1956 GM Frigidaire Deluxe Cold Pantry

[phil]

GM made radios too, Here is one from 1930

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1930-General-M ... 3689080375

Predictas were philco, Philco was ford.

a lot of dealers that sold fridges also sold radios so you may find one that sort of matches the age and theme.

I took a chrome "frost free" emblem from a fridge I discarded. Thought I'd put it on the back by big square white old ford van since it's basically "white goods" I thought it would be worth a chuckle for cars behind.

[phil]

here's an original ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnfWkB60WRE

"everything in it's place" could be construed differently today.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Rapid frost buildup usually means that warm air is getting inside, likely through a spot that isn't sealing right on the door gasket. The good thing is, the door gasket material for refrigerators of this era is still available from several sources and isn't expensive. It's not tough to install, either, and should give you another 50-60 years of service.

[JacquieJet]

Lily, can you make any sense out of the temp dial? Ours says B A 1 2 3.
We initially tried “2”, but it didn’t cool The icebox much. Now we have it on “A” and everything seems as it should be, temp wise. Still, I’m curious what those other settings mean!

From what I've found in another quick web search, for models with C-A and 1-3, the letters are the "warmer" settings, and the numbers are the "colder" settings. So if A is working, great, because they said "A" or "1" tends to be "appropriate for most conditions".

It could be that when you set it to 2, depending on how long you waited for the coolant to settle after you last moved it, the fridge might not have yet been ready to do its thing, or it could be a warning sign that the thermostat isn't tip-top.

I get the idea of why you need to wait, but I couldn't point to parts and say "this is why because X has to all settle/return here at Y without bubbles" or whatever. I just know even our little modern fridge it said don't use it right out of the box, wait a certain number of hours before even plugging it in, and I have heard this said about fridges being moved in the past as well.

Out of the sites that came up in my search, so far this one seems to have the most helpful info for vintage Frigidaires. If you click on the search link at the top, that does have a way to search just that forum and you can put at least the brand to narrow down the results. You will get a hit for the exact year, but their question was about a thermostat.

Thanks Lily! I just moved it to 2 today to see if that changes the frost buildup issue... we shall see! Thanks for that link, too! I’ll explore it later!

[JacquieJet]

Rapid frost buildup usually means that warm air is getting inside, likely through a spot that isn't sealing right on the door gasket. The good thing is, the door gasket material for refrigerators of this era is still available from several sources and isn't expensive. It's not tough to install, either, and should give you another 50-60 years of service.

Thanks for the idea. I’ll check out the seal. Much appreciated!

[phil]

the older fridges used freon, then they found other gasses that dotn't wreck the ozone layer. with old fridges sometimes they run for long periods because some of the gas escapes over time, they become inefficient as they are running more than they are at idle. maybe seals in the pump , not sure. there is an orifice in the line where the gas passes through and then expands. perhaps the size of that orifice should be different for different gasses. an appliance guy can capture the freon rather than letting it out into the atmosphere and recharge with modern gas then more can be added. maybe some still add freon. not sure if it is legal to do so. id take notice if it runs a lot or not before moving to the new fridge permanently.
a modern approach is to convert it to a Peltier cooler. youll find them used in things like coolers that plug in or in little bar fridges. I worked for a company that used them to cool lasers used for imaging. they arent' particularly energy efficient but they are simple no moving parts, and silent. you can research "peltier cooler" if you are interested.

we had an old bar fridge , I wish we kept it. it was little but had rounded corners, probably from the 50's. we took it to the dump. later that week we went to a public auction. It was entertaining to see the thing up on the auction block. someone had salvaged it from the dump and took it straight to the auction looking back that would have been perfect for such a conversion. You loose a little in electrical efficiency but you gain in having no white noise from the pump and motor. they might be the thing to convert an antique ice box into something more useful.

I bought a kit to recharge the AC in my 1988 van. it came with an adaptor to convert the gasses and a guage to judge how much pressure is in the system. I added some modern coolant. It worked a year or so but needs it again , probably needs some pump seals or something. there is oil in the system too, to lubricate the moving parts in the pump. It had a second can of stuff to swell the seals. I haven't tried that. These kits are common at auto parts counters.