Auction find today....
Westinghouse Bottle Chiller
- Thread starter turbokinetic
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Our corner store had one like that and it did not chill sodas in mid summer other than make the bottles wet. It was replaced with a Pepsi refrigeration model.
When in good working order
Nothing, absolutely nothing chills a Coke more perfectly. Way to go, David. Can I have a Coke and smile when I come out to play with my combo?
Nothing, absolutely nothing chills a Coke more perfectly. Way to go, David. Can I have a Coke and smile when I come out to play with my combo?
Wow, if one was not chilling bottles other than making them wet, there was something wrong with it. The last one I worked on would chill them to almost freezing, in the hottest of weather here in Alabama.
Neat Westinghouse Refrigeration Appliance
Hi David, Great Video as always, I enjoy waking up to watching these as I have my morning cup of tea.
I really like older WH appliances they built some pretty durable stuff till they started to go down the tubes in the 60s and became a junk brand [ they still had great style and design till the end however [ 1975 ] ]
I friend gave me an old 50s WH water cooler the other year that I need to repaint for installation in the museum. It had sat outside on a back porch for 25 years and when he brought it over we plugged it in and it ran and cooled perfectly.
I also have a 1960 WH dehumidifier that is set on a timer to run every night for 6 hours at the mountain house that never has needed any attention. It also has the cool inside-out fan motor.
I can't wait to taste a cold bottle of pop from this WH cooler some day.
John L.
Hi David, Great Video as always, I enjoy waking up to watching these as I have my morning cup of tea.
I really like older WH appliances they built some pretty durable stuff till they started to go down the tubes in the 60s and became a junk brand [ they still had great style and design till the end however [ 1975 ] ]
I friend gave me an old 50s WH water cooler the other year that I need to repaint for installation in the museum. It had sat outside on a back porch for 25 years and when he brought it over we plugged it in and it ran and cooled perfectly.
I also have a 1960 WH dehumidifier that is set on a timer to run every night for 6 hours at the mountain house that never has needed any attention. It also has the cool inside-out fan motor.
I can't wait to taste a cold bottle of pop from this WH cooler some day.
John L.
Wet Bottles
So how was the issue of wet bottles (even at properly chilled temperature) handled? Did they hang a towel on the side of the cabinet? I think a chiller like this would be ideal for bottled beer.
I never had the opportunity to see one of these in action when I was a kid. The oldest Coca-Cola cooler I ever used was the type where you had to grab the bottle by the upper neck, slide it across in its channel and then downward to extract it. I never got the "hang" of it and usually needed assistance.
So how was the issue of wet bottles (even at properly chilled temperature) handled? Did they hang a towel on the side of the cabinet? I think a chiller like this would be ideal for bottled beer.
I never had the opportunity to see one of these in action when I was a kid. The oldest Coca-Cola cooler I ever used was the type where you had to grab the bottle by the upper neck, slide it across in its channel and then downward to extract it. I never got the "hang" of it and usually needed assistance.
arbilab
Well-known member
I never got the "hang" of it
I got the hang of extracting certain bottles without paying. Just to see if I could.
The Westy chiller ran on recirc near-ice water. So 'all' bottles were wet. As I recall, the 7-11 kept a towel at the counter to wipe up the puddles. The advantage to the water bath chiller is its speed at chilling bottles when restocking. Water conducts heat way better than air.
I got the hang of extracting certain bottles without paying. Just to see if I could.
The Westy chiller ran on recirc near-ice water. So 'all' bottles were wet. As I recall, the 7-11 kept a towel at the counter to wipe up the puddles. The advantage to the water bath chiller is its speed at chilling bottles when restocking. Water conducts heat way better than air.
The one in my corner store did not chill and thats why it was replaced. Several years ago I was in the North Woods at a corner store and the same cooler was there, opened it up and there was bait swimming inside. They had a real cooler for beverages. They said it held water and stopped chilling.
They had real coolers for beverages and might as use this for something the fishermen wanted.
They had real coolers for beverages and might as use this for something the fishermen wanted.
Guys thanks for the positive comments on my project.
As for the wet bottles, you have to remember that the alternative when these were new, was a cooler full of ice and water. Wet bottles were the norm at this time. The fact that the water was circulating and agitating around the cooling coils could allow it to chill to freezing without icing up the coils. You wouldn't necessarily have "less cold" drinks from these than from an ice chest. The attached picture shows the Frigidaire unit with 32°F water circulating.
LOL at learning how to slide bottles out of the vending machine without paying! That must have been a very useful skill back in the day!
As for the wet bottles, you have to remember that the alternative when these were new, was a cooler full of ice and water. Wet bottles were the norm at this time. The fact that the water was circulating and agitating around the cooling coils could allow it to chill to freezing without icing up the coils. You wouldn't necessarily have "less cold" drinks from these than from an ice chest. The attached picture shows the Frigidaire unit with 32°F water circulating.
LOL at learning how to slide bottles out of the vending machine without paying! That must have been a very useful skill back in the day!
arbilab
Well-known member
robbing the machine
#1, the challenge. #2, slithering the bottles through the maze by the cap hurt my fingers, so the machine owed me pain & suffering. Still 'dishonest' and only did it a couple times.
The Westinghouse, and ice-based water chillers, were part of a more ethical time.
#1, the challenge. #2, slithering the bottles through the maze by the cap hurt my fingers, so the machine owed me pain & suffering. Still 'dishonest' and only did it a couple times.
The Westinghouse, and ice-based water chillers, were part of a more ethical time.
Congratulations!
Whenever we went to gas stations, I would jump out to check out the cooler to see if it was one with the recirculating water because I thought that they were so neat. They fit in with the moving water experience of washing machines, aquariums, etc.
Whenever we went to gas stations, I would jump out to check out the cooler to see if it was one with the recirculating water because I thought that they were so neat. They fit in with the moving water experience of washing machines, aquariums, etc.
Thanks guys for all the comments!
Tom, I'm with you on looking out for these machines when I was a kid. I'm about half a generation too new for these to have been commonplace while I was a kid. I would always look at the bottom and hope to see a compressor there, and not a forlorn looking vacant compressor base, with crudely lopped off refrigerant tubes sticking up at odd and grotesque angles.
If you see no compressor under the unit chances are you're gonna find minnows in there....
Tommy's Frigidaire Cavalier unit from last year is fancier with the glass window and light inside. That allowed the moving water to be an eye-catcher to people walking by. This one has a solid cover.
Tom, I'm with you on looking out for these machines when I was a kid. I'm about half a generation too new for these to have been commonplace while I was a kid. I would always look at the bottom and hope to see a compressor there, and not a forlorn looking vacant compressor base, with crudely lopped off refrigerant tubes sticking up at odd and grotesque angles.
If you see no compressor under the unit chances are you're gonna find minnows in there....
Tommy's Frigidaire Cavalier unit from last year is fancier with the glass window and light inside. That allowed the moving water to be an eye-catcher to people walking by. This one has a solid cover.
toploader55
Well-known member
Maybe you could customize the lid by adding windows and a light ?
Robert did it with his KD-12.
I too remember these coolers. Moxie, Dr. Pepper, Fanta, CocaCola, 7 UP, Icy cold from that driven water.
And recyclable bottles. Long before the Plastic that is now a huge problem.
Link to Robert's KitchenAid with the window.
https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?17694
Robert did it with his KD-12.
I too remember these coolers. Moxie, Dr. Pepper, Fanta, CocaCola, 7 UP, Icy cold from that driven water.
And recyclable bottles. Long before the Plastic that is now a huge problem.
Link to Robert's KitchenAid with the window.
https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?17694
Thanks and very cool KD-12 with window!
I may do that modification.
I may do that modification.
Free Coca-Cola
One way to 'cheat' the system was to use a bottle opener on the captivated bottles, and simply stick a straw into your bottle of choice, and enjoy "The pause that refreshes". Of course, this meant you had to do all your imbibing while leaning-over the cooler... (Nothing's perfect).
One way to 'cheat' the system was to use a bottle opener on the captivated bottles, and simply stick a straw into your bottle of choice, and enjoy "The pause that refreshes". Of course, this meant you had to do all your imbibing while leaning-over the cooler... (Nothing's perfect).
twintubdexter
Well-known member
Tim...
<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">When I was kid my dad had one. He kept live minnows in it for bait. </span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">When I was kid my dad had one. He kept live minnows in it for bait. </span>
