1956 GM Frigidaire Deluxe Cold Pantry

[JacquieJet]

JJet, what a handsome fridge, the mid century futuristic look is all there. It will look great with your stove. You will need to get a Predicta TV next.

Thanks!
I don’t think I’ll be able to talk the mister into that tv though... haha

[JacquieJet]

Glad to see another lover of old appliances.

I'm sure you've already read/been told this, but any time you move an old refrigerator, let it sit for 24-48 hours before powering it up. The reason for this is so all the oil that was displaced during the move can run back down into the compressor. 99% of compressor failures in an old refrigerator are caused by a lack of lubrication and usually happens immediately after one is moved.

For the missing shelf, keep an eye out on ebay. Also, if you can find an appliance shop that has been around for 50+ years, check with them. They may have something that will work in their parts stash.

Thanks! I think at this point I’m old appliance obsessed, haha!

[JacquieJet]

Drat. I thought some of the sublinks on that page might help.

The finish from that photo does look amazingly good. Hopefully the chrome held up as well. Is that a new door gasket, or is that the original?

Really sweet find.

Thanks! It still has the original gasket. Seems to work fine.

Do you know how much frost in the icebox is normal? It seems to build up “snow” fairly easily. But, we also have it fairly full...

[Manalto]

It seems to respond to the amount of humidity in the air and, of course, how often (and how long) you keep the door open.

[Lily left the valley]

It even fits in the nook. What a great find for you and your house!

I hope you find the shelf you need soon.

[Lily left the valley]

{snip}Do you know how much frost in the icebox is normal? It seems to build up “snow” fairly easily. But, we also have it fairly full...

I'm no expert, but from our little modern non-self defrosting fridge (it's a glorified two door office fridge), snow is common in the freezer, but if it easily/quickly builds up more than a half inch thickness, that's not good. How humid it is indoors, and how often the freezer especially gets opened will affect the amount of frost inside. Air circulation does make a difference for certain. Sometimes the fridge chamber does turn condensation along the back wall into little ice bits if we've recently had it stuffed full, and then forgot to adjust the temperature when it's more back to normal amount of items in there. (I keep a little manual fridge thermometer in ours to help know when to bump the temperature up or down a smidge to prevent that sort of thing.)

Ours came with a sturdy little plastic putty knife-like piece that helps keep the snow line low so we can keep to a once a year defrost schedule. So if you don't already have such, it might be worth getting one to occasionally shave down any high spots.

I should probably mention we only have one A/C unit in the whole of the house, and it's in the office on the opposite side of the house from our galley sized kitchen. Our kitchen also faces mostly south, with the corner being SSE. We also still have mostly dirt floor in the cellar, so our humidity level is higher than others would have.

[Lily left the valley]

It seems to respond to the amount of humidity in the air and, of course, how often (and how long) you keep the door open.

I didn't see your post until I added my own about the very same thing.

[Manalto]

I didn't see your post until I added my own about the very same thing.

Thanks for letting me know so I don't use up a "harumph" on you.

[JacquieJet]

Thanks everyone.
I hadn’t thought about the humidity, but it has been super humid here lately. Perhaps that’s the issue. The build up is fairly lightweight and “snowy”, not icy. Hopefully that’s a good sign.

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!

[Lily left the valley]

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.