Vintage Refrigerator - Help

[jukeman]

I am trying to select a vintage refrigerator for my kitchen. I’m looking for something that will go for a very long time. I found 2 that I absolutely love and need to choose one. Both are one-owner cream puffs in near mint condition.

The first is a 1954 International Harvester. Built like a tank. It’s obviously rather rare since they were only made for about 8 years. Has a tiny freezer but that’s no problem for me since I have another freezer anyway.

The second is a 1964 Coldspot 12 in “copper tone”. Beautiful old fridge and I think it has the famed Seeger compressor.

I am not at all concerned with power consumption, just longevity. The IH runs only a few minutes out of every hour and the Coldspot runs most of every hour. My logic tells me that means the Coldspot has more compressor wear than the IH and will continue to wear faster going forward. Plus, the IH is a low speed compressor and the Coldspot runs faster.

Am I thinking along the right lines here? Your expertise would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[combo52]

Two great older refrigerators

You don’t mention whether the 64 cold spot is frost free two door or single door, etc. that makes a big difference on the running time and energy consumption and longevity.

If it’s a whirlpool built refrigerator it likely does have the Segger built rotary compressor, you can tell by looking at the model number the model number would begin 106. If it’s whirlpool built.

A frost free two door model would run 70% of the time, a two door manual defrost freezer model would probably run a little less often and the most economical would be a single door model with the freezer in the top like the international harvester.

Possible long running time on the cold spot would not indicate compressor wear, but more likely a partial restriction in the sealed system or possible low charge. Several factors have to be evaluated to decide if there’s something wrong with it or not, but I never actually saw rotary compressors that stopped pumping efficiently.

I like older appliances like these, but it’s highly unlikely that either one of these refrigerators will run another decade. Things just don’t last forever, even though they almost seem to any new simple GE top freezer refrigerator will easily last longer than either one of these neat old refrigerators. However, it won’t have the neat styling and heavy construction of these old refrigerators. That’s for sure.

John

 

[jukeman]

Thank you John

The Coldspot is a top freezer two-door frost free. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it regarding run time, it just runs more because it’s frost free.

I had a 40’s refrigerator in my other house that I figured wouldn’t run another decade as well. That was 20 years ago and it’s still working fine.

A compressor is a machine and machines wear. I figured because the Coldspot runs more by nature (and with a higher rpm compressor) it’s lifespan might be further spent than one that runs a few minutes out of every hour. But, I also know that rotary compressors have very few moving parts.

Does that add any more info to help you with an opinion?

Thanks.

 

[combo52]

Better vintage refrigerator

Hi yes good morning, the main reason of frost free refrigerator runs more is because it senses actual air temperature and the in old refrigerator The thermostat is clamped to the evaporator so it keeps the evaporator of consistent temperature but the temperature inside the refrigerator section can vary an awful lot, while you are certainly correct that all mechanical things will wear out someday wear isn’t it a very big factor inside a compressor because of the totally sealed environment if you look at the inside of some of the copper tubing in the sealed system, it will be a shiny as a new penny after 50 years there’s just no moisture in the system and very little wear, Even the oil will look as good as the day it was put in it’ll be clear and clean. And one of the real beauties of the Segger rotary compressor is it actually became more efficient after a few years of use it continues to hone itself and have nearly perfect tolerances.

All that said a frost free refrigerator has a much more limited life because of the automatic defrost system. The evaporator area is heated up on Refrigerator twice a day to over 70° this also counts for a lot more running time as the sealed system remove this extra heat from the inside of the refrigerator and freezer.

This type of design also limits the ultimate life of the unit the galvanized steel pan under the evaporator tends to rust out eventually in these cold spot whirlpool designed refrigerators. The heating element can also fail almost impossible to find anymore and pacific to this refrigerator and of course you’ve got the fan in the freezer that will wear out and will need replacement at some point so it’s a little bit more stuff to go wrong .

I have six frost free refrigerators that I’m responsible for keeping running running for in my house all whirlpool products and two GE frost guard refrigerators at the museum that use the hot gas defrost system. One of the things I do on these refrigerators is changed the defrost timer to 24 hours, that helps keep down the defrost cycles and I feel like it improves. The longevity of the refrigerators. Frequent cycles are just not necessary unless you have a large family in an unair-conditioned house.

But these are both good refrigerators among the best at the time they were built. It just depends on the one you really want. Either one could probably be made to work for your purposes.

John

 

[jukeman]

Thanks!!

That all makes perfect sense. Thank you for the great info.

 

[jukeman]

Another question…

How do I know if that steel pan is rusted out? This is a one-owner fridge in mint condition, I sure hate to pass it up.

 

[good-shepherd]

Am I thinking along the right lines here

Get both ask questions later.

 

[combo52]

Is the evaporator floor rusted out?

You would have to take the aluminum floor of the freezer out and examine the pan, the other thing that’s less invasive to do If you go look at this refrigerator take the lower grill off below the refrigerator door and look up at the bottom of the refrigerator. Check carefully for any spots of rust, especially where the rust appears to be coming through the Steel.

If the evaporator floor has rust holes in it or if they ran the refrigerator for a period of time with a clogged evaporator drain, the water will get into the insulation in these older refrigerators, and you literally could have several gallons of water in the insulation below the refrigerator liner You might also see little signs of corrosion around the edges at the front under the refrigerator door if this is happened. When we used to see this in the field, all we could do is drill a few small holes in the bottom of the cabinet above the evaporation tray and let the water drain out somewhat. It helped a little, but basically the refrigerators destroyed.

Once manufactures changed to the foam in place insulation, it was a huge advantage for the longevity of refrigerators because the insulation wouldn’t normally get water in it.

John