GE fridge from 1984

[willw77]

Hello,

I recently acquired a GE TBF15SC top freezer refrigerator to use as a secondary fridge for drinks and parties where I need to fit trays wider than my other Frigidaire side by side will handle. I thought some here might appreciate it. I'm just curious if anyone has experience with these fridges? I'm also wondering if the compressor Is running too often or not/ or how often it's supposed to run on a fridge of this vintage?

 

[goatfarmer]

They always sold good on the used market.$150-$200 depending on the condition, landlords loved 'em!

 

 

[good-shepherd]

I've seen GE reefers and SXS's like this relegated to the garage still chugging away while the kitchen is on the 3rd fridge since the remodel.

 

[combo52]

Early 80s GE top freezer refrigerator

These were fairly reliable units, you probably got it just before they had their compressor problems, which started in 84 or five.

It should work fine as an overflow refrigerator. As long as you don’t mind how much electricity it uses you could run two new 18 ft.³ refrigerators for the cost of running this one and the new ones keep temperatures much better because they’re better insulated if you ever had a power outage especially.

It is normal for a refrigerator this vintage to run between 50 and 80% of the time in a normal room temperature home of around 70°. refrigerators like this had a time defrost system, and they go through about two defrost cycles a day, they were designed to be the primary refrigerator that was heavily used in a large family, but they don’t adjust to light use so they keep going through defrost cycles twice a day, which is why they don’t keep food as well and run so much.

John

 

[willw77]

RE: combo52

Thanks for the information. Yes, according.to the serial number this was made January of 1984.

I know I could probably get a much more efficient fridge, but this one is kind of nostalgic for me as we had a similar model in our house, then the garage for years when I was growing up. Also living in Oklahoma electricity is still relatively inexpensive compared to Hawaii or the coastal states. If I lived in a higher energy cost area I probably would have got something newer. I also just like old appliances from a design/quality standpoint.

I'm only storing drinks and overflow freezer items that aren't meat in this one so I'm okay with that.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I don't know if you want to bother, but I have seen combo52 exchange the original defrost timer for a once in 24 hours timer when Frost Free refrigerators were consigned to back up duty and the door not opened as often.

 

[willw77]

RE:

I may be interested in a once in 24hr timer if it’s available, it would depend on how much my electric bill is next month I suppose.

I did just notice today that there are pieces of foam coming through the freezer vent. I’m assuming this is insulation from somewhere that got jostled around when I moved the fridge. Is this an issue to worry about? The fridge seems to be functioning fine and is keeping things at appropriate temps.

 

[qsd-dan]

Congrats on your purchase.

If you would have asked me that I would be nostalgic/excited over a 80's fridge 15+ years ago, I would have called you crazy. Times have drastically changed and refrigerators are expensive unreliable junk now, so here we are!

Expect it to outlive several newer fridges in the kitchen and be a Godsend in the process of saving food when it does.

Carefully inspect the door seals and make sure they're clean and in good condition as well as the mating surfaces.

I'd be interested in an up-close shot of the yellow efficiency guide rating sticker if possible.

 

[willw77]

RE: qsd-dan

Thanks. The seals seem to be in decent condition. I might get some seal conditioner just to give the rubber some moisture. I've included a photo of the energy guide as well as the model sticker in the freezer.

 

[philcobendixduo]

Looks a lot like my 1987......

.....GE 23Z refrigerator.

It got the compressor replaced early on under the warranty/recall program.

It lasted until 2011.

 

[qsd-dan]

6.7 cents per KW, the good old days...

If my math crunches right, it appears the average KW cost per year to run this refrigerator is about $60-70 extra compared to a new average fridge. Practically negligible.

 

[viewsaver]

OCD can be a bee-otch

when people leave stickers on an appliance for 40 years. Drives me NUTS. One of my pet peeves is the people that leave the clear plastic film on keypads (microwave, etc.) for years and it's half peeling and all greasy and nasty. Any time I see something like that I derive enormous pleasure from surreptitiously peeling it off.

Chris

 

[combo52]

1984 GE frost free refrigerator

The energy guide for this refrigerator shows that it’s right in the middle of the range for other similar sized refrigerators, it’s amazing how much difference there was in refrigerators that are almost the same size, whirlpool had a super efficient 17 ft.³ model that was around $45 in the early 80s we sold a lot of those

You can upgrade an older refrigerator like this by replacing the evaporator and condenser fan motors with the new ECM electronic ones and if you could find a 24 hour defrost timer you can cut down the amount of times they defrost to about 1/3. This works very well when the refrigerators and light use situations.

Unfortunately there’s not much you can do about the insulation in the cabinet and it’s very expensive to change the compressor to a more efficient one so you’re kind of stuck with the higher power usage otherwise. This refrigerator actually is using about $100 more electricity a year whether or not that significant to anybody that’s up to you. But in six years time you can buy a new refrigerator with the savings.

Hi Chris post number 11, yes I always hate people who leave all those labels and coverings over controls. I’ve ripped off thousands of them when I’m servicing appliances. When I install new appliances, I always take the energy guides off and either put it on the back of the Appliance for future reference or on the customers instruction book for future reference but I hate leaving stuff on the Appliance.

I see you’re into window air conditioners. I’m going to be picking up a really cool 1972 cold spot 11,000 BTU 120 V 12 amp Unit this week it was the last of the Auto dehumidifier models where it had a second condenser behind the evaporator and it had both the humidistat and a thermostat so you could individually control the humidity and temperature in the room, it’s going to get added to our museum .

I’ll try to do a thread about it after I get it with pictures.

John

 

[estesguy]

I purchased a 1983 GE 20cf SXS ice only through the door, when we moved into our new home. I believe the Energy guide on it was $109 at the time. It had what I like to refer to as the GE "lunchbox" compressor, as thats what it looked like to me, lol. We had it until we moved to another home in 2000, and it went to my son, who used it for several more years until I lost track of it. My friend liked mine so much that he bought the exact same model a few years later, but by then GE had started using Panasonic compressors in them.

 

[willw77]

RE: combo52, viewsaver

The sticker does kind of annoy me but it’s also amazing to me it’s been there forty years. I’m debating whether I should take the sticker off just because it’s been there for so long… Didn’t know if the paint would be a whole different shade being covered for 40 years.