1930's Norge Rollator Refrigerator....

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I wish I had known of your expertise back when I had my ‘33 GE Monitor Top. It was working, but not well enough to use on a daily basis and my husband was concerned about a future coolant leak. He’s a handy guy so if he had the resources and info to repair it he could have. Not knowing about AW at the time and it’s wealth of knowledgeable people, I gave up the idea of using it and sold it. We need to pass this vintage technology know-how on to the next generation, if they will just get their noses out of their smart phones long enough to learn it.
 
Hi 63kenmore. Thanks for the positive comment! 

 

The 1933 Monitor Top fridge would have been a model CA, with GE's experimental low-pressure refrigerant "methyl formate" in it.

 

These required periodic bleeding-off of trapped noncondensable gases. This is similar to trapped air in the system, and causes the unit to work less well; and overworks the compressor.

Hopefully whoever bought yours did the research and found out about this process and was able to make it work correctly.

 

We are definitely in trouble with our current generation of young people. I'm thankful for the few of them who participate here, and spread the interest in antiques appliances to their peers.
 
Turbokinetic, I’m 63kenmore’s other half (the handy one). Our 64 ColdSpot (106W16EL5) stopped working recently, and was making a noise. The noise sounds like a second of electrical arcing flowed by a click. Cycles about every 10 seconds or so. I’m guessing the compressor “starter”. Am I thinking correct or is there something else that would give this symptom?? I can record and send an audio file if necessary.

Thanks for any help in getting our beautiful fridge back in working order.
 
Sorry to hear about your Coldspot not working.

 

The arcing sound is probably the compressor start relay trying to work, but it's not working properly. I would replace that relay and see if this resolves the problem!

 

A wiring diagram would be helpful as well; to know what modern relay would be a good option.
 
Non Starting Compressor In A 1964 Coldspot

Hi Jackie, your ref would have a WP-Seeger rotary compressor, these generally have a start capacitor that can fail during time period and is often why they fail to start.

Easy way to test if the compressor is still serviceable is to install a modern 3in-one-relay and see if it works, if you try this buy the larger 1/4-1/3 HP 3 in one kit.

If this works you can leave the 3in-one relay kit on this refrigerator and get rid of the old relay, overload and start capacitor.

John L.
 
Thank you for the information. Would you recommend a 3-in-1 unit such as the SUPCO that pops up when I search for “refrigerator starter capacitor”? I want to be sure that I do no damage in the process of trying to repair this lovely unit.

Again, thanks for your support!!!!
 
UPDATE: Installed the 3-in-1 unit from SUPCO. Units seems to be running as quietly as before. I had previously replaced the defrost timer. Now, with the fridge and freezer both empty and the thermostat set on 4, she gets down to 8-10 degrees in the freezer and very low 30s in the fridge. HOWEVER, occasionally it will stop running and the freezer gets up to over 40 degrees, and then eventually the unit starts running again and back to 8-10 degrees in the freezer.

I am thinking that this is the unit going into the defrost cycle and that the temp is getting so high because there isn’t a freezer full of food that sustains the temps as the defrost works.

So, is this normal operation for an empty appliance, or is something else causing the temperature spikes in the freezer?

Thanks for sharing your expertise!
 
Spike In Freezer Temperature

Yes you are likley seeing the rise due to the freezer being empty when its goes through a defrost cycle. The best way to monitor the temperature in the freezer is to have the probe of the temperature sensor in a cup of cooking oil so you can see what temperature the food would actually be, in the ref section the sensor probe can be in a glass of water.

 

This temperature should still be closer to 0-5 F, and the ref section 34-38 F, but with these earlier Frost Free refs they seldom worked as well as refs do today, this is way FF refs got a bad name and very few of these earlier ones have lasted or been kept this long.

 

John L.
 
Buzzing WP Rotary Compressor

Glad its working, how long does the buzzing sound last ?

 

It was common for these compressors to have a rattling buzzing sound for a short while as they started, they would calm down to a nice light rattling-chatter after that.

 

Post a recording of the sound if you think its still a problem

 

John L.

 

 
 
Buzzing on startup

John L, it buzzes for about for about 4 seconds as it fades out. It is a little bit noisy, but then settles down and the temps are behaving now that the 3 in 1 has been replaced and there is some food in it. I use it as a secondary fridge in my basement kitchen and I always have my ‘47 GE as a back up. I was a bit worried though, I had just had it professionally painted and I know my husband would not have been happy if it ended up as scrap.
Thanks for the information, it’s great to have a site to go to for help.
Jacki
 

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