Vintage G.E. Air Conditioner

[countryford]

A neighbor of mine, has had a vintage G.E. AC unit in a window(window was a metal casement window that was cut to fit the unit in), since he has lived in the house. Probably been there since the 60's. Anyways, he has promised to give it to me, when he replaced the window. Last year he replaced the windows in the front of the house. This year he started working on the back part of the house(which is where the unit is). Well, yesterday I was finally able to bring the unit home. It is dirty, and the cord on it is shot. He said he tried it, when he first moved in, and that it didn't work. With the cord thats on it, I'm not going to try. Here is a picture of it, with all its dirt.

 

[countryford]

I took the front panels off of it. Still dirty back there as well.

 

[cfz2882]

that looks a lot like the beat up but still good running 1958 vintage,230v GE i use in the garage-nice running unit with it's low speed 4-pole compressor.Does pull it's share of 230v current though.Mine had the evap coil badly plugged with linty dirt-that is all that was wrong.

 

[countryford]

Model and serial number on the tag. Any idea when it was made?

I'm going to get this up and running, then install it in my "New" Laundry Room. Hopefully the Laundry room will be complete by this summer, and might have to have a Wash-In sometime this Fall.

 

[countryford]

While I was checking the ac unit out, these three were "helping" me.

 

[pulltostart]

That's some fine-looking help you've got there!

 

lawrence

 

[ovrphil]

Date of Manufacture

I have used appliance411.com/service/date-code.php to identify appliance dates - and results are sometimes nebulous. Did I transcribe the numbers correctly?

Hope you get it cleaned up and working as you like...and I think it's older than appliance411.com guessed. [this post was last edited: 2/24/2013-23:01]

Appliance411: Service: How old is my appliance? Age finder

The serial number is usually the key to determining the manufacturing date (aka 'age') of most major home appliances. You can use our age finder service to try to find out how old your appliances may be

www.appliance411.com

 

[cfz2882]

looks slightly newer than the 1958 i have-i recon it may be from around 1962-65,mine has 4-blade metal evap fan instead of the clear plastic 6-blade though mine is a slightly larger unit and that might be part of the fan difference

 

[ovrphil]

Let's try again

When I looked at it, I didn't notice the GE Thinline name.

With a Google search, I found an ad(can't post,it's copyrighted) that matches your air conditioner.

That's an old bubba!

LIFE

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to...

books.google.com

 

[sambootoo]

Beautiful machine you've got there! There was one very similar to this in the sun room of a house my sister used to own. Wasn't the quietest AC ever made but it still worked and seemed antique back then! I'm not sure what kind of fan motor/bearings that thing had but the fan would continue spinning for what seemed like forever when switched off! Does yours have that little condenser fan visible from the outside? Hope you get it up and running without too much trouble. Keep us posted.

 

[hydralique]

Ovrphil . . .

Good link to the Life magazine with the GE ad, looks to be a great issue with Zsa Zsa Gabor on the cover and an ad for Swift deli meats on the page after the GE ad explaining how to give a "Gay N' Easy Party" . . .

 

[ovrphil]

How to Give a Gay and Easy party

LOL! I didn't see that - it'd have to be rewritten of course, for what you had in mind.

And Zza-Zza - is she 94 now? Glad you enjoyed the link.

 

[wiskybill]

"cool" looking air conditioner

From the serial # looks like September 1958

 

[davey7]

Wow, that's actually older than my vintage Frigidaire's! My neighbors unit, which is for sale, has a similar round diffuser. I should have them save it for someone on here if they replace it. Another neighbor actually has a casement unit installed on a steel fire door!

 

[countryford]

Well I took the unit apart. Replaced the cord and a switch that was bad on it. Also cleaned it up real well. Anyways, plugged it in, and the fan blows quietly. It appears the compressor kicks on, but is not blowing out cold. My question is, if an a/c unit sits for 20+ years will it need to be recharged? I talked to an a/c service tech and he said most a/c people won't deal with the wall a/c units. But thats mainly the newer ones. Should I try and locate an a/c guy here that will look at it? It uses R22 in it, is that the same as refrigerators? and if it is, will a refrigerator repair place take a look at it? Thank you.

 

[jamman_98]

I made this suggestion so another member

Some high school vocational programs have HVAC and Refrigeration courses. I know one in the Charleston, SC area that loves to fix old refrigerators and equipment. Tbey use them as a teaching tool See if the local high school has a program and talk to the teacher to see if he has a class that can help you out.

 

Joe

jamman_98

 

[tomturbomatic]

Great Find! We have one in the warehouse that was installed every spring and removed from the window in the fall so it has not rusted.

 

[caidensmom]

I have this unit

Hello I have this unit in my home and it still works but is leaking water down the wall tried putting shims to tilt 5 degrees for better drainage no go... anyway do you happen to know the dimensions so I can replace it with a new one... If anyone wants the one I have I would gladly sell it .... it works great other wise..

 

[cfz2882]

check for a plugged condensate drain plug from the evaporator coil -that is the likely cause of the water leaking.