Admiral air-conditioner

[paulg]

I am primarily a TV buff. However when I visited the home of an Admiral employee, I came home with two TVs, two phonographs and an air-conditioner.
The air-conditioner appears to be in good physical shape and was still in the home’s window shortly before I received it.
My last, and only restore of an air-conditioner (a 1950’s Philco) was a failure although the unit did run well.
Can any of y’all tell me anything about this unit? I ultimately intend to clean it and use it.
After “broom cleaning” the chassis should I steam it? Power-wash it? Neither?
This is an Admiral “Coronet 90” with the fancy “Comfort-Stat” and wind-whacker feature that blows back and forth. Sorry for the lousy pix. It is in the garage and it is cold today. Summer project.
The plastic window framing cracked and the side accordions are very stiff. Are generic replacements available?
All comments welcome!

 

[DADoES]

 
Close-ups of the controls, please!

 

[paulg]

Controls

Here ya go…

 

[turquoisedude]

Nice!! I had a late 60s Admiral with puhbutton controls more like on a blender than these.  I'd have to guess this one is mid-70s.

Love vintage air-conditioners!!

[this post was last edited: 2/21/2022-14:17]

 

[paulg]

Did some digging

In Admiral’s 1965 Annual Report, they mentioned a similar air-conditioner being offered. However, these features and their respective names may have been used for many years.

 

[circlew]

We had an older Admiral air conditioner, from around '66 - '67, that was in my sister's bedroom. The case was all off-white; no woodgrain. It was used until '73, when central air was installed.

 

[gansky1]

 

 

That's very cool, so many buttons.  Here's a fun rabbit hole for vintage a/c's, yours appears to be from ~1968.  

Vintage Room Air Conditioners

A site for scholarly research on this most overlooked category of appliances. Authored by Kenneth M....

air-conditioner-man.tumblr.com

 

[paulg]

Thanks for the tip Mr. Gansky

Fun site. Lots to learn!

 

[petek]

The first window shaker my folks bought was an Admiral Princess something or other 8 or 9000k but it was pretty basic with no faux wood paneling. That would have been about 1968-69. Had it in the dining room window but it was far too small to adequately cool that and the livingroom. The bedrooms were still hot and muggy as Hades.

 

[paulg]

A PARADE of Princesses

1964, 1965,1966 respectively.

 

[turquoisedude]

Pete, that was mine!  An Admiral Princess - 8000 BTU that an ex-co-worker of my Dad's gave me when I bought my house back in 1989.  She knew I liked "gadgets"... LOL 

 

[circlew]

The one in my sister's bedroom was like photo 2 in reply #9. It says 1965, but I know it was later than that when we got it. It was purchased at a small town dealer, so was probably left over stock.

 

[jamiel]

Do you have the Admiral catalogues physically? Curious about their 50s/60s product lines.

 

[paulg]

No catalogues for air-conditioners.

However I did acquire some Admiral Annual Reports along the way that discussed appliances.
I do have some range and refrigerator spec sheets from the mid 1950’s though. Some TV stuff too from the 1950’s.
These materials did come in handy along the way but I sure wish I had more Admiral sales data from about 1960-1970.

 

[paulg]

Question for the gang

So what is your favorite method of cleaning the guts of a window air-conditioner?

 

[combo52]

Pressure Washer, Remove the cabinet to do a better job and wash back through the condenser.

 

[DADoES]

 
Pressure washers can destroy coil fins so be careful with that, of course.  Saw a video by an HVAC servicer of someone who (he said) had flattened the fins on their central system condensor.

 

[paulg]

Push-button switch assembly quite stiff.

So first I did a rough cleaning and tested the unit. It actually does work. The evaporator fan has a cracked hub but maybe I can generic a replacement or fix the existing one.
However, my question for the day is this:
The push-button switch assembly is stiff. Do any of you have a trick of the trade to get the push-buttons to push in and pop out more smoothly? I have started cleaning the dirt off of the switch and it did help, but I would like to go to the next step.
Much obliged for any ideas!

 

[paulg]

Does anyone have a GEMLINE cross-reference?

The thermostat on this unit is stiff and I found a NOS cheap replacement on EBAY! Yay.
However, the function switch assembly, although working, is rather stiff too.
The part is stamped “ D-17288-1 “. Which probably means that the part number is 17288-1.
Can anyone look up a GEMLINE replacement part number?
Admiral model # 909PB12A.
If I can get a NOS replacement, I’ll probably go for it.
Thanks for any info.
…. And if anyone has the service manual, I’ll be interested in a copy.
Much obliged.