Has anyone ever recharged or had the freon recharged in a vintage fridge?

[frogkid11]

Hi everyone,
My 1961 Frigidaire FPI-15B is not cooling as well lately and I'm wondering if it's just needing a charge of freon. Has anyone ever checked or had their levels checked in your vintage fridge? Do you know if it's possible to have a current appliance repair specialist check out the levels on a vintage fridge? I've heard that just checking the levels requires some standard equipment and shouldn't be a problem but wanted to ask the experts here.

Is there anything I can do, as a non-appliance specialist, to confirm the level is low? I've done some of the usual stuff like making the sure the unit isn't overstuffed, checked the door seals, etc.

Any help or experienced story is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[sudsmaster]

Back in the 1980's I was renting a flat with an older fridge. It started making noise, so the landlady called in a repair guy, who said he was recharging the freon. That seemed to have fixed that problem.

Sorry, can't remember what brand that fridge was. It was an average sized top freezer unit, though.

Older fridges use a form of Freon that has been phased out. There are still supplies of it for recharging but I understand their price has shot up due to the fact that it's no longer being manufactured. At some point it may be more economical to replace the fridge than recharge it. Esp since modern fridges tend to be far more energy efficient than older ones, esp if the older unit is "frost free".

 

[fridgenut]

Frogkid11

I know a fair bit about fridges. Please give us more information about your Frigidaire. Is it a frost free model with a fan in the freezer or is it a manual defrost model. At any rate these old fridges rarely leak out unless they have been abused in some way. Also, could you take a picture of the compressor where the wires enter through the electrical terminals? That will tell me if your meter miser has the old leak prone type of seals or the later type that almost never has issues. When did this problem start? Did it just stop cooling all of a sudden or was it more of a slow process? The more information you can give me the better.

 

[funktionalart]

Really timely thread--my 1963 Frigidaire FPI-16b started this same problem yesterday. Began running at 50 degrees in the refrigeration section and today is at 58. Was wondering about Freon as well, until I began thinking about the fact that the cold control/thermostat could be going/gone…OR even that bellows-controlled air flap behind the meat tenders might be suspect.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread to see what everyone posts--but for the Frigidaire Frost Proof 1960s models, I'm sure PhilR will have some good commentary to help out!

 

[goatfarmer]

R12 is near impossible to purchase, without a bank loan. There are several drop in replacements available, finding someone to do the work might be an issue.

 

[fridgenut]

Funktionalart

How is the temperature holding up in the freezer section? That will be very telling.

 

[frogkid11]

Info about my fridge for Raymond....and message to Allen

Hey Raymond, The 1961 Fridgidaire FPI-15B label tells a lot about it - let me decipher it: the "FP" is frost-proof and the "I" is Imperial. The 15B tells you that it is a bottom freezer unit. This model was top of the line back in 1961 being the largest in capacity and offering the most "options". I acquired the fridge a little over 2 years ago (I believe if my memory serves me right) and she is pristine - looked like no one ever used it when I purchased it. It has run perfectly and I've only had to replace the defrost timer and found one easily on eBay and the switch out was very easy. I always keep a thermostat in her to constantly monitor the temperature and she only in the last two weeks has not "bounced back" from times when the temp would run a little high. It tends to run a little higher when I refill groceries or have a lot of leftovers to store after a big dinner. For about a week now, the temp is hovering around 45 degrees; whereas, it had been easily just a little lower than 40 degrees constantly - showing in the range of acceptable for a refrigerator. I'm not sure that it has a freon leak as I have moved locations or done anything to really jeopardize the system.

Hey Allen, yeah I am hoping Phil will see this and comment. I'm truly hoping it's just a thermostat going bad or some other easy part like that. I'm not willing to give up on this fridge as it matches my Frigidaire Flair perfectly and I'd rather spend the money to fix this one than spend between $900-$2000 on a new, completely ugly fridge. I know you get this because your 63 is a beaut! Tag a long and we'll see what comes our way - good luck and keep us posted on how yours comes along.

 

[lorainfurniture]

Refrigerant

1. If you can get your eyeballs on the evaporator, that's the coils that get cold. You should see a nice, evenish frost pattern throughout.

2. Measure the temperature of the condenser, a bit tricky if it's the big one that spans the whole rear of the fridge. Ideal condenser temps is around 30 degrees above ambient.

3. Oil, oily joints, and highly corroded pipes and connections are indicators of a leak.

What is the temperature of the freezer?

R12 can be purchased on eBay for about 30 bucks a pound.

 

[fridgenut]

Lorainfurniture...

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I'm wondering if there is something wrong with either the fan or the defrost system. Either problem will cause high temps in both sections and a frosted over evaporator coil. If you take off the back freezer panel and see the evaporator coil it should have an even, yet thin coating of frost on it. If it is only frosted for a section of the coil and the rest is bare...you've got a leak.

Frogkid11,

Thank you for the information. I would definitely poke around behind the freezer cover and see what the evaporator coil looks like. I doubt your defrost timer is bad again but your heating element could have gone out. Is the fan still pumping out a healthy amount of air? That will tell us a lot too. And lastly, the temperature of the freezer will tell us A LOT. It may just be as simple as a damper problem going from the freezer to the fridge section.

 

[philr]

The freezer temp would tell a lot. Does the compressor ever cycle off other than during the defrost periods? The 1961 and 1963 refrigerators have a quite different cooling system, the 1961 has a cold plate in the refrigerator section (hidden behind the liner) and it has a fan that moves air from behind the drawers to behind the light shade at the top. The first thing to check is the fan operation in the refrigerator section and also to see if there's airflow there. The fan in the refrigerator section should run constantly if the temperature is above 40 in the fridge. I won't start telling all what could go wrong to cause temperature problems but I'd ask you to check first for the fan operation and airflow in the refrigerator and freezer sections. Also, tell me if the compressor pauses for long times or if it's running almost constantly.

Allen, how about your 1963, you have a single fan in yours and an airflow control in your fridge as you told in your post, but what does it do exactly? What's the temp in the freezer, how about the airflow in both the fridge and freezer section? If you want to look deeper, what's the frost pattern on the evaporator? The defrost heater still works I assume? You checked the freezer floor temperature with your hands while it defrosts?