Repairs to 1965 Coldspot fridge....

[turbokinetic]

Got a project going on! It's a 1965 Coldspot. Frostless, with ice maker!

 

This belongs to a fellow enthusiast who purchased it nonworking and brought it to my place to get checked out. Be sure to check the video link to YouTube. I took few pictures but the video has lots of details. In the video, I diagnose the compressor, check out the defrost timer (wrong part installed) and make plans to address the icemaker.

 

Thanks to this forum and especially John L for his info on the defrost timer selection. Someone had put a 6 hour timer in this one!

 

Also; all the parts are present. I specifically asked him not to bring all the parts which could be removed to make transport safer. 

 

Sincerely,

David

 

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[repairguy]

Great as always!

 

[wayupnorth]

I had a Coldspot 16 Spacemaster in the same coppertone. Great fridge, even had a butter warmer. Sold all the appliances with the place.

 

[rp2813]

David, I'm not surprised that the compressor was fine and that this portion of the job was an easy fix.

 

I'm looking forward to the ice maker portion.

 

I would love to own a fridge like this one.

 

[combo52]

Fixing a 1965 cold spot refrigerator

Great video as always David.

I worked on many of these brings back a lot of good memories, these originally had a 12 hour timer that allowed a 21 minute defrost. So they defrosted twice a day however once a day defrost would probably be enough.

This is a Seager designed rotary compressor whirlpool continued making these through 1984 with the start capacitor they will always restart instantly they do not need to allow the high and low side to balance out.

The water valve that somebody put in there for the icemaker is actually fairly new it might be fine I wouldn’t worry about it.

Hopefully the icemaker should still work I still have some of those around if you need any parts or anything for it.

John L

 

[rp2813]

John, the defrost interval of 20 minutes is the same on my mom's 19 cf Coldspot SxS, which was ten years newer.  I don't know if the '65 models still used a heated trough to route the condensate to the drain like the early frost free Coldspot BF models did, but would I be correct in thinking the longer defrost period may have had something to do with making sure the condensate didn't refreeze on its way toward the drain?

 

[mattl]

I have a long slot Kitchen aid that Kelly gifted me with well over a decade ago -still working well.  Don't think KA still makes them but it's a good performer.

 

[turbokinetic]

John, and others - thanks for the comments!  I appreciate the feedback on the timer.  This timer has an adjustable cycle time, so I can dial it in for 20 minutes!  

I did work on the icemaker yesterday and made a video about that which I will share. It seems functional, but I relubricated it. Amazingly well made piece of equipment.  

You're probably correct about the valve, but I already ordered a new one. This fridge is going home to a faraway land when it's done here, so I don't want to take any chances.  Also, I have a time relay to install in the water valve circuit, to provide a hard limit to the water filling time. This will allow easy adjustment of ice cube size, as well as provide a safety backup in the case that the icemaker limit switches fail and maintain power on the water valve too long. This will ensure that no water damage happens to the owner's home. 

 

Check the YouTube link for lots of details and a deep look at how the icemaker works. I am reasonably sure modern icemakers still operate on this principle.  

 

[repairguy]

It’s so nice to see someone so into these things these days that they do such a good job.

 

[turbokinetic]

Thank you Melvin!

 

[retro-man]

Always in awe at your level of work that you put into your repairs. When you turned on the whole unit at the end, it sounded like a new fridge coming to life. Good for another 50 years.

Jon

 

[turbokinetic]

Another video!

Got it working! In this video I explain the timer and how it can be used to set the ice cube tray fill level, as well as prevent overflow in the event of an icemaker jam.

 

 

 

 

 

[combo52]

Very clever repairs Dave as usual

The auxiliary timer for the water inlet valve it’s not really necessary, the icemaker itself has an adjustment for fill level, and the inlet valve you used as a limiting design it will only run for a minute before the coil will go open permanently so there’s no chance of a great flood with modern inlet valves.

When adjusting the initial fill level on an icemaker like this it’s best to adjust it to the low side because each time it makes a batch of ice a small amount of water stays in the mold that melts otherwise you tend to get an overfill condition.

I would also recommend if someone wants to add a water filter to a fridge not to put it in the hot air discharge area it should be in front of the condenser not on the discharge the filter might build up bacteria as it starts to fail in a hot environment.

It’s really need to see one of these early icemakers an operation I still have some parts for these, the drive coupling between the drive motor and ejector blade used to crack in them what’s the biggest problem that we saw with them otherwise they were pretty rugged units.

Great job as always John

 

[rp2813]

Impressive job as always, David!

 

It's clear that only the most hopelessly catastrophic of failures will have you declaring a vintage refrigerator or key component of one to be a lost cause.  Have you considered donating tissue for cloning purposes?

 

 

 

[turbokinetic]

Ralph, I appreciate your vote of confidence! 

 

John, thanks for your input on this.  The icemaker does have some adjustment for the water level based on the position of the switch at the cam. It seemed to be quite limited in how much adjustment was available. That could be due to age and plastic shrinkage, maybe. It doesn't have an external adjustment that I can find like my modern fridge icemaker has. By positioning the switch at the limit, it was able to have a minimum of about 11 seconds, but at the other extreme the switch wouldn't turn on the water at all.

 

I don't have a way to know what the flow rate of the original valve was, nor the water pressure at the owner's home. I expect the original valve had a very small orifice in it, based on the time cycle provided by the switches.

 

Being an industrial controls engineer, use of a timer is a very easy way for me to ensure it's easily adjustable for the owner, without having to open up the icemaker.  It eliminates the risk of my explaining the adjustment of the switch to a less technical person. That risk is of the procedure getting misunderstood, and resulting in broken (irreplaceable) parts; or a burned solenoid, or water damage. 

 

The valve I ordered was listed for a commercial ice machine, so I'm not entirely sure it would burn out in a matter of minutes. I hadn't considered that possibility, but it makes sense that would be a manufacturer's safety mechanism for home ice makers. This valve was inexpensive, had a mounting bracket; fit the space and accepts polyflow tubing without any additional fittings.  All of the "home fridge" valves I could get from the supplier I use were dual valves, or very expensive, or had no bracket, or some other detractor which would have made the install harder. 

 

Sincerely,

David