OT: Refrigerator

My fridge is on the fritz too ! That little fan that's supposed to circulate cold air to the lower compartment - isn't . Because it isn't turning ... I attribute mine's failure to the old generator . We had a pretty bad windstorm here a week or so ago , I was on generator power until the old girl tossed a rod . I don't think that unit was still up to the task , as it took out a computer too . Got the comp fixed , going to be late to work tomorrow while I replace that fan .

Couple years ago, the same thing happen to ours. So, when the boss left to go someplace, I dropped everything and fixed the fridge. it made her mad, cause she couldn't go buy a new one. Go figure, sometimes you can't win.

Karl

It's just like when she fixed your chainsaw!

A couple years ago, it started "raining" in the fridge compartment. The evap section is between the freezer and refrig compartment. After tearing into it quite a bit, I determined that the insulation (looked like a little picnic cooler, a lower box and a lid) were saturated with ice, and weighed about 20 lbs! This was white styrofoam, but had slowly infiltrated with ice until totally solid. I left it outside in the hot sun for two days, then put it in a garbage bag and put a vacuum pump on it for an entire week, weighing it daily until the weight stabilized. Went from 20 lbs to about 11 Oz.

Jon

I don't have any problmess believing you, there is a styrofoam layer that sits on the evaporator coils. It was very heavy when I removed it from embeded ice. I was going to make a new one but I forgot my wallet today so I didn't buy new foam on the way home.

When I arrived, Sears had sent me a fan over night so I just put it back together.

Eagerly waiting for it to come down to operating temperature. Probably would help if I would quit opening to door to check progress. ;)

Wes

When I checked Sears , they wanted 85 bucks for my evap fan motor . Got one at a local parts place , OEM replacement , for less than half that .

As mentioned previously, my be - - shop fridge does not have a freezer section, just a cold plate forming the back of the compartment. I bought it this way on purpose to replace the 1955 unit with its little unused freeze compartment. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I kept a 1968 Inglis going till a couple years ago, probably could have saved it with another new start relay, but figured it was time for a new one, I had replaced the condenser fan twice and the evaporator fan once as well as the relay and start cap. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I used a 1947 Fridgidaire that I fished out of the trash from the late 60s through 1987, it died when some particle lodged in the lubrication hole for the piston and the compressor seized up. So, that's 40 years of operation - anyone top that?

Before the mid-1930's mechanical refrigeration in the home was a non-issue. This because the oil-filled electrolytic capacitor came along, making hermetically-sealed compressor/motor units practicable.

As mentioned previously, my be - - shop fridge does not have a freezer section, just a cold plate forming the back of the compartment. I bought it this way on purpose to replace the 1955 unit with its little unused freeze compartment. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Sunday when I'm over to mom's, I'll take a picture of Grandmothers old fridge. The cooling section is on top, it is round. Cooled a lot of apples over the years. I was somewhat shocked to see it was down in the basement and plugged in last month.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Well ... at work I had a 'fridge made by International Harvester in about 1951 IIRC, and it was still running fine as of 1997. It may still be running if someone else took it over instead of turning it in. Usually it was easier to keep it than to go through the paperwork of turning it in. :-)

I had to defrost it using a pair of "slaughtering irons" (750 Watt soldering irons with 1" diameter tips). And I had to defrost it rather too often, because the rubber gasket on the door was a bit hardened with age.

I could have defrosted it more slowly, but that would have meant staying after work or leaving the contents exposed to room temperature for longer than I would like. (Contents were adhesives, RTVs and such, not food.) But just opening the door, unplugging the fridge, and plugging both irons in while they were in the freezing compartment (all metal -- the plastic door for that was long gone).

Enjoy, DoN.

We are on our second fridge in our 40+ years together.

The first one was a beauty! Side by side, Harvest Gold and built like a tank.

We got it in 69 and traded it in still working but going to the dump in 2004. I figured it would just keep on running.

Now with a new fangled one - SS on the front and an internal damper that dumps cold from the freezer to the other side stuck closed.

Had home owners insurance on it and a small deduct was all we had to pay. Phew.

Mart> Yesterday my fridge seemed a bit cool. Wrote it off to the automatic defrost cycle.

your cooling

the fan. Found

cold now ;)

The GE "Monitor Top" dates back to when they were almost impossible to kill. Keep R-12 refrigerant and oil in, a good gasket on the door, and an occasional rewire because the power cord and internal 120V wiring goes away, and it will likely run forever.

I even heard there's a company cutting open and rebuiilding the original hermetic compressors (then welding them closed again) when they finally do stop working from a bad valve, or the bearings get so loose the noise drives you insane.

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