Old refrigerator, refit?

[Hydrolastic]

Hello guys I am going to run this by you. but its not a toy and I don't collect appliances...yet. as you probably know I am doing a slow fixing of this 1954 MCM daylight basement house and the last few years I have done a lot of plumbing, drywall and windows. A cool thing is there is a 300? sf mother in law apartment in the basement. Its two rooms and a bathroom. we want to be able to have friends stay over and still be self contained. The kitchen is in the living area and it is a nice enameled metal cabinet with a stovetop sink and small half refrigerator "all in one" and it is in stellar cosmetic shape I would not even think of removing it.
Here is the issue. The refrigerator doesn't work and I want to fix it right. Improve it even . Make it more environmentally friendly? So not knowing anything about refrigeration, can new guts be put into this old refrigerator ? Here is a photo of it before I pulled it out to do the plumbing the refrigerator is to the right and Is about a third of the unit there is no handle you press the button in and the door opens. The smaller door in the middle (with the handle ) is where the refrigerator components are and where you hook up the drain for the sink. Let me know what you would do.

[William]

Hydro, that is so awesome, and you definitely need to repair it. I have seen units like these before, both working and not working. Is yours a Frigidaire, the burners on the stove look like Frigidaire. Of course, for the enough money I'm sure it could be repaired. Do you have photos of the compressor area? Does the compressor run? If not, it could be as simple as the start capacitor needs replacing. Like our vintage electronic toys with old leaky capacitors, the fridge is no different. As far as upgrading to something more modern, if the compressor is ok and it still has freon, keep it vintage and just fix what's broke.

Bill

[walyfd]

Agreed. Do what you can to salvage it. What brand is it?

Looks like what the British have in their homes. They don't use these cold piano cases like we have. If I ever do my kitchen, I'd go with built ins to get more space.

Lots of interest in vintage appliances. My buddy has 2 working monitor top GEs with the original ammonia still in them.

[maxidyne]

I'd bet it would work without having to do a lot to it. That old stuff was made to run forever. Find a refrigeration guy who has been around for awhile and is familiar with older equipment.

[Hydrolastic]

Hello Guys, I found the plaque. Here are photos

[Hydrolastic]

More photo's

[electra225]

Have you ever plugged the refrigerator in to see what it does?

[19&41]

I had only seen the Dwyer name on refrigerated water fountains. That would be a nice restoration, although I would be very careful around the compressor if it is sealed in lubricant.

[William]

What Greg said, and you will probably find the starting capacitor under the black cover where the wire goes in.

Bill

[walyfd]

There's a couple of those kitchen sets on ebay. Definitely a 1950s concept.

It'd be great for a bar.

[Ken Doyle]

Those units used to be popular in efficiency motel rooms.

In that era, I doubt there's a capacitor on the compressor. There will be a relay and a thermal cut-out.

[Hydrolastic]

Thank you guys. I just realized I never turned it on it was hardwired into the 110 outlet on the other side of the wall I undid that when I pulled it away from the wall and never tested it. It may work! I have a direction to go in now. Question can you recharge this equipment and make it work or do you put all new seals and stuff in it first ?

[electra225]

I wonder if it might use R-12 as a refrigerant. If so, and if the refrigerant is low, you may have to retrofit to a newer refrigerant. If the refrigerant is okay, you may not have to do anything with it. If you can get it to run, see if it cools.

[William]

The tag in one of Hydro's photos states it uses Dichlorodifluoromethane, which is freon 12. I could be wrong, but because it's old school I'm guessing it will work.

My neighbor next door bought all new appliances 5 years ago. She called this morning stating her 5-year-old over the range microwave died. She then asked, in case it was a month out to have one installed from the store, would I be willing to help install the new one. I'm probably going to jinx's myself, but my over the range microwave was installed when the house was built in 1998 and it's still working. Before they got their new microwave the old one was working just fine and was installed when their house was built in 2007. All of their old appliances were black, they changed because they wanted stainless steel.

Bill

[Ken Doyle]

Question can you recharge this equipment and make it work or do you put all new seals and stuff in it first ?

It's a sealed system, there are no "seals". If it does not have a leak, it does not need to be recharged.

[walyfd]

You can still find r12 if you look. I bet that refrigerator will work.

As for the microwave, did anyone check the fuse? Mine died one day and all it was was the fuse.

[19&41]

I'd try a runup on it. Those units were built to last. I'd imagine many units were trashed more because they were old than not working.