New member, just bought a vintage refrigerator

[geamericana]

Hi all, David here, happy to be a new member. I joined up because I love vintage appliances and just bought a great one, a 1965 GE Americana refrigerator. It also came with a 1962 GE Americana range. My sister saw them on FB marketplace, contacted the seller and the next thing I knew, I was on my way to get them, three hours away.
Wasn't sure if the fridge would work but plugged it in late last night, it had to sit upright for 24 hours, and it works perfectly! Quiet and ice cold.
Now I need to get work cleaning this.
It will be fun seeing how the ice maker works. There is a button on the freezer door that says ice, but no idea what it does.
Nothing seems fo be missing, maybe the egg tray? The sliding butter door has a small crack. The ice bucket is still here.
It's going to be fun cleaning it up and using it.

 

[ultrawash]

Welcome!

Hi David, welcome to AW! You'll love it here and congratulations on your new acquisitions!

 

[pulltostart]

David,

Congratulations!  And welcome to AW.  

 

lawrence

 

[vacerator]

Nice!

Also a nice town to live in.

 

[rp2813]

I'm going to take a guess that the "ICE" button is depressed in order for the trays to be filled with water.  IIRC that is what I read in a thread here some time ago, but I have no personal experience with this particular model.

My understanding is that the ice making process isn't entirely automatic, and that in addition to pressing the button to fill the trays, you also have to manually empty them into the bin, but it does eliminate the inconvenience of having to fill the trays yourself at the sink and carefully walk them back and place them in the freezer.

 

 

 

 

 

[geamericana]

I'll be sure to take some pictures of the freezer after I clean it up. The ice tray and filling system looks to all be in good shape, so hopefully I can hook up water to it and see it in action.

 

[goatfarmer]

Welcome!

 

[sudsmaster]

Nice interesting fridge.

However, you might want to check on the energy usage.

I'm guessing it's far above a modern energy efficient refrigerator/freezer. Maybe two to three times more.

Just saying.

Of course, electricity in Texas is probably a lot cheaper than here in California.

 

[appnut]

Welcome David. Another Texan. Yee haw!!! Beautiful set of appliances. I look forward to the progress. And a slightly belated happy birthday!!! And I know a couple of terrific, outstanding gastroenterologists in Wichita Falls!!!

 

[repairguy]

Welcome and congrats on a great find! The Ford is looking sharp as well.

 

[geamericana]

And thanks for the nice welcome!

I've been cleaning on this all day. Still have a little more to do, but it is looking great. Replaced the florescent light bulb for the counter. Still need one additional appliance bulb for the fridge. Three lights in that, one in the freezer.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

Welcome and congratulations! Looking forward to seeing more of these beauties.

 

[ozzie908]

Appliance bulbs

I have an Admiral SxS and swapped the incandescent bulbs for LED's as it uses less energy and keeps it cooler when looking for things in all honesty I have noticed the fridge does not run as often ... Every little helps here the power cost is crazy.

Austin

 

[combo52]

GE Americana Refrigerators 1964-69

Hi David, congratulations on your great vintage finds, We have the exact ref in our museums kitchen, it has been working perfectly for over 6 years since we built out the kitchen.

 

The Ice Button you push as you are opening the freezer drawer if you want the ice shelf to come out. It is just a simple little mechanical latch that engages the handle on the ice shelf.

 

These are great performing Refs, they use about 154 KWs of power a month according to the GE service manual which is about the same as 3 new 15CF Top Freezer Refs today, This is actually pretty good for a Frost Free Ref of this time, When GE came out with the Custom Dispenser SXSs around 1969 these used over 4 times as much power as a new TF Ref.

 

Let me know if you have any problems or questions about this Ref, I also have the same Ref in white in our W Va home and it has been running there perfectly for the nearly 30 years since I found it on the recycle pile.

 

John L.

 

[kevin313]

Welcome to AW!

David - congratulations on your beautiful Americana set!!

There are a lot of good resources here should you need any help, advice, etc.

Enjoy!

 

[geamericana]

Thanks for the info John on the ice button. I'm guessing something broke off and is missing latch-wise.

Good idea on the led lights for inside. Three hot incandescent bulbs heating up the fridge is kind of nutty.

I'll get it all put back together today and take some better pics. It probably won't look as good as that beauty in the museum, but it's pretty good.

Again, thanks to all for the warm welcome.

 

[rp2813]

Hi John, thanks for the detailed shots and information on how the ice button works.  Makes more sense than what I had understood to be its function.