1959 Hotpoint Refrigerator Not Cooling

[combo52]

Bypassing the cold control

Is a good way to test the sealed refrigeration system, at normal room temperature the freezer should get down to 10 to 20 below zero, the refrigerator section should get slightly below freezing should start to freeze water on the top shelf, etc.

John

 

[114jwh]

Mike here is a link to a post from when I was repairing my 56 GE. The first set of pictures includes a chart with specs for various models of generic replacement thermostats. Although Gemline no longer exists, you should be able to find NOS thermostats on eBay. I found that many different aftermarket producers also used the same or similar numbering system for their cold controls so being strategic with your eBay search could produce a better selection of matches.

For mine I believe there were several that had a similar temperature range so I narrowed down the search to the one that had the closest capillary length.

Note that GE owned Hotpoint so that might help for searching the part numbers for your existing thermostat.

Good luck with your search[this post was last edited: 9/7/2023-11:56]

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?90977

 

[rp2813]

I got a NOS Gemline replacement cold control for my '57 GE from Larry at Modern Parts (RIP/Pieces) and it was an easy install.  The control came with a large assortment of brackets, other mounting components and adapters so it could be installed on various makes in addition to GE. 

 

I'm pretty sure I tossed the Gemline box that had the old control in it after the fridge suffered a catastrophic compressor failure and was hauled away, but if I do come across it or the invoice for it, I'll post the part number here.