a lead coming from up top, a lead going to the compressor, and a line cord. You may also have a fan cord.
Once you have noted where the wires go and what colors go where, unscrew the terminals of the relay and pull the wires out of the way. Make sure that you replace each screw immediately back into the relay. This ensures that you don't loose the precious screws and that the right screw is in the right hole, yes they are different. Shine your flashlight to the back of the fridge cavity and you should see a screw clip holding the cord going up top and a refrigerant line going to the condenser (if you have a back plate condenser). Unscrew this clip so that you can remove the wire and then screw it back in.
The next step I took was to prepare my wire for the compressor. Then lean the whole cabinet up against the wall. Be very careful at this point. Put a solid object in front of the rear feet so that they don't scoot forward. Also, make sure that there is enough weight put against the wall to hold the unit firmly in place but not so much as to put undue strain on the condenser. This was actually quite easy for me to accomplish after a little adjustment of position of the back feet. You just want to make sure that it is in a safe position so that it will not fall on you or damage the machine. Now that you have easy access to underneath the compressor, unscrew the terminal cover. This will expose the terminals and their old wires. Again, take careful note of what color wire goes where. After that, you can clip the wires a few inches from the terminals and then pull the cover and the old wires out of the way. Next, heat up a soldering iron and lay the tip against the terminals. If you are using a wimpy iron like I was, it will take quite a while before it gets hot enough for the connector and wire to slide off. Be patient, it will come off eventually. Once it does, set it to the side. Get all 3 wires off and then solder on your new wires one at a time making sure that the colors match up (I substituted green instead of red since my wires had green). Make sure that your newly soldered wires are holding on tight and that the solder penetrated the wire. Put the wire through the hole in the terminal cover and then screw the cover back on. You are now done with the compressor.
The next step is to set the fridge back up and take the top lid off of the cabinet. Two screws hold the top on at the back. Take those out and then slide the top forward and up. It should lift right off. Remove the piece of covered insulation and set it aside. Also move the loose insulation out of the way to uncover the wires. Carefully inspect the wiring up top. There should be a round junction block that has the thermostat wires, light bulb wires, and feeder wires from the relay coming in. Take careful note of which wires are tied together. Next you need to run a 3 wire cable from the top to the bottom. To accomplish this, I first cut the feeder wire from below after it came through the rubber "bend" that also houses the refrigerant lines. You will see what I am talking about when you look at yours. Carefully pull the wire out of this bend making sure not to damage the nearby refrigerant lines. Then, take a sharp knife and cut the middle section of the rubber boot out where the wire was. I say to do it this way because I tried to pull the new wire in using the existing wire. It didn't work. I then tried to push the new wire into the boot. It didn't work. The bend is too sharp and the space is too small for a good 3 conductor wire to go into it. So I simply notched it out leaving a a tiny bit where it enters the condenser plate. I then took my new wire, pushed it through the hole in the back metal wall, routed it into the notched out area and then pushed it through the hole in the bottom of the boot going towards the bottom of the cabinet. I then pulled it all through until I was left with just enough wire to complete the wiring up top.
Speaking of that wiring up top, lets inspect that next! All of the rubber insulated wires needed to be replaced. That is, the thermostat wire and the feeder wire from below. Fortunately the cloth covered wires leading to the switch and the light socket were in excellent shape. I left them alone. Next, refer to my second diagram showing how all of the wires get connected. Make sure that this matches how your unit was wired and then proceed to tie everything together. Take appropriately sized wire nuts and tie the appropriate wires together. Use electrical tape to seal up the nuts. I should mention that at this point I had already connected a two wire lead up to replace the existing wire going to the thermostat. You should see a wire going through the metal plate up top. This is the thermostat wire. Unscrew the thermostat from the evaporator plate and then disconnect the two wires going to it. Then pull the old wire out and push the new wire in its place being careful to not damage the rubber grommet that prevents moisture from getting into the top. I placed tape over mine since the grommet had stretched out over time.
Great, now your top is done! Lets move on to the bottom again so that we can finish up the wiring by completing the start relay. If you refer back to the first pic you will see how my start relay was wired up. Simply compare this diagram to your fridges wiring and make sure they match, if they do go for it!. If they don't, carefully match up your new wiring with how the old wires were ran. If you have two or more wires going to one terminal on the relay (one of mine has 3) it may be helpful to tie those wires together with a jumper wire and then attach that jumper wire to the relay terminal. It saves space and headache. Now that you have the relay wired up, place it back on its mounting making sure to point the "up arrow" up. If you point the up arrow down the relay won't act right and could damage the start winding of your compressor. It should also go without saying that you should have a new line cord hooked up now since the wiring to the relay (where the line cord goes in) is done.
Go through everything in your head to make sure your connections are right. I go through it step by step to see how the electricity flows from one point to another. Also, you can take an ohm meter and hook it to the leads on your line cord. With the door closed and the thermostat off, you should have no continuity. With the door open you should have a slight reading. With the thermostat on you will get a full reading. Plug it in and pray to the gods of power and light that you got it all right!
So, here is a text checklist version of what the wiring diagrams go over.
For the Relay connections:
Bottom Left Terminal:
Black wire from compressor
White wire from line cord
White wire from top cord
Bottom Right Terminal:
Green wire from compressor
Top Right Terminal:
White wire from compressor
Top Left Terminal: Green wire from top cord
Tie the black cords from the line cord and the top cord together.
For the top connections this is your guide:
Tie one of the thermostat wires to the green wire coming from the relay
Tie the other thermostat wire, the black wire from the light circuit, and the black wire from the relay together.
Tie the white wire from the relay and the white wire from the light together.
Let me know if any of you have any suggestions or comments about my methodology. Oh, and make sure to enjoy the last piece of the monitor top puzzle and be proud that you are part of the monitor top heritage! Just because the compressor is below the cabinet doesn't mean that it can't still be cool!
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