Vintage Air Conditioners. The Holy Grail of vintage appliances?

[austinado16]

A vintage window air conditioner. It's the only thing I've not yet scored for our home. Are these things just unobtainium, or have I not been living right?

Anyone have one and if so, care to show it off?

 

[rp2813]

I think I remember reading about a Chrysler AirTemp that somebody here was still using.  Not sure how vintage you mean, but it does seem that A/C units don't enjoy the same longevity as refrigerators, probably because they're out in the elements all their lives.

When I worked for a HVAC contractor I was amazed at how often even the larger rooftop A/C units would fail, even when properly maintained.  Clearly, they're cooling a lot more volume than the 20 or so cubic feet of a refrigerator/freezer, but you'd think they would be built to last longer than they do.

 

[danmantn]

It would be great to see some pics...please share if anyone has some...I can still remember our huge 80s wood grain Kenmore.

 

[launderess]

Methinks

Older units were run to death and or improperly maintained, so when they failed off to the rubbish heap they went.

OTHO those whom do own vintage units, may know what they've got and are hanging on.

Searching locally such as estate sales and Craigslist type offerings may yield better results when looking for vintage AC units. The things aren't exactly light, and the shipping would likely deter both sellers and potential buyers.

We have an older Friedrich "WallMaster",and dread the day it goes. Pumps out cold air and while not terribly efficient, gets the job done better than the electronic units sold today.

Only fly in the ointment is taking the unit out of the wall for cleaning at least every other year, and to oil the motor.

Many persons did not realise then or didn't appreciate the directions to clean and maintain older ACs, and this includes oiling the motor, along with removing built up dust,dirt and gunk.

So many people chuck an AC because it "won't cool" when the thing really needs a good steam cleaning and new filter.

 

[chachp]

Older A/C Units

I remember working in an office in Green Bay, Wisconsin that had a water cooled A/C system. That thing was so loud and when it would kick on you would hear the water running through it.

Was it recirculating that water or was it just running in and then out? That office was never cool but I think I remember them saying it was too small for the size room. The unit itself was enourmous. It took the better part of a hallway as I recall and I think there was some component on the roof too.

I think it was from sometime in the 50's and it ran until the late 80's when they replaced it.

 

[norgeway]

In Lenoir

My hometown, the building that housed the Carrier dealer is still cooled by a Carrier unit that has a water cooled condenser, if you stand in front of it it will make your teeth hurt it is so cold,I think it is about 5 tons or so, but really, window units are fairly common, I have a 64 Frigidaire 7500 btu unit that works great.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Window units were not usually repaired when they failed. It was cheaper to buy a new one. The best preserved ones were removed from the window during the winter. Many areas that had early ac units really needed them due to high humidity which could really do a number on the steel. Add in the salt air in many of the coastal regions and it is easy to see why they sort of crumbled away.

I remember those big units in restaurants and offices in the Southeast in the 50s and 60s. When they were new, they were usually a soft aqua green. The compressor was in the big inside unit which is why they were noisy, but everyone preferred to talk louder than wipe sweat. I remember the big discharge grille at the top. The indoor units were connected to a cooling tower outside with a pump and fan and wooden louvers. Outside some Howard Johnson restaurants, they were at ground level behind the restaurant and on the way back to the car, I always tried to get a close up view of the tower with the water cascading down the inward tipped wooden louvers to try to see what was in the base of the tank. That was hard to do quickly when I was being called to come to the car. I did not want to get into trouble with all of us in the car and no way to escape, but on the other hand, it was a chance to see something with water splashing and spraying and it was very hard to resist.

 

[58limited]

One of the old Oil Money mansions down here has a cool late '30s/early 40's window unit on the enclosed "patio" but I don't think it has been turned on in over 30 years.

There was a green '50s Hotpoint window unit on ebay a couple of months ago that didn't sell. The seller never relisted it.It was posted here on the Super forum at the time. Here's the auction link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...2&si=S6VFZP8ixDL7KZ3BQ5AsL4rp7l4%3D&viewitem=

 

[3beltwesty]

Maybe better to collect than run?

Vintage window AC units if too old are somewhat energy hogs, thus often they got scrapped. An 8000 BTUH unit a friend bought used for 50 bucks in 1980 was OK for occasional usage, but a 1970 AC that has an EER of 6 when new can be only 4 or 5 today with corroded fins. It is sort of like owning an old car that gets 6 to 10 miles per gallon. Here in the deep south the outside fins on the coils disappear with time.

At my plant there is an 18000 BTUH AC unit that is in the ceiling from the 1960's, one for a computer room. Its EER was about 4 when new in 1968. Today its fins are a mess, it cools about like a 5500 BTUH unit now , but runs off 240 volts and draws about 20 + amp.

 

[austinado16]

Yeah, that Hotpoint is exactly what I'm talking about. Thanks for posting that link. Umpteen years ago, there was an equally beautiful Vornado on ebay and I wanted it sooooo bad. Typical though, always on the wrong side of the country and it would be a real challenge to get shipped.

 

[rp2813]

Todd, I have to ask.  You live in SLO, where the climate is moderate and uncomfortably hot days are few and far between.  Do you actually have a need for a window A/C unit or is this just a collector's item for you?

 

[norgeway]

They !!

Might be energy hogs, but they are much colder and usually quieter than what is out there now.

 

[sudsmaster]

There's a 70's wood grain big GE window unit in the enclosed patio. It will run for a minute or so, then it trips the breaker. I'd pull it down and replace it (even if temporarily) with a modern unit, but it's stuck on top of an eight foot high wall; difficult to get to and I still haven't figured out the best way to get at it. Plus generally I don't wish to try to A/C that space anyway, since it's not air-tight (by design) and would be quite a waste of energy.

I posted a photo here of it a few years ago; will have to see if I still have a copy on the computer...

Besides the overload problem, it needs new dials/knobs. I have to kind of guess what the setting is. Sometimes I run it just for the fan. It's one of the few units I've seen that can actually exhaust room air to the outside. Useful on real hot days when all I want to do is get rid of the heat at the ceiling level.

 

[sudsmaster]

Found the photos

I could have taken more shots, but this was quicker... once I found them!!!

 

[sudsmaster]

Doesn't look bad even up close. Anybody know where I could find replacement knobs?

 

[sudsmaster]

The cryptic settings list...

 

[sudsmaster]

Full view. It sticks out even more (about 1.5 feet) on the outside. Somebody fashioned a rain cover for the outer section, which looks like it's sturdy steel - if not stainless steel painted over. The problem I have is in trying to figure out how to remove the unit for repair. Due to the height it will take two strong bodies on ladders to remove it from the inside.

 

[sudsmaster]

Final quasi isometric view...

 

[sudsmaster]

PS-Anybody know if anyone makes a window unit that will exhaust room air to the outside? All the ones I've seen in stores don't allow that. The most they do is allow one to recirculate room air.

 

[112561]

Maybe one of the members with a gigantic box of unidentifiable knobs could help you out, I like the woodgraining on the metal cabinet. Is it actually from the '70s though?

I'm still sorry the Pineapple Patti Antique Mall ditched their two '60s Coldspots a couple of years ago.

 

[cfz2882]

vintage!

that looks much older than the'70s,looks more mid-'50s to me-would be cool to
get it running properly again,sounds like the compressor is not starting
could have a bad run capacitor or might need the compressor"bumped"
loose if it is stiff from setting unused for a long time...
(can give some unsticking methods if you like)

 

[austinado16]

Ralph we actually have a 10,000btu Kenmore that I mount in the living room window from about May or June, until October. The weather down here spins on a dime. This summer, we had a week in the triple digits....as high as 114 on one day, and then another couple weeks (spread out) in the high 90's, low 100's.

So yes, I would actually use it, and yes, it would be yet another great vintage item to not only collect, but to put back into service. If I could find a safe way to transport that OH a/c unit....I'd go for it.

Re: Knobs...
Your local hardware store, as well as radioshack, will have knobs that attach to D shaped shafts like that with a set screw in from the side. They're cheap and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They may not be chrome, but there are some great black versions that are very old school.

 

[whirlcool]

 That unit looks very similar to a 1954 Admiral air conditioner my parents had. It was a wall unit but the metal case on the inside had the same kind of wood graining on it.

 The front coils on your unit look very clean. Where is the filter that goes in there?

 We still have a lot of older office buildings down here that use water cooling towers. You can tell a building is water cooled just by walking into it. How can you tell?
 The building is only moderately cooled and is pretty humid inside. The mark of water tower cooling in a humid area.

 

[drmitch]

This is interesting, Todd. I suppose these were always very disposeable, so that may be why there aren`t to many around. My wife and I were out house hunting one day and came across a Beaux Arts house with lots of cool and vintage stuff inside. The sunporch had been converted into a poolroom and in one of the windows was what I remember to be a Vornado With the two big circular vents in a dark aqua color. I really wanted it at the time, but it got away. Thats about the only one I have seen in recent years that was worth noting. I think there were some other members here that had several.

 

[sudsmaster]

Well, I actually don't know how old that GE is. It is at least as old as the 1970's. I believe the patio was enclosed in the mid-60's. That's when a lot of other work was done to the house. But of course I don't know where the GE A/C came from. It might have been used before it was installed in its present location high on the wall.

Got me where the filters are supposed to go. I have looked over the inside portion of the unit, as well as what I can see of the outside, and I don't see any removable filters anywhere. I was wondering if they simply were slid in front of the unit, behind the first set of fixed louvers and after the set of three adjustable louvers, but on closer inspection it's clear there isn't enough room up there for filters. Plus there are little cutouts on the first screen to allow one to rotate the three circular louvers to direct air in any desired direction (an idea modern A/C's could emulate).

Probably if there were filters, they slid underneath the outside of the unit. It's difficult to get a good view of that part, since it sits only about a foot above yet another roof, but it's possible that the filters had frames that clipped into two large cutouts underneath the outside of the unit.

In other words, I don't know, and I may never know for sure until I pull the unit down and fix it.

A manual would be nice.

[this post was last edited: 1/2/2011-20:30]

 

[sudsmaster]

"The mark of water tower cooling in a humid area."

I thought that some water tower cooling units had actual heat exchangers, so that the interior air was not contaminated by the humidity of the evaporative  system.

 

[westingman123]

How vintage ya lookin' for?

I have a Whirlpool at the farm, I'm unsure of the BTU's right now, I suspect it is from the early 70's. It's a big old honkin' thing.

 

[austinado16]

drmitch, that Vornado you saw sounds like the same version that was on ebay a number of years ago. Definately a cool looking unit.

 

[whirlcool]

 Heat Exchangers

 The insides of the building weren't overly humid, but more humid than buildings air conditioned with conventional air conditioners. They also have a certain odor to them.
  ExxonMobil has an old building built in 1954 in the Greenway Plaza area. I went to lunch with a friend that worked there.  The lobby of this building looks like it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  The walls are all "blonde" wood paneling.  And this building definitely has the water cooled odor to it as well as the increased humidity. It's still less humid than the outdoors are, but still more humid than ones with newer a/c.

 

[mavei]

The reason you don't see many antique room air conditioners is that it's simply not cost-effective to restore them.First they're not efficient and drink electricity,next,to prevent you from repairing them,parts are not available and the refrigerants they use(R-12 and R-22) are obsolete and have been eliminated from production. I do not know of any conversion to modern refrigerants(unlike restored refrigerators).