John L.; thanks for the kind words about the Frigidaire repair! I also like the Seeger rotary compressors. They seem to always work. You don't see as many of then today as you used to I'm sure - but I have yet to encounter a vintage fridge with a bad one.
I'm currently working on an even earlier Sunbeam rotary compressor which, if I am not mistaken, is the design which Seeger acquired and used to design their hermetic rotary around. This one is open-drive. It is direct coupled to a GE motor; with everything inline; condenser fan on one end; motor in the center; and the rotary compressor on the other end. This one is part of a 30's Bohn Electric Icebox I am fixing for a friend. As with most of the SO2 era things, the seal was unserviceable after sitting as a static display for decades.
Here is part one in that video series.
Also, ran into one of the GE wear-out compressors last week. It was a 50's apartment size fridge. Would pump but not produce low enough evaporator pressure to freeze. I did the unthinkable and installed a salvaged modern compressor in it. This fridge is a "flipper" I was given for free. It's too nice to trash, because the compressor died early and the cabinet didn't see much use. But, it's got surface rust and not worth repainting. So I got it going with a compressor from my friend's junk appliances stash. He rents out properties and any abandoned or crap appliances get taken to a farm where we part them out. I was able to find a similar sized fridge with a static cooled condenser, so that compressor got re-deployed LOL.
Surprisingly, I have never had trouble selling rusty examples locally. Rewired and sold with a guarantee, they seem to be easy to move on. I'm hoping this repair will allow me to move this on to a new owner instead of the junk heap.
Supersuds John - Thanks for the information on the energy use. I wonder how much of that difference was due to compressor efficiency versus cabinet insulation? The Seeger rotary on the Coldspots seems to use very little power; similar to the Frigidaire. Both designs use about 150W while running. That is no indication of total energy cost, because it doesn't factor duty-cycle.
I have noticed, though, that the Coldspot doesn't seem to have as good of cabinet insulation. Right now I have two Coldspots, a Westinghouse, and the Frigidaire from this video all test running. We've had some warm and humid weather. During those days, the Coldspots both have condensation on the exterior on a larger area than the others. The Frigidaire has hardly any condensation, which would indicate to me that the insulation is doing a better job keeping the cabinet exterior from being colder than the room temperature. That is in contrast to the Coldspot which has about 20% of the side sweating. One of the two Coldspots I had the cooling system out of it for repairs. When the lines went back in the cabinet, I added more fiberglass insulation stuffing to the left side of the cabinet, in the area where the lines displaced the original. Interestingly, that one area on that Coldspot has no condensation. There's a dry patch where the new insulation is located. Makes you wonder.....
