1958 SEARS COLDSPOT REFRIGERATOR - SAN DIEGO

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Ralph:

"the forced draft condenser coil underneath provided a clean back for counter-depth installation."

That feature came at a price, which we paid.

It was easy to ignore or forget the instruction manual's exhortation to vacuum underneath the unit, with the possible result that the unit would build up heat underneath and damage the refrigeration system.

Since Mom was not exactly a demon housekeeper, our '58 had to have a new compressor around 1964 - out of warranty, at our expense. After that, Mom was very conscientious about vacuuming underneath the unit -

She had me do it once a month, like clockwork.
 
Coldspot 66:

GE later made the same basic design totally frost-free, but this '58 was self-defrost in the fridge compartment only. The freezer had to be manually defrosted - a job which fell to me for fifteen years.
 
My '57 Combination has the forced draft condenser and a frost-ee freezer.  I defrost the freezer two or three times a year and it's a fairly quick and painless process since it has a drain that routes water down to the trough on the rear wall of the refrigerator section and from there into the pan at the bottom in front of the condenser fan.  All I have to do is wipe the freezer interior dry, which is a cinch on a top-freezer model.

 

I vacuum the condenser coils no more often than twice a year and even with my lousy housekeeping habits there's not a lot of dust accumulation on them.  I'd really like to find an original pair of knurled-head screws that secure the front grille.  Being able to remove those by hand would eliminate the need for a socket wrench.  Member "juice61" who joined this site and quickly disappeared after he found what he wanted had a problematic '57 he was going to junk.  I e-mailed him with an inquiry about those screws and he never responded.  :-(
 
Bottom-Freezer Models:

Also had a drain in the freezer floor.

For some reason, the instruction manual advised pouring a bit of water onto the drain plug after defrosting and replacing the drain plug. The water froze in place, of course. Probably something to do with a maximal seal of the plug.

With the plug out, water drained into a pan underneath the unit.

BTW, the bottom grille on the bottom-mount model just snapped into place, like today's refrigerators' grilles do.
 
Interesting thread! I find it amazing that the paint is original.... because the interior color suggests a pink exterior. I like the GE styling for '57..agree with danemodsandy. Who was leading their design team(s) at the time, to have a design that wore well on the eyes, for another 20 years, easily.

That ad showing a sharper image of the coldspot - can't help think of Easter. It's really different, isn't it?
 
Self-Cleaning Condenser

Why has no-one come up with a timed brushing system that does this for you? Is it REALLY that hard to achieve? 

 

Whilst I personally prefer "out of sight, out of mind" condensers that live in the cabinet, my sneaking suspicion is that they impact the refrigerator's performance. Perhaps this is why our F&P Freezer (1999) takes FOREVER to cool off after defrost, but can keep things at a chilly -11ºF (-24ºC) when on the manufacturer's "recommended" setting (and Yes, I've turned it right back to keep around 0ºF/-18ºC). What I usually do, is advance past the defrost on it, so it defrosts only every 24 hours, since we don't really go in there all that often, its a big waste to defrost twice daily (and believe me, it doesn't suffer. I've been around 36hrs without D/F this past day). 
 
Interior Liner Color

I don't think there were ever any color choices for interior liners.  You got what the manufacturer was doing that year.  In the case of my '57, the interior liners for that model year were pink regardless of the exterior color.  The color options for exteriors that year were Canary Yellow, Turquoise Green, Petal Pink, Woodtone Brown, or White.

 

I imagine it was a similar situation with Coldspots.
 
Late 50s Refs

Sandy your parents GE where the compressor died had very or nothing with the lack of condenser cleaning. When GE went to the scotch-yoke compressor design around 1955 they had SEVERE durability problems that GE did not correct till around 1963. Almost EVERY GE refrigerator from this time period that I have ever seen either has had a new compressor or needs a new compressor, LOL. It is one of the first things I check if I am looking at an old GE ref built in this time period for someone to use, this is also true of ALL the GE Wall Refrigerators, I have NEVER seen that has not already had a NEW compressor, usually long ago.

 

Refrigerators did go a little wild with colors in the late 50s, I believe that Ralph is correct in stating that manufactures never let you chose an interior color, they did sometimes change them from year to year however.

 

I remember one customer here in College Park Maryland that a late 50s GE ref in cadet blue with a pink interior and deep green plastic breaker strips around the liner, she commented that one would often loose ones appetite upon oping the door when looking for something to eat, LOL. Some of the possible color combinations were just not that great.
 
John (combo52):

I'm just saying what my parents were told at the time. I remember my dad being particularly angry about the situation, and that may have had something to do with his knowing better. He was a service tech for RCA, and that was the time frame where his service center did repairs for RCA Whirlpool stuff as well, so he may have felt that GE was using this story as an excuse.

At that, he went out of the fire into the frying pan. As you know, RCA and Whirlpool split back off, but then GE got hold of RCA - the Jack Welch era. Let's just say Dad doesn't like to talk about that time in his life.
 
Buying this 58 coldspot.

Hello!
I stumbled across this thread when trying to find more information on a 1958 coldspot. To my surprise I found the exact same refrigerator that I am planning on buying tomorrow. I know next to nothing about these old refrigerators aside from the fact that they are absolutely beautiful.

I was just wondering if any of you had any thoughts about whether or not it's a good idea to buy this refrigerator? Is the asking price reasonable, should I offer less?
I love it but I'm worried about the extra cost of running it, missing parts and the current problem with the leak and rust.

Thank you all in advance for reading this and any help that you can possibly give :)
 
Buying this 58 coldspot.

Hello!
I stumbled across this thread when trying to find more information on a 1958 coldspot. To my surprise I found the exact same refrigerator that I am planning on buying tomorrow. I know next to nothing about these old refrigerators aside from the fact that they are absolutely beautiful.

I was just wondering if any of you had any thoughts about whether or not it's a good idea to buy this refrigerator? Is the asking price reasonable, should I offer less?
I love it but I'm worried about the extra cost of running it, missing parts and the current problem with the leak and rust.

Thank you all in advance for reading this and any help that you can possibly give :)
 
Buying this green 58 coldspot.

Hello!
I stumbled across this thread when trying to find more information on a 1958 coldspot. To my surprise I found the exact same refrigerator that I am planning on buying tomorrow. I know next to nothing about these old refrigerators aside from the fact that they are absolutely beautiful.

I was just wondering if any of you had any thoughts about whether or not it's a good idea to buy this refrigerator? Is the asking price reasonable, should I offer less?
I love it but I'm worried about the extra cost of running it, missing parts and the current problem with the leak and rust.

Thank you all in advance for reading this and any help that you can possibly give :)
 
Buying this green 58 coldspot.

Hello!
I stumbled across this thread when trying to find more information on a 1958 coldspot. To my surprise I found the exact same refrigerator that I am planning on buying tomorrow. I know next to nothing about these old refrigerators aside from the fact that they are absolutely beautiful.

I was just wondering if any of you had any thoughts about whether or not it's a good idea to buy this refrigerator? Is the asking price reasonable, should I offer less?
I love it but I'm worried about the extra cost of running it, missing parts and the current problem with the leak and rust.

Thank you all in advance for reading this and any help that you can possibly give :)
 
Buying this green 58 coldspot.

Hello!
I stumbled across this thread when trying to find more information on a 1958 coldspot. To my surprise I found the exact same refrigerator that I am planning on buying tomorrow. I know next to nothing about these old refrigerators aside from the fact that they are absolutely beautiful.

I was just wondering if any of you had any thoughts about whether or not it's a good idea to buy this refrigerator? Is the asking price reasonable, should I offer less?
I love it but I'm worried about the extra cost of running it, missing parts and the current problem with the leak and rust.

Thank you all in advance for reading this and any help that you can possibly give :)
 
Buying this green 58 coldspot.

Hello!
I stumbled across this thread when trying to find more information on a 1958 coldspot. To my surprise I found the exact same refrigerator that I am planning on buying tomorrow. I know next to nothing about these old refrigerators aside from the fact that they are absolutely beautiful.

I was just wondering if any of you had any thoughts about whether or not it's a good idea to buy this refrigerator? Is the asking price reasonable, should I offer less?
I love it but I'm worried about the extra cost of running it, missing parts and the current problem with the leak and rust.

Thank you all in advance for reading this and any help that you can possibly give :)
 
Buying this green 58 coldspot.

Hello!
I stumbled across this thread when trying to find more information on a 1958 coldspot. To my surprise I found the exact same refrigerator that I am planning on buying tomorrow. I know next to nothing about these old refrigerators aside from the fact that they are absolutely beautiful.

I was just wondering if any of you had any thoughts about whether or not it's a good idea to buy this refrigerator? Is the asking price reasonable, should I offer less?
I love it but I'm worried about the extra cost of running it, missing parts and the current problem with the leak and rust.

Thank you all in advance for reading this and any help that you can possibly give :)
 
Sorry for the repeated posts

I am so sorry about all of the repeated posts!!!

It kept telling me that it didn't post it so I kept trying again and again.
Then I saw that all of them were posted and now I can't delete them.

So so so sorry :(
 
Could be the server update last night had something to do with the message that your posts didn't take.

 

Buying a vintage fridge is always a gamble.  Just the process of loading and transporting it can cause a fridge in perfect working order to develop issues when it reaches its destination.  

 

I think this is the first we've seen of a fridge of this make and model here on AWO.  That's a good indication that parts may be tough to find.  You'll have to keep an eye out for interior and exterior parts.  It's the refrigeration system itself that would be expensive to replace.  You just have to hope it will keep running without issues.

 

I still think the rust on the pictured fridge is a result of not defrosting often enough.  Even with perfect gaskets, you'll get melted water seeping out if enough ice has built up.  The good thing is that the rust is at the bottom where it's not easily visible, and some Rustoleum or other inhibitor should keep it from spreading.

 

If the gaskets are bad, you might be able to find NOS replacements.  Larry at Modern Parts in Parma, OH would be the guy to check with.  They won't be cheap though.

 

It wouldn't hurt to offer less than the asking price.  The leak and rust give you bargaining power, along with the missing front grille at the bottom.  A $75 offer could get you to a $100 sale price, which is a good deal, but if they're firm with $150 that's still not bad for such a nice example of 50's industrial design.  Ask the seller to have it plugged in and cooling when you go to take a look at it.

 

Keep us posted on how you proceed.

[this post was last edited: 3/8/2013-15:31]
 
As far as running costs go..

You will be plesantly surprised, because it is a manual defrost freezer, not only will it keep food better, it will cost very little to run, the energy hogs are the frost free fridges.
 
rust on fridge

First I want to say thank you for the help. I didn't buy the refrigerator yet, I wanted to ask them some questions about the rust first. I got some new pictures of the bottom of the fridge where the rust is. It looks like the freezer opens up with some sort of pedal, not sure though. To me the rust doesn't look that bad but I don't really know much about this kind of stuff.

I just bought an O'Keefe & Merritt stove and the burner for the griddle was completely rusted through. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to replace it. I just don't want to make the same mistake with the refrigerator.

Here are the pictures of the fridge.

coldspot58++3-9-2013-15-21-58.jpg
 
Yeah, that rust is more widespread than the ad copy suggested.  It looks scary, but could just be on the surface.  You really should tilt the fridge backwards so you can see underneath.  It may or may not be something that a good cleaning and a generous application of Rustoleum would fix.  It would be best to remove the molding from around the front of the freezer since it appears there may be some rust behind it that also would need to be treated.

 

Those two protrusions for the leveling feet obviously are supposed to hold a grille.  I'm betting the feet are rusted in place and can't be adjusted anymore, but that can probably be remedied and would be the least of your worries.

 

What I find interesting is that the freezer interior isn't lined with textured aluminum.  It resembles the interior of a frost-free model.  It appears to have a drain opening on the floor.  Is there a removable plug in it?

 

The first picture you posted with the foot pedal shows the gasket isn't sealing at the bottom.  That would explain the water leakage and accumulation of rust.  You might be able to adjust the door latch mechanism to make it close tighter, but that will only help if the gaskets are in good enough shape to provide a seal.

 

I don't know what that powdery white stuff is, but it looks like it has obscured the model information and other specifications.

 

Given the issues this fridge has and the fact that it's missing its grille and some key interior parts, I'm not so sure I'd pay $150 for it.  Would I consider it a candidate for a daily driver in a retro kitchen?  No.  Would it be OK in a garage, a party room or as an overflow/drinks fridge?  Probably.  But -- have you confirmed it operates properly and cools in both sections?  Run away -- don't walk -- if it doesn't.

 

As for the stove you bought, a new thread showed up today with a link to an eBay seller out of Covina who may have the part you need.  Here's the link:

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?45380_0
 
1958 Coldspot Refrigerator

The rust is very serious, the insulation below the freezer floor is almost certainly full of water, this was a common problem with many refrigerators with fiberglass insulation, I would not take this ref for free unless you just want it for the look and might only turn it on for a party.

 

You can also see paint over-spray on metal parts in your new pictures, either the ref is not the original color or someone has already tried to fix a rust problem.

 

As I had said before WP did not come into building a good ref till the mid 1960s, but unfortunately when they went to a Frost Free designs they used way too much electricity to consider using them today, even two door refs like this were not very economical to run. I have been working on appliances for over 40 years and have always though Sears and WP refs from this time period were cool but I have never seen one in good enough condition to save even going back 30+ years.

 

If you are looking for a classic ref that can be used for everyday use you are best off with an older manual defrost single door model, or something from the 1990s and newer and have it painted a cool color.  John
 
Question...

John, could it be a system related issue? Isn't that corroded/rusted plate right about where the system tubing enters the machine cabinet? Maybe I'm thinking of the rust on the Admiral and GE top mounts where the heat exchanger (cap tube) separates from the suction line going up the back of the cabinet and thereby ices up and rusts the area around it...

RCD
 
1958 Coldspot Refrigerator

You are correct Andy that the corroded aluminum plate [ which was the model tag ] was used to cover the refrigerant lines as they came from the inside of the ref and went back under to the compressor and condenser. And yes a badly overcharged system, or more likely a manual defrost ref like this that was left running for years with less than a perfect freezer gasket without defrosting for a few years could cause enough ice on the suction line to cause this type of damage.

 

BUT I will still put my bets on saturated insulation below the freezer, we used to see this when the model tag was this badly corroded, we used to drill or punch holes in the metal shell above the evaporation tray and water would poor and drip out for days. When refs had wet insulation their performance really suffered, especially when the freezer was on the bottom.
 
Cost to fix?

I love the look of the fridge but I don't want to break the bank to get it fixed.
I would need it for everyday use. Do any of you know whether it's problems can be fixed and if so around how much it would cost?
I don't think they are at all willing to come down on the price. And from everything you guys have said the thought of buying it is starting to become less and less likely.
 
It would be costly to fix -- if you could find anyone willing to make the repairs.

 

This is a job for someone who has the skills and abilities to do it themselves, not to mention any parts that might be necessary.

 

If the sellers aren't willing to budge on price, I think you would be wise to pass this machine by.  It doesn't even have all of its shelves and accessories, and odds you'll find a donor fridge are ridiculously long.

 

Since you want a fridge for everyday use, be both patient and vigilant and something complete, in better shape and with a retro look will come along.

 

Keep in mind that if you limit your search to a pre-1960 fridge, you should plan on having to defrost the freezer a few times a year.  If you're willing to go a little newer, you could enjoy the convenience of a completely frost-free system and still have retro exterior color options.
 
See the link for another Coldspot from the same period that belongs to someone I know.

About power consumption, I have plugged my 1963 16 cu-ft Frigidaire frost-free bottom freezer fridge on a wattmeter and for 33 days now, and it averaged a cost of less than 29 cents per day at 7.5 cents per KW/h for a total of $105 per year so far. Not exactly an energy star model but not that bad either... That's with the butter conditioner left to "off" but it still has eletric mullion heaters that work, the original defrost timer that defrost every 12 hours and the original refrigerating unit (a 7/32 hp. rotary compressor), freezer kept at below 0°F and the room temp where it is at 75°F. The numbers shown on the wattmeter pictured below are the number of hours since it's been plugged (unlike newer models with hot gas mullion heaters, the old fridges constantly draw some current when they're plugged because of the electric heaters) and the total consumption since it's been plugged at a rate that I set at 7.5 cents per KW/h (which is the current rate here).

The Coldspot bottom freezer in the link is also being tested with a wattmeter for power consumption but I haven't got the results yet.[this post was last edited: 3/10/2013-04:36]

http://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/150631_203943473077079_714976569_n.jpg
philr++3-10-2013-04-08-44.jpg
 

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