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Old 09-17-15, 12:28 PM   #71
marx290
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Originally Posted by AC_Hacker View Post
They were built to last, and I thought often about the fact that I was using a refrigerator that could have been bought by my grandparents when they were younger.

Those old units (one refrigerator repairman called them 'Old Girls'), the very first ones came out when electricity was new and expensive, so to attract buyers, the units had to be very economical. Later, when the electricity rates were falling and power companies main problem was selling more electricity, the units became much less efficient, like the 'round top' units.


But the Old Girls were in use before DuPont chemicals had the brainstorm to make a synthetic, patentable refrigerant. The Old Girls used an organic refrigerant, often sulfur dioxide. To my knowledge, there is no one left who is able to service a sulfur dioxide refrigerator.

The compressors in those things lasts a very long time. The part that most often goes out is the motor starter. Motor starters made for modern refrigerators are cheap and will work on the Old Girls. I was able to successfully keep my Old Girls going by replacing the motor starter, and I was able to get another 15 years from each one.

A yard ornament won't work out, but a garage ornament... now that is a whole other story!

If you really have a liking for the 'Old Girls', just keep your eye open, and they will come to you.

By far, my favorite Old Girl is the Monitor top. I had one proudly in my kitchen for many years, just like this one:


I mean, putting the compressor on the top, and letting the heat rise, away from the refrigerator... what a concept!

Best,

-AC
As I understand it, one of the properties which made sulfur dioxide such a good refrigerant, was that it acts as an excellent lubricant in the compressor and miscibility problems with the compressor oil (probably mineral oil) were non-existent.

These old girls were built at a time when the market was not yet saturated by refrigerators, so companies were building units to sell to first time buyers. Later, in the 50s and beyond, during the hyped up drive to sell to consumers (and not just citizens), manufacturers increased the dimensions of the refrigerators (and especially the freezers for all those TV dinners) to accommodate new tastes and more storage. Another way to increase size, was to reduce the insulation thickness, thus the inside dimensions got larger without increasing the footprint.

I suppose the larger freezer capacity and the energy intensive defrosting that goes with it doesn't help matters either.

Then there's the strip heaters they added to the door mating surfaces to prevent condensation, plus the heaters used in the cabinet walls for the same type of issues, associated with poor insulation.

I think there were a lot of reasons why refrigerator / freezers went through such a long period of inefficiency (arguably continuing to this day). Production of junk is the industry standard when that industry is based on profit and growth.

Regardless, I think people should have an affordable alternative. I would like to produce one.

You did a great job with this freezerator, AC_Hacker! I think it demonstrates how simply modifications can make a huge difference. I'm curious, have you ever attempted to measure the evaporator temperature to get an idea what the delta T is?

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