Servel Propane Refrigerator

[austinado16]

Back in Nov. I picked up a Model S-600 propane powered Servel fridge. It was still in use in a rural cabin. I'd never seen one before, so it's pretty cool.

I'm familiar with propane powered absorption refrigerators because I service them in camping trailers. But I've never had one that's this large!

Anyway, the people that bought it from me couldn't get it working, and brought it back yesterday so I could have a look at it. They'd knocked the propane burner out of the burner tube, and looks like they've been handling the entire fridge pretty rough.

It's up and running and making great cold. The freezer started feeling cold in about 2-1/2hrs of run time, and at 4hrs it was making good cold in the fridge. I've got a cup of water in the freezer right now making ice.

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:

 

[58limited]

Nice fridge. I've got the S-800 model. Its missing the freezer door.

 

[austinado16]

What's the difference between the 800 and the 600? Maybe I should go read my badges again......mine might be an 800?

Does yours still work?

 

[58limited]

From what I can tell on my salesman's display unit with picture cards, the S-800 is wider. It still works but needs a door gasket, paint, and the racks need cleaning.

 

Here's the interior.

 

[austinado16]

Thanks for the interior picture, wish mine was complete.

Nope, mine is a 600.

Just checked my freezer, and the cup of water is about 50% frozen already. End of test, it works perfect.

Do you have any photos of your burner assembly that you could share? I'd like to compare with how this one is set up since I've never seen one. And what's the angled piece of sheetmetal for, there on the right side? Is a mirror supposed to be glued to it so you can check your flame pattern? Or see if the flame is lit?

 

[58limited]

Here is the sales demo unit. It has a small fridge with a carrying case and flash cards. It also has a glass tube with a red liquid in it visible through the back. The salesman would light a match under the tube to make the liquid vaporize and thus demonstrate, in a simplified manner, how a gas fridge works.

 

[58limited]

I think you have it correct, the metal was either polished or had a mirror glued to it to view the flame.

 

I don't have any pics of my burner unit and the fridge is stored behind a few boxes right now. But, I think it is the same as yours. The 600 and 800 were made in the late 1940s and are the same except for the cubic footage.

 

[austinado16]

Very cool display items!

If you can take a shot of the burner, that would be nice to see. I'd like to see that this one is assembled properly.

 

[58limited]

If my memory serves, yours looks correct. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow.

 

I just acquired another drawer for mine. It was listed as "Old GE fridge drawer" on ebay (and looked like what should go in my '52 GE) and I got it for a couple of bucks. When it arrived, I realized it was not for my GE, but was an exact match for the Servel. Some of my flash cards show these fridges with three big drawers - one sits up on one of the shelves.

 

I scanned all of the flash cards awhile back, I'm looking for them now to post.

 

I got this nifty accessory off of ebay a few years ago, a Servel butter warmer. The front says "Servel" on it:

 

[austinado16]

Was gonna ask about the flash cards.

Wow....score on the butter warmer! Reminds me that I need to be more vigilent about looking for Philco stuff for my '52. I've already scored some spares for it, and it'd be nice to find more.

I cracked up when I lit the burner today.....it's like a blue blow torch. Took it about 30min before it started making heat up at the top of the condensor coils, and it wasn't long before that heat started to creep down the tubes.

Something about absorption fridges puts a smile on my face. Just an amazing piece of enginuity.

 

[toploader55]

Serval

On the North Side of Cape Cod there is Peninsula called Sandy Neck. Along time ago (1940s-1950s) there was a Girl's Camp. Over the years, Parcels of land got sold off. There has never been any Electricity out there. A few Underwater Phone Lines and unless you have a Generator the only Utility there is Liquid Propane which runs Serval Refridgerators and Gas Lights.

 

[toploader55]

Another Picture

To the left of the Lighthouse

 

[58limited]

Here are the flash cards:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[58limited]

Here's some pics of the demo unit:

 

The demo unit as packed

 

 

Flash cards for the front

 

 

Flash cards for the back

 

 

The  vapor demo

 

 

All of the cards plus a schematic of the "plumbing" printed onto the fridge. The right of the schematic: the vertical part is slotted into the metal of the demo unit, allowing you to see the gas vapor in the glass demo tube when you shine a light from behind.

 

 

[austinado16]

Those are a treasure!

Thanks for posting those. Very cool.

Wish I had the badge for the front door. It kills me that it's missing (it was missing when I picked it up originally).

 

[58limited]

Eddie, Interesting that Sandy Neck has no electricity and still uses gas lights. My mom is from near there (Scituate, actually) and the times I've visited, I noticed most people in Mass. do not have A/C. I guess those living on Sandy Neck have lights, gas stoves, and gas fridges so you don't really need much else. I could live without TV, but radio would be nice to have. I bet a wind generator would be a good accessory to have.

 

[rp2813]

When I was around 17, I stayed in a remote un-electrified cabin that had a propane fridge, presumably a Servel. It was strictly gas and had no light inside the cabinet. This caused me to assume all gas fridges would lack an interior light considering that they'd be used primarily in applications where electricity was unavailable.

 

The Servels pictured above and the literature about them has made me realize that they were also being marketed for regular household use. So is there anything else besides the light bulb that requires a power source? Is the cord just a 14 gauge or a heavier one as found on electric fridges?

 

[toploader55]

Oh God , the Dreaded WG words

The Summer people that live out there have Battery Powered Radios. And most of them have them just to keep up with Current Events. Mostly Everyone enjoys the Peace and Tranquility.
The Wind Turbine Issue is always in the News. The have been trying to put a Wind Farm out in Nantucket Sound for the past 8-10 years. The Biggest Issues are to preserve the Natural Beauty of the Cape and the Islands. There are a few Wind Turbines on the Cape, and let me tell you, the neighboring residents are screaming and kicking their heals about it. I personally would not want to see Turbines Out on Sandy Neck.
The Historic and Preservation Societies here actually have juristiction over what color your house should be painted or Shingled. Any structure on The Old King's Highway (which is also known as Route 6A and also is known as Main Street when you get to the Villages) and any structure North of 6A towards Cape Cod Bay is also in that category. It really is a good thing though. That the 200-300 year old Captain's Homes are even controlled over renovation changes to the Original Foot Prints of the homes. Also this type of "control" keeps these Beautiful Homes from being painted Purple or Orange should they fall into the wrong hands. It does keep the Charm and the Authenticity of what the Cape was years ago.
I am sure if you drove down 6A from it's start in Sandwich down though Barnstable, YarmouthPort, Dennis, Brewster and Orleans I'm sure you would agree that is probably one of the Most Beautiful Roads in this country. That's why I've been here for 36 years.
I've spent a few nights out on the "Neck". It's almost surreal. Neighbors just talking on the beach, sharing stories and supper and all you hear is the waters of Barnstable Harbor just lapping at the Shoreline. And there is nothing like a gust of wind when you are in the Outhouse. That updraft is surely an experience !!! There is no Indoor Plumbing as well. The homes have the old Hand Pumps at the kitchen sink, and water for washing dishes is heated on the stove. Showers are done by the use of "Sun Showers" or Cisterns that sit in the sun for a Barely Warm shower.
This picture is a 1928 Commitee Boat from the Martha's Vineyard Yacht Club moored in Barnstable Harbor. A Good Friend of mine's Dad and he restored the boat about 3 years ago. They got it for free from Martha's Vineyard Yacht Club as they were going to "Destroy her" as they had no interst in preserving the boat. It was a 3 year restoration that turned out just Beautiful. The boat was renamed after Ian's Grandfather. The Leo Sylvester.

Sorry... didn't mean to hiJack the thread. See what a Serval can do !!!

 

[austinado16]

The interior light is fed via a "normal" gauge 2 wire electrical cord. It's about like lamp cord.

 

[112561]

As much as I love all my electric things, a trip or better to Sandy Neck sounds like heaven on earth! And I love how they insist how you NOT destroy the original homes there!

 

[goatfarmer]

Great pics of the Servel salesman's kit!

 

[58limited]

Eddie, I wasn't talking about putting up a wind farm, just one of the small turbines to run a radio and a maybe a fan on a hot day, although those houses were designed to maximize the sea breeze for cooling. I think the big wind farms are ugly. Those small generators can be taken down when not in use, but I can see how they would be an eyesore when in use. Plus, they are quiet. You don't have to listen to someone's gas or propane powered generator running.

 

I'm glad the preservation societies have so much control over those old houses, really keeps the historical accuracy and ambiance. Living that way has a certain attraction to me, but doing without indoor plumbing would be a challenge for me.

 

The light house is beautiful, does it still have the original lens? Do those houses get damaged during storms? The coastal houses and light house in Scituate suffered damage during the storm of 1991 (called the "no name" storm by the locals there who refuse to use the terms "Perfect Storm" from the Hollywood movie about it).

 

[58limited]

Here is the burner area. Due to stuff piled around, this is the only angle I can get. The burner area on yours looks identical to mine. I'm going to have to do a lot of clean-up down here. This fridge was in the garage when Hurricane Ike hit and 13" of salt water ran through the garage (actually, there is a slight slope and the water piled up at the doors, it was probably 8" deep where the fridge was sitting). I hosed the underside of the fridge off the day after the storm, but it is still rusting. However, I guess no water got into the fire box because I hooked it up to store my clinic vaccines in and it worked.

[this post was last edited: 2/13/2011-10:10]

 

[58limited]

Here is a picture with the back cover taken off. I was curious about what this area looks like so I spent a couple of minutes with a screw driver to expose this area. I also found out why it doesn't seem to cool as efficiently as it should: that rat nest was covering almost 1/3 of the cooling fin surface.

 

I found this fridge at the side of the road a few years ago. Aside from the need to spruce up its cosmetic appearance, I'm thinking that the people who inherited the house thought it was broken - nothing happened when the power cord was plugged in. I wonder if the work crew they hired to renovate the kitchen ever told them it was hooked up to a gas line when they removed it? They also tossed out a sink/top load GE dishwasher combo but it was too far gone to keep. I saved the racks and someone here got them from me.

 

The cooling fins and tubing at the bottom have surface rust. Anyone got any ideas on how to gently remove this rust? I need to clean them and repaint them to prevent further corrosion. That is the main reason these fridges fail: they leak out (although many were discarded when the safety valve broke, the owners didn't fix it or couldn't find anyone who would). Many more have been discarded due to the government buy back program started due to carbon monoxide poisoning cases from poor ventilation.

 

[austinado16]

Thanks for the new photos!

Mine doesn't have a back panel unfortunaletely.

Regarding the rust on the tubes, just scuff it really good with a coarse scotch-brite pad, lay down a coat of rustoleam damp-proof red primer, and then follow up with flat, or semi-gloss black.

That's pretty cool that you found it on the side of the road and it was that nice. Hope you find a freezer door for it one day. Actually, I'll bet you could via that Servel website that lists a bunch of service/repair people.

 

[58limited]

There is a guy who has a freezer door. His parts are stored a couple of hours away from his home. Every time I call, he has said that he hasn't been up there to get them, to call back in a week or so. I often forget to call for months at a time, but he has my number and could call me if he really wants to make the sale.

 

 

I can't reach in between the cooling fins with a scotch-brite pad, its a little thick. I'll have to come up with an alternative.

 

The back is basically a large piece of sheet metal with a a few molded areas. I see no reason why you couldn't have a flat piece cut to fit and use that as a cover. I think the molded areas are used to give it strength and rigidity, not to clear any of the tubing.

 

[austinado16]

Yeah, be nice to have that panel, because it's part of how they cool. It forces the convective airflow go move only over the tubes and fins which removes the most amount of heat, making the fridge the most efficent.

But, it can sit flush against a wall and get the same circulation benefit.

In the camp trailer refrigerators we make baffles out of sheetmetal, and/or Reflectix Insulation, etc. in order to channel the maximum amount of airflow directly over the coils. We also install 12 volt computer fans in the upper cabinet areas at the back of the fridge, in order to vent all the hot air that acuumulates. Really makes a difference in how well they perform when air temps get over about 80*F.

 

[toploader55]

Hi David.

I understand what you mean by a Turbine, but it's totally out of the question on Sandy Neck and pretty much anywhere else on the Cape. You have to pull so many permits and for the most part the mention of Wind Turbine , you're dead in the water.
The Original Lens on the Lighthouse was detroyed by the Coast Guard I believe in the late thirties. As the Sand and Sandbars shifted the Point of Sandy Neck projected further out in the channel. Hence it was a Navigational Hazzard. The Lighthouse Preservation Society and the Sandy Neck Preservation received Private Funding for a New Lens about 2 years ago. Not really a Lens, but the top is Now glassed in and has a Solar Powered Light of minimal Candle Power for aestetic purpose only.
As far as the Damage to the Cottages from storms, the Cottages face South. Most of the Severe Storms in the Winter are out of the North,North West and North East. It is a tradition when closing the Cottage for the winter that all the furniture and smallwares are placed up in the Rafters or on the Second floors as during Spring or Moon Tides the water could flood as much as 2-3 feet in the cottages. This is a extremely rare occurence in the Summer Months as the winds are much lighter than in the winter. On a High tide in the Winter, with the wind pushing more water into the Harbor, that is when flooding is more likely to occur.

 

[austinado16]

Back into service it goes

The buyers stopped by this afternoon to pick up the Servel and it's on it's way to their cabin, some where in BFE in the Central California Valley.

I dolly'd it into the back of their 35' toy hauler (must be nice) just to make sure it got up in there without being dropped. Geez, I nearly had a vein blow out of my neck hauling it up the loading ramp. I can't beleive how heavy this thing is!!

Anyway, nice to see a happy ending, and that it'll continue to live on.

 

[toploader55]

I can't reach between the cooling fins

How about a Percolator Stem Brush ?

I know they make some of them with very stiff bristles. Just a thought.