LOL!!! What I found in my '56 Frigidaire

[travis]

Yes, I am in St. Louis. I know a great deal about these things. I do know that the compressor should be free to bounce on the springs. If that clamp has it locked down tight, then that's where the noise is coming from. Of course it will get quieter when you push it against the wall since your ears are farther away from it there.

On the stove, hook it up and sniff around a bit. There really aren't people dedicated to repairing vintage appliances. It can be very time consuming to find parts and repair this stuff.

If you need a hand, let me know.

 

[bugsyjones]

GREAT fridge! Love the pink.

That range is pretty sexy. Almost as much chrome as a Cadillac.

I was thinking about getting a vintage Gas range, but Propane is getting expensive and I couldn't afford the constant pilot burning. As soon as I get time to do it, I'm replacing my P.O.S 2001 GE gas range with a '62 Frigidaire Flair 30".

~Tim

 

[weed30]

Letting you know!!! I will gladly pay you for your time, or cook you something fabulous!

 

[sensi-temp]

Defrosting frig

Generally, if you turn the dial to defrost before going to bed & back to regular setting, will defrost overnight. It depends on brand & how much frost has built up on time needed to be on defrost. Ice cream might get soft & you will have to check where water drains to prevent a flood. On vintage GE & Hotpoint refrigerators with the freezer up in the top of the refrigerator (one door) you just turn them to defrost & after a few hours check to see if they are defrosted. Water drips down into glass or plastic tray below freezer.

 

[panthera]

FInding people to work on vintage appliances

isn't too hard - you are a member of the club which has the greatest number of experts on pre 1985 appliances in the world!

So just keep posting. I've found it works best to write to people directly as not everybody has time to read every forum every day.

I agree that the clamp is a sign there was a noise/vibration problem. It can't be holding the freon in, so removing it shouldn't cause any irresolvable problems. A few things I'd suggest - I'm not one of the experts here, but have worked on quite a few pre-1960's refrigerators:

1) The insulation on the electrical wires is often bad. You can get shocked or the unit damaged if there's a short. So be careful.
2) There are a lot of parts which are very close to each other, those springs soak up vibration well, but it doesn't take much to cause things to bounce off each other. Take a thin piece of foam (weather stripping) and try placing it between parts near the compressor which are close to each other while the unit is running and being noisy. Ditto the back of the refrigerator. Are the coils loose? Is there another aluminum something stuck in there?! Check for loose parts everywhere, especially parts which clamp things down or together.
3) Flowing cold was helped by a small motor driving that squirrel cage fan. The fan can get loud, the motor can run dry and squeal, things get stuck in there...it's an easy and cheap fix.
4) Leveling is super important.