Got a GE combination fridge!

[spacepig]

Thanks to Travis, I was able to purchase the GE combination fridge that I mentioned in the sales forum. It arrived yesterday and I've started cleaning it, but there is a lot left to do. It was working when it left St. Louis, and we'll be plugging it in tomorrow to see if it still works. It's on the homely side, but I'm hoping once it's clean, it will look a little more spiffy.

In the previous thread, Lawrence mentioned that this is a 1955. However, if I read the model number right, it should be a 1951, so I"m not sure what manual to buy in the ephemera section. Any one have any other info?

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www.automaticwasher.org

 

[rp2813]

Travis saves another one!

That's a '55 for sure.  The interior color scheme is a dead give-away.  A '51 wouldn't have the spinning shelves and I don't think they even offered a bottom freezer configuration until '55.  A '51 would also be plain white inside and have no door shelving in the refrigerator section.

 

You'll be surprised at how well it will clean up with some elbow grease, followed by a treatment with car cleaner/wax.

 

Is the large basket for the freezer missing? 

 

By the way, to adjust the shelf height, hold the button in while you rotate the shelf.

 

[spacepig]

Thanks for the additional info.

Yes, the bottom basket is missing, as well as a couple of door shelves, the kick plate, and a hinge cover. Hopefully, those won't be too hard to find. When it got here, it looked to be pale lemon yellow with a greenish brown freezer door, but once I started cleaning, it is looking whiter, and the freezer door is actually grey (which is what Travis suspected).

I've read some of the older threads about cleaning, so I've got a list of Meguiars car products to get. First, we'll see if it still works before investing too much time and energy. Fingers crossed that it still works!

 

[pulltostart]

Jeannine,

Congratulations!  Very cool refrigerator.  Ralph is correct, 1955 was the first year for GE's bottom mount.  I've never seen one quite this close, so I was never sure what the finish was on that freezer door.  I assumed it was a textured aluminum skin - interesting that it's just painted?

 

Be sure to include more photos after you get her shiny and cold.

 

lawrence

 

[goatfarmer]

Looks good!

 

[spacepig]

IT WORKS!!!

Plugged it in earlier today and put it on the coldest setting. After a few hours, the refrigerator was at 25 degrees and the freezer got down to 0. We moved the setting a little because it's a little too cold, and we'll let it run overnight.

I bought all the car products earlier today, but spent most of my time cleaning the inside. While the colors are not my first choice, I still think it's quite lovely. Hopefully a cleaning and polishing on the outside will help it look a little more snazzy.

 

[ea56]

Jeannine,

that is one mighty beautiful vintage GE fridge! And your cleaning of the interior and exterior is impressive. I'm sure that there are few of these bottom freezer combos around that can hold a candle to yours. And the fact that it is working so well too is just the cherry on the sundae. Good for you! Hope you'll get lots of enjoyment and use out of this beauty.
Eddie

 

[spacepig]

Thank you, Eddie.

I could have done a better job on cleaning the revolving shelves, but they are clean enough. The crud is off of them for sure, but they could use a good polish with a metal cleaner. I primarily used Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and Windex. I'll probably try a little baking soda tomorrow on some of the stubborn rust spots and see if I can't get those to disappear completely.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

What a gorgeous refrigerator! Never seen a '55 GE combo before. It looks immaculate inside. One question, I noticed you have a CFL bulb inside. Is it working? I ask because CFL's supposedly don't work in the cold. Anyway congratulations on the save!

 

[spacepig]

Those light bulbs were in there when we got the fridge, and I didn't think anything of them. They are working with the cold just fine. However, I did take them out since they really don't belong. Will pick up some more appropriate appliance bulbs tomorrow--thanks for noticing that!

 

[pulltostart]

Great job, Jeanine!  That interior just looks fantastic.

 

lawrence

 

[ovrphil]

Excellent!

Congratulations! My parents had something similar, but the memory is vague...all I remember were the rotating shelves and as Ralph mentioned, holding in the button ...

Happy Cooling!
Phil

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Thanks Jeannine. I had always wondered about CFL's and the cold. Can't wait to see this beauty all done!

 

[mattl]

I just noticed GE is selling LED bulbs rated for refrigerators and microwaves too - but not ovens.  Odds are I will replace my fridge's bulbs with LED when the time comes.  But I agree the CFLs have to go...

 

[fisherpaykel]

GE Innovations Wow!

Wow! Very nice. 5 shelves, 3 swivel out, door pedal, 2 flip down/up bottle racks. Is the only innovation today cheapening products and occasionally bringing back one or two features from the past?

 

[spacepig]

Since we decided to go with retro appliances, we've been amazed at how innovative and ahead of their time they were. Not to mention, how cool they looked compared to some of today's appliances.

 

[spacepig]

So we've run into a problem.

For now, we've got the refrigerator on the back porch, making sure that everything is good to go before we bring into the house. I went out there to check the temp inside and ended up getting shocked by the door handle. It never happened before, but I always had shoes on, and this time I was barefoot (floor is concrete). I put some shoes on and didn't feel any shock. Got the voltmeter out to test, and sure enough, there's about 5 volts coming out of the handle and other chrome pieces.

We disconnected the wires to the butter keeper since those are inside the front door, but that didn't change anything.

Has anyone experienced this before, and if so, what did you do to fix it?

 

[rp2813]

The fridge itself isn't grounded (presuming it has its original two-prong plug), so that's the problem.  Bare feet on concrete is a textbook circumstance for shock potential. 

 

I remember childhood friends who had a beater TV on a tile floor in a room that was originally built as a sun porch, so there was likely no wood sub-floor under the tile.  The set's on/off knob was missing, so there was just a metal post.  If you had bare feet, you'd get shocked trying to turn the TV on or off.

 

I also had an old Westinghouse front load washer on a concrete floor in the garage of a home I was renting.  The girl who lived in the in-law unit behind the garage was afraid to use the washer because it had shocked her, likely because she was barefooted. 

 

You can look into grounding the fridge if it's not opening up a can of worms to give it a new 3-prong cord, or you might not have any issues with it as is once it's inside the house.  I have a '57 Combination with original two-prong plug.  It's on a tile floor, and I've had no problems in bare feet because there's a wood sub-floor underneath.

 

[spacepig]

Thank you, Ralph

It does have the original 2 prong plug so that makes sense. Per the schematics on the back, the plug goes up to the top of the freezer, so it looks like we would have to take the entire back off of the fridge in order to replace it.

We have vinyl flooring on top of a wood sub floor, so hopefully that will help. We may try getting a piece of plywood under it as it is now and see if that will take care of it.