Recent content by turbokinetic

My first car was a 1972 Chevy Nova. I still have it and drive it now and then! This had been my moms car for years but had developed some mechanical problems. When I was old enough to drive, mom and dad offered to either get me a "working used car" (envision 80's Nissan Sentra or other equally...

You see more commercial all-fridge cabinets with cycle-defrost, now-a-days; compared to home fridges. Most of the glass-door merchandisers you see in shops are cycle defrost. They don't have any heater. They depend on heat from the air in the cabinet to melt the small amount of frost which...

That is interesting about the 5V inputs on your PLC. What model is that? It's good that the VFD has a 5V output for this. I've been using the Allen-Bradley VFDs which seem to use a 10V or 12V signal for the inputs; with a corresponding source terminal. Just for full disclosure, this dishwasher...

Thanks Robert! I appreciate it greatly. You're absolutely correct about most PLC input channels being low voltage. Most of the ones I work with on my real job are 24VDC input and electronic 24VDC outputs. Those can be used with relays, to control 120V loads; but the input side also needs to be...

Been working on a 1950s Hotpoint dishwasher. This one came in missing parts of the gravity drain mechanism and with a bad water fill valve. I spent considerable time adapting a drain pump and installing a new water fill valve. I discovered it had an incorrect but working timer; and a spare...

Yesterday I got the motor's rotor back from the shop where it was balanced. Interestingly, the rotor was not badly out of spec. The worst part from a balance standpoint was the pulley. After installing the newly balanced rotor, and replacing the pulley - the difference is night and day! Got a...

That is very interesting! These compressors have a very long life because of the low operating speed and lower pressure refrigerants used back in this day. It is not surprising that the 1933 model at the grocery store continued working until the mid 1970's. There was surely someone who took care...

Hope you folks are enjoying reading and watching this project come together. The previous posts were shared on the Monitor Top forum already and then shared here. This is today's status of the project. In spite of using new-old-stock discharge valves in the compressor rebuild, there was excess...

Got some good news today - the test run is underway! There are some concerns which will need to be addressed. First is the motor has a small vibration which is, in my opinion, too much. It resonates with the base and causes noise which will be heard when the unit is running. Temporarily, to...

Within minutes of startup, we have frost on the evaporator! The sight glass cleared up nicely. No dirty oil or other cloudy trash circulating. Thermal image of evaporator. The angle plays tricks on the camera. The whole thing is more or less equally cold. Colder than -10°F (-23°C) to be exact...

Got an update today! Yesterday I was able to get this project to the testing phase! Started out by studying an old motor from another similar-vintage system. This motor is 100% original and came from a museum collection at some point in the past. Of note is the protective sleeve over the...

I replaced the end of the left condenser, which had the defective flare. Then, I installed the sight glass on the receiver outlet valve; and the filter-drier under the frame. Those two parts got a custom-made copper line to join the two. The left coil has a new piece where it attaches to the...

Yesterday I put the compressor back on the base and reconnected the condensers. I replaced the end of the left condenser, which had the defective flare. Then, I installed the sight glass on the receiver outlet valve; and the filter-drier under the frame. Those two parts got a custom-made copper...

As for the Frigidaire system, I made quite a bit of progress in the past two days. The video ended up over an hour after editing, so I broke it down into two parts. This project has two somewhat-opposing requirements. It is to be as original as possible, but it also has to be very reliable...

Got a project to share! Thanks to fellow Monitor Top forum member Kevin Jones; I have been entrusted with repairs to this amazingly well-preserved Frigidaire cooling system. This is original to a home constructed in 1926 which is having some repairs done in celebration of turning 100 years old...