This is a series of videos where a 1953 Coldspot fridge gets some long-standing problems sorted out. This thing has some amazing styling! It also has the ThermoDefroster system which is interesting in and of its self. That is a form of hot vapor defrost but it uses a dedicated defrost heater to boil refrigerant; instead of the compressor heat as with GE. It's manually actuated, as well; with a pushbutton. This was bought because it is a childhood appliance the owner remembers from his family and he wants the nostalgia.
The outline of the story given to me by the owner is as follows. It was bought non-cooling on eBay and shipped directly to a well known antique appliance repair business. After a 2.5 year waiting period, it was returned to its owner and found to be operating improperly (I don't remember the details). It made a second trip to the repair facility and was kept 6 months this time. It was returned with only the first two passes of the evaporator cooling; and an epoxy repair on the evaporator. In an attempt to remedy the low frost line; the repair shop asked the owner to place two 100W light bulbs in the evaporator; which melted the plastic door and did not improve the cooling.
The owner reached out on a forum for troubleshooting advice. Eventually; it was shipped to me "to get to the bottom of" the problem. I don't know and didn't ask what the first repair shop charged for the attempted repairs but it doesn't look like much time was spent actually working on the unit. I have the owner's side of the story and have full confidence that he tried his best to work with the previous shop. I wasn't there when the repairs were done and don't know any more backstory than this. All of us who work on antiques take a risk when attempting to make repairs to an old unknown unit like this; and nobody is successful 100% of the time. Therefore I am not going to mention names because that is not going to serve any purpose other than foster hard feelings. I'm all about just getting along. But I think the videos will share some useful lessons which can help others solve similar problems.
The video series is several parts.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Hope you enjoyed these, and found it helpful.
Sincerely,
David
PHOTOS
1, 2, 3 - Detailing of the Coldspot styling.
4 - Frostline developed after months of running at owner's house. Note only 3 passes of evap frosted, with heavy frost?
5, 6 - Frostline after repairs. Notice the frost reaches the suction accumulator (round tank-like part top right of freezer.) Less frost because has only been running a week or so; but the frost covers more of the coil.
7, 8, 9 - New condenser chimney cover. Lost by previous repair shop. Newly cleaned and painted condenser and compressor. New drier.
10, 11 - As-received condition of condenser.
The outline of the story given to me by the owner is as follows. It was bought non-cooling on eBay and shipped directly to a well known antique appliance repair business. After a 2.5 year waiting period, it was returned to its owner and found to be operating improperly (I don't remember the details). It made a second trip to the repair facility and was kept 6 months this time. It was returned with only the first two passes of the evaporator cooling; and an epoxy repair on the evaporator. In an attempt to remedy the low frost line; the repair shop asked the owner to place two 100W light bulbs in the evaporator; which melted the plastic door and did not improve the cooling.
The owner reached out on a forum for troubleshooting advice. Eventually; it was shipped to me "to get to the bottom of" the problem. I don't know and didn't ask what the first repair shop charged for the attempted repairs but it doesn't look like much time was spent actually working on the unit. I have the owner's side of the story and have full confidence that he tried his best to work with the previous shop. I wasn't there when the repairs were done and don't know any more backstory than this. All of us who work on antiques take a risk when attempting to make repairs to an old unknown unit like this; and nobody is successful 100% of the time. Therefore I am not going to mention names because that is not going to serve any purpose other than foster hard feelings. I'm all about just getting along. But I think the videos will share some useful lessons which can help others solve similar problems.
The video series is several parts.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Hope you enjoyed these, and found it helpful.
Sincerely,
David
PHOTOS
1, 2, 3 - Detailing of the Coldspot styling.
4 - Frostline developed after months of running at owner's house. Note only 3 passes of evap frosted, with heavy frost?
5, 6 - Frostline after repairs. Notice the frost reaches the suction accumulator (round tank-like part top right of freezer.) Less frost because has only been running a week or so; but the frost covers more of the coil.
7, 8, 9 - New condenser chimney cover. Lost by previous repair shop. Newly cleaned and painted condenser and compressor. New drier.
10, 11 - As-received condition of condenser.
