The Kelvinator From Hell - not for weak stomachs

[Versatronic]

Success!

The Kelvy from Hell has frozen over. The fridge is at 40 degrees. Using a insulated drop ceiling tile would probably be the easiest thing to cut and get up in there to replace the carboard backed one. That is a great idea. I'll do that. Once I clean up the grill and put it on the bottom front, that may baffle the sound just a tad as well.

Well, thanks so much everyone. I'm going to unplug it 'til next weekend. If I need more input next weekend, I'll post the question(s) here. Thanks again!

 

[Kevinpreston3]

Looks like you saved it!

Congrats.

Further detailing will nudge the unit more and more to "yours", especially when sparkling clean and loaded with your food.

Good job, me and my 1963 GE salute you!

 

[swestoyz]

Nothin like a....

Nice cold fridge and some ice cold beer. That is my favorite test, turn it on for the first time and put a six-pac inside, and see if they are cool the next day. Once cleaned, you'll be happy with the fridge. Glad to hear things are looking up!

Ben

 

[spiralactivator]

Congratulations. You've brought a classic Kelvinator back from the dead.

 

[goatfarmer]

The buzzing sound might be a loose drain pan,or a coil holding bracket that's loose.Doesn't sound like anything major.Great job!

Is that model frost free in the freezer? I think some of those Kelvy's used hot gas defrost,which is a system I know little to nothing about.One more thing to check.

kennyGF

 

[fixerman]

It must be frost free in the freezer as the freezer does not have exposed coils and apparently has a evap fan. Kenny, you may be right about the defrost being hot gas type. The machine defrost should be checked out too but usually that can be repaired if there is a problem.

 

[Versatronic]

It is frost free

Yeah, it is a frost free fridge. I already had a vintage fridge and I could have used that if I cared to. I didn't want to go through the drfrosting ritual each month.

 

[goatfarmer]

What I'm saying is you need to make sure the Kelvinators defrost system is working.

kennyGF

 

[toggleswitch]

Due to my location away form homw I was not able to thouroughly read the above, so pls take this with a grain of salt..

Many times the evaporator fan (in the freezer in this case)
does not run when one (or both) of the doors is open...

regards,
Steve

 

[kenmore1978]

insulation

I had one of thes fridges as a second fridge for quite a while. There should also be a piece of insulated cardboard that goes across the back and covers the compressor and the opening next to it.

 

[Versatronic]

Insulation

Yeah, there is carboard and insulation across the back. It's the one that was up under the unit that came off in tranport. Actually it was when we were trying to get it up a flight of stairs.

You say you had one of these Kenmore? I was looking at some adds for the 1965 Kelvinator line of friges last night and none of them look like this one. I was told it was a 1965, but I'm having my doubts based on what I found. I'm started to suspect that it may be a bit older than that, like a little earlier in the 60's. We you able to date you fridge? What's your best guess?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1965-Kelvinator-Original-Refrigerator-Ad-15-Models_W0QQitemZ7158068641QQ

 

[retromom]

Turquoise Kelvy.....

Mike:

I've been reading the "Kelvinator Chronicles", and all I can say is wow! What a shame that she was so abused. I can't imagine someone relegating such beautiful classics to the yard to weather the elements. You have done a wonderful job of bringing her back to life. Good luck on the restoration and repairs..

Venus

P.S. Don't eat the "mints" in the freezer. FEH!

 

[kenmore1978]

Kelvy fridge

If I remember right, the wiring schematic had a date 0f 1969 on it. The interior was virtually identical to the pictures you posted, the only difference I can see is that the doors opened opposite to yours and the shield over the coils in the freezer was a gold "quilted" design, and it was Avocado green. Toward the end, I was having trouble with the drain from the evaporator freezing up. Also, the drain from the defrost troughs in the refrigerator part would clog. Fan in freezer does shut off when the door is opened. The refrigerator part has no fan, is cooled strictly by convection

 

[Versatronic]

1969?

If this is a 1969 fridge, then I give up trying to date appliances. I linked the original eBay listing below again. It shows some paper work taped onto the fridge. That nasty tape is still on the fridge and the "included original paperwork" is not include. However, just by looking at the style of the paperwork in the link and the '50s early '60s Betty Crocker looking lady on it, it sure wouldn't appear to be a fridge that came out of the avacado age. But then, I thought I had an oil dryer.

By the way, for anyone following along, I finally contacted the seller about this ordeal this past weekend and sent her pictures and she seemed to indicate that she was open to giving me at least a partial refund. So, I have my fingers crossed that she well and it will relieve a little bit of the pain of this experience.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7542167948

 

[chachp]

The dishwasher?

Did you get to look at the dishwasher while you were there? Was it in the same horrible condition? That is just so sad!

 

[Versatronic]

The Kelvinator From Hell Update

Well, this Fridge From The Depths Of Hades has just sucked two more complete days of my life away. I literally worked on this for two straight days, from morning to night.

To the people that suggested a product with bleach in it, that worked much better. If fact, I decided to redo the freezer with the bleach. It cleaned better, brighten things up, and even took rust stains completely off. It also left 3rd degree burns all over my finger tips.

I used toothbrushes, Q-Tips and everything else I could think of to clean every milimeter of this thing. It's all perfectly clean now. The only stains that wouldn't come out are on the molding/gaskets. Other than that, everything came off.

I polished all the shelves with NEVR-DULL. Man I love that stuff. And I repainted the black racing stripes on all the shelves plus the black strip across the Dairy compartment.

At Petes suggestion, I bought some an insulated drop ceiling panel and cut it to size to replace the insulation that was underneath the unit. I now have fiberglass splinters imbedded in my 3rd degree burned fingers. I turned the beast back on and its running pretty quietly now. I officially have a refrigeration unit.

The metal shelves that go in this thing are rusted out pretty bad. I either have to sandblast them and paint them or have someone powercoat them. There's a guy in town that does that, so I might spend the bucks and have him take care of them. And of course, there's the exterior, which needs a lot of help. I hope to avoid a repaint, but I don't know if that will be possible. We'll see how it goes. But at least I can work on the exterior in my "spare time" and reach in and grab a beer.

Regarding the matching dishwasher to this thing, the bottom piece was off and it was no doubt in the same pile of rubble than I dug my front grill out of. I didn't inspect the other appliances all that much because I was mainly focusing on mine. I suspect these other appliances had deteriorated as well, but maybe they didn't have all the mildew and stuff that I had to deal with with the fridge. I can't say. I didn't look inside them.

 

[petek]

That is looking very nice now Mike. I'm wondering if that DiDi 7 would remove the staining on the gaskets, it sure works well on carpet. You might have to rub it in and let it sit a day or so before you wash it off though. If it doesn't then you're not out but a few bucks and might have to replace with retrofit gasketing.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Man, you could eat off that now!

Here's a trick that might work for those stubborn stains. Go to the beauty supply store and get a bottle of 40-volume creme peroxide. This is what they use to bleach hair. Apply some to the stains and let it sit. You will probably have to do it more than once. Try it on a small spot first to make sure it doesn't eat through the plastic!

veg

 

[chachp]

Oxi-Clean

Have you tried an Oxi-Clean paste on those stains? It sure works on tiles and other areas where there are molds stains. You can mix a little with some water to make a paste and see if that helps.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

Try toothpaste on the gaskets.

Ken D.

 

[Designgeek]

Oh my! I'm away from here for a week or two and look at what I miss!

Hey I have an idea for those Fleet Suppositories. I hope you didn't throw them out, along with that, er uh, other item that was sitting next to them.

Sell them on Ebay! Yes, that's right, list them as "Classic Fleet Suppository Laxative Container" and include the photo of them sitting on the shelf in the fridge. List them under whatever category of collectibles that people normally use for things like old glass medicine bottles (the kind that used to contain various elixirs that would be illegal today). And cross-list in Appliances under Fridges. And in your listing, say something like "comes along with the other item pictured in the photo..."

A joke of course, but if people can get multiple thousands for frozen waffles with imaginary pictures of saints in 'em, who knows..?...

 

[bethann]

Cool fridge Mike!

Trust me, I know what it's like to clean nasty fridges! After you get over the shock it's not to bad.
You've done a wonderful job! Against what everyone say's I use straight bleach in a spray bottle. It's never hurt anything, but the burns on your fingers suck! I just cleaned a 56 GE that has a turquoise gasket full of mold. There is still some staining that I can't get off either. If straight bleach doesn't take it off I doubt anything will! I might try a little tilex on a small spot and see what happens.
I have a 57 Imperial cold pantry that had a white gasket, I just replaced the gasket! I didn't want to tear off the turquoise gasket because I knew I'd never find a replacement for it.
Anything that is chrome, 0000 steelwool works the best. You can pretty much use it on anything and it won't scratch. Great for mirrors too.

Veg: I don't think that will work unless you mix powder bleach with it. The peroxide would make it porous but there wouldn't be any lifting agent.

Keep up the good work Mike!

 

[Westingcan]

The Kelvinator From Hell - not for weak stomachs

Another thing to try that works well are the "Mr. Clean Magic Erasers". Great fridge BTW.

 

[Versatronic]

Guess What

I sincerely appreciate all the help and advice I've been getting. Please keep the advice coming. The advice I've gotten hear so far has been invaluable.

Since the Fridge is operational (though noisy) and the gaskets are in good shape, I'm going to focus on the exterior for now. Then I'll circle back, and work on the gaskets with the advice here.

Again, all the feedback is greatly appreciated and helpful and will be put to use.

The reason for posting is that I just opened a piece of mail and it's a 200 dollar M.O. to compensate me for the fridge. 200 is the price I paid for it. When the seller offered to refund, I told her I'd consider us square if she refunded 150. She chose to refund the full amount nonetheless. So, this eases the pain a bit and I'll put that money toward the rest of the fridge restoration.