1959 Frigidaire Will Not Stop Running

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John,
I panicked at first because I thought it would eventually lock up. My tiny 4’11 neighbor and her 15 year old daughter helped me get this beast in here. I have been at our new house alone for the past few weeks. Just my 10 year old daughter and I. My husband and son are wrapping things up at our old rental. My bedroom is in the windowless attic of a 125 year old house and all I can hear in the night is the fridge running. Terrifying! 😂
Once you told me it was ok I calmed down.
It did stop running a few times the first few days, but now it is 24/7. I do not know if the defrost timer works.. I turned the dial until it clicked and the compressor stopped, but then it came back on after a pretty short time. It literally runs non stop all day and night.
I have one more question for you…
the door liner has cracks. My husband said we could maybe line with fiberglass like a boat. Do you have any advice for that? And how do I determine if the seal (s) need to be replaced? They look ok, just a bit moldy.
I do really appreciate all the time you have taken for me.
Anne
 
@john, didn’t some early models have issues with the defrost timer failing/malfunctioning and leaving the defrost heating elements on continuously? Just a thought here. 24/7 compressor runtime can’t be normal unless you’re living in the tropics.

@Anne, have you checked the internal temperatures using thermometers? This would be the first step in troubleshooting, and will tell you if the fridge / freezer are actually getting to proper temperature.

Mine has no defrost, but the bi-monthly defrost chore keeps us from having leftovers growing legs and crawling out. :-)
 
@ cspetros I did check the internal temps a few days ago. The fridge was 38 and the freezer was 0.
I put extra ice cube trays in the freezer and everything has stayed frozen.
I put a bottle of water and several ice packs in the freezer. I also put lots of drinks in the fridge.
The fan behind the freezer seems to be working ok.
The reason I zeroed in on the defrost timer was because I thought the compressor was supposed to shut down twice a day and I have never heard it shut down except shortly after we moved it here.
Also, I noticed a little water under at one point, but I cleaned it up and haven’t seen anymore.
I was waiting for my husband to check it with a mm when he gets here, but he won’t be here for days.
I have turned it twice. I made sure to turn it a complete clockwise turn and it clicks. It stops the compressor briefly, but I do not know if it heated. I sure hope the heater isn’t stuck. How would I check that?
 
I have turned this fridge off at the breaker when checking it. (It is awfully hard to keep moving it to unplug) Is that damaging to do that? And I read power outages can damage it? We live in a small town with it’s own power co. The power goes out kind of often. Should it be on some sort of protector?
 
1959 frostproof Frigidaire refrigerator won't stop runni

Unfortunately, everything seems to be working fine. The only thing you could do is a major sealed system intervention. It could be a little low on refrigerant but most likely it's a weak compressor. Sometimes the filter dryer clogged up a little bit restricting refrigerant flow.

It's very unlikely the defrost heaters are running while the compressor is running, in my career I've only seen that happen a couple times with 1970s GE refrigerators with very cheap Mallory timers. The defrost heaters are far more powerful than the refrigeration system. It will quickly put a halt to any type of cooling. It's kind of like putting your foot on the brakes while you're driving your car the brakes are much more powerful than the engine and you won't go anywhere.

I wouldn't worry about power searches and turning it on and off that won't hurt it nothing wrong with turning it off at the breaker, etc.

If you want to try to resolve this, you might be able to get David from Alabama to do a servicing on the sealed system, he may be able to get it working better, my guess is it would take a new compressor. But sometimes they can be saved with a new filter dryer and recharging.

John
 
I turned the defrost knob until the compressor turned off. It turns off for exactly 10 mins. I did this manually, the timer dial doesn’t appear to be moving on its own at all.
The fridge and freezer are both maintaining temperature. I am thankful for that 🙂
 
Proper defrost timer operation

I would put a little mark on the red knob with a sharpie or something, the knob should make a complete revolution every 12 or 24 hours not sure of the specs on this refrigerator.

When you turn it to the defrost. Were you hear the motor shut off The refrigerator should be drawing electricity. You can check with an amp meter. You should also be able to see a little bit of water coming out of the drain if you empty the pan immediately before doing this see if any water shows up in the pan the timer will turn the refrigerator back on in as little as 10 minutes or as much as 70 minutes, depending on the frost buildup in the freezer section.

If the knob is not moving, the timer is bad this timer had a fail safe system that still turns the compressor back on, so it can't get stuck in defrost, unlike newer refrigerators, where if the timer dies while it's in defrost, the refrigerator never comes back on.

This was a very advanced refrigerator when it was made unfortunately due to its complexity and age it's not likely to be a good every day refrigerator 65 years later early frost free refrigerators were just too complex and too many things to go wrong unless you really wanna go to the mat to keep it working.

John
 
Hi John,
Well, I do not have much help right now because my husband and I have been in two different places, but once we are in the same house it will be easier. He was a mechanic for many years (now in auto production) and they seem kind of similar to old cars. If we could obtain the right parts. I am hanging in for now, but I know I have to be realistic about it.

The service manual has a section on changing out the defrost timer, but I do not know how to find any part numbers to make sure I get the correct replacement. There are several on eBay and they all look pretty much the same.
Anne
 
Hi John,
Could you give me contact info for David from Alabama? I think I should follow your advice and have the system tested/serviced. And I guess I will pull the defrost timer and try to get #s off it. Any idea where I could find a parts list for 1959?
Anne
 
Hi Anne, have you determined the timer is bad yet? Is it moving? Did you mark the knob to see if it's moving if it's not moving it is bad.

It would not be hard to come up with the part number for it, I can do that when I go to work the harder thing might be to find a defrost timer for it. It was not used very long. A clever technician can substitute a modern timer for that one if it's needed.

John
 
Hi John,
I marked the dial. It doesn’t move at all.
It did seem to get a little warm when I turned it manually before, but there wasn’t any water in the pan at all.
I have put the fridge back on a timer running 30 on/15 off and I am able to maintain temp. I just couldn’t take it running all the time.
Will the fact that it isn’t defrosting cause any damage? There is a bit of ice in the freezer, but not a lot.

Anne
 
1959 Frigidaire running all the time

Yes, you definitely have a bad timer if it's not moving eventually heavy frost will build up in the freezer section and could damage the refrigerator eventually but it would take a very long time probably months.

Hopefully David can help. I think he's closer to you geographically, he would be clever enough to figure out how to put a modern timer in this refrigerator. It's not likely you'll find the exact timer but it's possible.
 
Hi John,
David is booked up for the next few months and I will have to arrange a bit of a vacation to get it to Alabama, so I need to figure the defrost timer out now. I am low on funds, paying for two homes while we are finishing a giant move. If anything happened right now it would be a nightmare.

Plus I do not know how long it has been bad. It could have been bad while the previous owner had it. I have only had it a few weeks.

My husband could figure out how to retrofit another one if I had some advice on how to do and which to use.
If I knew the part number I could check for online. I am afraid I do not have much time. I need to do something asap.

Is it easy enough to disconnect the old one and get a part # off of it to see if I could get lucky enough to find one? The service manual has instructions I think.

Anne
 

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