Living With a Vintage Refrigerator?

[danemodsandy]

Hello:

I've been wondering if it's really prudent to rely on a vintage reefer for everyday use. My dream reefer is an early 1960s GE, with the pull-out bottom freezer and the ice maker, as well as the alumimium trim on the freezer front.

BUT- I don't know anything about getting one serviced if it needs it. Are appliance repair guys able to work on these older units still? How problematic is the parts situation? I know some new parts (like cold controls) are available to fit a lot of old units. Or do you need to find a refrigeration guru- some older guy who loves these old units and is still willing to fiddle with them?

Bear in mind that I am not the same kind of collector that some of you are- many of you put together "museums" of different machines, which is great if you have the space. My goal is to put together a set of vintage major appliances, for daily use, and then STOP THERE, LOL. So, I would not have a spare refrigerator or two (or seven) to fall back on if trouble arose with the unit.

Comments, suggestions, tips, tricks, lore, info on pitfalls and guidance are all welcome!

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S.

Just FYI, I grew up with a '59 GE reefer; it was one model below the TOL model with the aluminium trim on the freezer drawer. The freezer on ours was a little smaller than the TOL, and it did not have the trim, but the unit was otherwise identical to the TOL. It served my mom (who is not exactly inclined to coddle appliances) from '59 to the early '80s, though I seem to remember a compressor replacement in there somewhere. This was a year or two before GE made the freezer frost-free on upper-series models, so I well remember the chore of defrosting the freezer, which is an absolute PITA on a bottom freezer- you're standing on your head the whole time. I'd be looking for an all frost-free unit if possible.

 

[dalangdon]

My mom has the BOL GE refrigerator that she and dad bought in 1952 when they got married, and it is still working fine (in the basement, as a beer fridge). It doesn't even need refrosting that often.

Personaly, I have a lovely pink GE Wall mount, and a brutish Coldspot standing freezer, that see daily use, and they just putter along. Aside from an occassional defrosting, they don't cause me much trouble, and they don't really seem to use that much electricity either.

Of course, there are always clunkers to be contended with, but generally, I think they are pretty dependable.

 

[danemodsandy]

AHHHHHHH! The WALL MOUNT!!!

You are SO LUCKY. Those were pictured in the manual for our '59- it showed the full line. I was always intrigued by them.

 

[rp2813]

Sandy, I think unless it's an issue of the exact GE replacement part, most guys who have done refrigeration repairs would be able to fix major problems. If you have Craig's List there that might be one place to put out a feeler.

My uncle worked for GE and bought a brand new home in 1962. It had a coppertone version of the frig you're looking for. It may still be there as he's a very thrifty guy and so is my aunt. I haven't been to his place in years, as he's a very thrifty guy and so is my aunt, but that fridge always caught my attention. Knowing those two, it is still likely in pristine condition.

I admire your efforts to make vintage appliances your daily drivers. Your typical 45+ year old frost free fridge will likely perform just as well as its modern counterpart and probably won't cost a lot to operate.

I don't know how GE designed their defrosting mechanism on their bottom-freezer models but if it was anything like Sears from that period, they put a heater under the floor of the freezer so the condensation that was dripping off the coils during defrost would not freeze on its way to the drain in the middle of the freezer's floor. I retrofitted my sister's Coldspot bottom freezer model that used that system, and the replacement part provided a heated trough that dumped into the drain since replacing the floor heater wasn't a practical solution. I recommend making sure the fridge you end up with doesn't have any self-defrosting issues as they might be costly to fix and parts could be a problem.

Ralph

 

[danemodsandy]

Ralph:

I think GE was already ramping up for total frost-free in '59. The '59 we had was already frost-free in the reefer section; you only had to defrost the freezer. In the freezer, there was a floor drain under the freezer basket; the basket could be removed by pulling it all the way out and lifting up on the front. The freezer door was the front of the basket, so you laid the basket, door and all on the floor to defrost. Then, underneath the floor drain, there was a drip pan. For some reason, the instruction manual recommended that you pour a little water around the drain plug when you were through defrosting and about to restart the refrigerator, so the water would freeze and seal the plug.

So, I'm thinking that they already had a plan at GE to go completely frost-free, since the necessary drain and drip pan were part of the original design. That basic bottom-freezer design was introduced in, I think, 1958, and carried over for quite a few years. They changed the interior fittings a lot (the turnaround shelves got dumped sometime around '61 or '62, I think). And they added sort of a primitive ice-maker. At first, it was a tray unit that swung out on a track and then could be flipped over on a hinge (if memory serves) and dumped into an ice bin. The first iteration of that design was filled from a pitcher filled at the sink.

Then in the mid-1960s, they plumbed the icemaker, so you could dump your ice into the bin and press a button for a refill of water into the tray. My mom's best friend had a 1965 or 1966 model with that feature, in coppertone- may still have it for all I know- she's a thrifty soul, too.

 

[washerboy]

Wall mount

I grew up in a house that had a pink GE wall mount refridg, stove top and wall oven.... all in matching pink. Do they still make counter top fridge? I remember folks would come in the kitchen and after a bit ask "where's your fridge?". Does anyone have any ideal as to why this did'nt catch on?...it did free up space in teh kitchen

 

[danemodsandy]

Washerboy:

I know the wall-mounts were expensive. I've seen a few, and they are ALWAYS in upscale houses of that era, never just a plain-jane subdivision ranchito. I also suspect reliability issues; when I see them, they're usually not working, and someone has shoehorned in a conventional reefer somewhere else in the kitchen. To me, that could mean that someone had one break down, found it too expensive to repair, and then also found that they were difficult to replace- after all, once you've built one in, you've invested in cabinets specifically intended to fit around the reefer. It's sort of like having a wall oven- nice while it works, but replacing one almost always means some carpentry issues. I could be wrong, of course- I've never talked to an original owner about one.

 

[58limited]

I've been wondering if it's really prudent to rely o

I have nothing but 40's and 50's appliances in my kitchen and they all work fine. I have three fridges and one deep freeze (not all in the kitchen of course). The fridges are not pristine, they are missing parts but look and function just fine. See my web page below to see how the old appliances all fit into my kitchen. They all have their original compressors.

The only disclaimer I will give you is that anytime you are using 40+ year old appliances, they can break down at any time. Heck, my friends have had to replace or have serviced their 1 1/2 year old fridge several times - I keep telling them to give up and get a goode ol' reliable 50's model.

http://home.gt.rr.com/limited58/kitchen.htm

 

[exploder3211]

I have never seen a fridge last in our family very long, unless it belonged to my mom (her 83 White Westinghouse unit lasted 21 years)or my aunt (she had one of those very troublesome GE's from the late 80's and it ran for 15 years with no problems.. She gave it away to a neighbor and she still uses it)... I found a wall mount fridge a few years back on the curb and took it home... It worked well for a while, but when i moved back here from FLA, i sold it for $150... Wish i'd a kept it

 

[oxydolfan1]

58....OMG what a BEAUTIFUL kitchen!!!!

 

[mixfinder]

Vintage

I had a Frigidaire Custom Imperial with a bottom freezer made in 1963. It came stunningly clean and perfect and it ran flawlessly for 6 years. We left it, a Flair of the same vintage and A Kitchenaid Superba in the house when we sold it and moved to Seattle.
Kelly

 

[rp2813]

So Sandy, what do you know about the early frostless fridges that had a switch that turned off the evaporator fan whenever the freezer door was opened? Do you know what the logic was behind that? Energy savings? Seems like only frost free models into the early 60's did this and then this on/off action was abandoned.

 

[danemodsandy]

58limited

Wow, VERY impressive retro kitchen- thanks for showing it to us!

I think that little arched cubbyhole in the wall behind your dinette set is a telephone nook- my aunt had one of these in her house when I was a kid. The phone sat in it, and the phone book went on the shelf above. Of course in those days, it only TOOK one shelf for the phone book- now its a big set of books.

 

[northwesty]

I guess it is obvious

But with this vintage stuff there are those items that have been used everyday for a family of 10 and not well taken care of and then there are those that have been hardly used at all. It might take extra effort and money but probably worth it to go get the "new" one. While it is working you can keep your eye open for another of the same vintage to part out.

I suppose it is hit or miss with refrigerators to some extent, but at my wife's family's campsite property there is, I think a 1950 caloric or something refrigerator that has sat outside under a lean-to for about 45 years as the campsite frig, and it still work fine. That stuff from the early 50s was made to last forever. I wouldn't recommend that one for your kitchen, though.

 

[hydralique]

I love my '67 Frigidaire Imperial!

I got this refrigerator in '92, after a lot of looking at used appliance stores for a turquoise bottom freezer unit. It has always worked, but for a few years after purchase it would need to have the coils defrosted under the freezer a couple of times a year. After a lot of experimentation, I realized that the little defrost heater was in the wrong location - I suspect it may not be original as there is no real method of locating it precisely. Once I found the right spot, no more trouble.

I also replaced the interior fan motor (in the freezer section) after it had been noisy for awhile. It is a little square motor, but was available at a local appliance parts store.

 

[sudsmaster]

A main concern about relying upon an older refrigerator is the shortage of the type of freon that older fridges used. The old fluorochlorinated type of refrigerant has been replaced with ozone-friendly versions. The older type is no longer manufactured and supplies are quite tight. Some service outfits have stockpiled what they could get before the ban went into effect last decade... but prices for the older refigerant skyrocketed.

 

[58limited]

I had my 1950 GE recharged after hurricane Rita with one of the newer refrigerants and it works fine. Freezer gets to 10 below zero.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Some opinions of mine:

Old Frost-Free fridges are energy hogs, with the possible exception of the old GE hot-gas-defrost models.

Don't worry about the availablilty of R12, any old fridge that needs the sealed system worked on is not worth fixing (unless you have an extreme sentimental attachment to it).

Natural Draft, non frost-free fridges, are only a hassle to defrost if you wait too long before defrosting.

If a fridge hasn't broken down in the last 50 years, what are the chances of it quitting now?

As long as the entire evaporator is frozen down to the last coil, you do not have a leak or a weak compressor, just that simple.

Ken

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Just wanted to add:
Beware of crooked repairmen that come to the house and go through the actions of adding gas. I had a customer that wanted me to recharge her fridge, her old repairman always filled it up every year and it always ran fine, but he passed away and needed me to fill it. I had no choice but to tell her that he ripped her off every year. There was no tap installed in the suction line, and there was not process fitting (like a GE has). She never called me back, perhaps she found someone else to 'put gas in' for her.

Ken

 

[drmitch]

I got mine about 1999, cleaned and painted it and have had no trouble(except getting my wife to defrost it)!

 

[tumbler]

Old fridges

I've been a commercial refrigeration repairman for over 30 years. A vintage refrigerator is likely to be more reliable than a new one, provided that the refrigeration system itself has never been opened. This can usually be determined by checking for the presence of add-on charging valves, as most units are charged and then sealed at the factory. The problem is that if someone has gone into the system and they're inexperienced or just sloppy, foreign substances like air and moisture can be introduced; these are a death sentence for hermetic compressors. The exception would be the REALLY old units with belt-drive compressors. These have service valves on the compressor itself. However, since the electric motor is outside the refrigerant flow, these systems are not going to be as seriously affected by improper charging procedures. One nice thing about them is that if the motor is bad, it can be easily repaired or replaced. The weak point of belt drive systems is the shaft seal where the drive shaft comes out of the compressor crankcase. Occasionally you'll get one that leaks, and replacements are getting hard to find. If a shaft seal is leaking, there's also a good chance that the bearings are worn as well. Hermetic systems-the ones with sealed compressors-are very sensitive to the presence of air and moisture; if these substances have been introduced into the system by sloppy or inexperienced repairmen, the electric motor in the compressor will likely fail if it hasn't already. Also, older units use R-12, which has been phased out. If you can find it, it's more expensive than cocaine! The last 30-lb. drum I purchased, about 3 years ago, cost me $1100. The "drop-in" substitute, called "Hot-Shot," works o-k, but don't use it if the internal compressor components (like the connecting rod, piston, etc.) is aluminum. Some of the extremely old units (pre 1925-30) use rather hazardous refrigerants; some early G-E "monitor tops" (the picturesque units with the compressor on top) use methyl chloride (poisonous and unobtainable). I got a nasty surprise once when working on an ancient belt-drive commercial box; it was charged with sulfur dioxide. This gas, when it encounters moisture, forms sulfuric acid. This is what happens in your lungs if you breathe it in, and it can be fatal. If working on an old refrigerator, ALWAYS check the nameplate for the type of refrigerant. If there is any doubt, consult an EXPERIENCED mechanic, or just leave it alone. Bottom line; if you have a vintage fridge with a hermetic system which hasn't been opened, it's probably good for the duration; any parts which might fail, like the start relay or thermostat, are easily replaced with universal replacements. If it's a belt drive system and isn't leaking at the shaft, it's also a good bet. Anything else-leave it alone.