I'm sure you'll enjoy this one. These early Frigidaires are very attractive and with the temperature indicator on the door; they have a feature which was lost in the 40's and didn't return until recently with the electronic fridges.

Looks like you've got the wiring under control. I would like to add a few things having done this job a few times, to say the least LOL.

The compressor terminals are a critical and sensitive area.  They have 80 year old rubber seals around them. They will not tolerate much stress or abuse at all. If the studs turn in the compressor body, at all, there will be a refrigerant leak.  So be very cautious and only apply enough tightening to keep the wires snug.  They were designed for the grommet wire terminations you found when taking the old wiring off. Those are generally not available now. One way to recreate them is to form a loop of wire, and then tin the loop with solder so that it is a solid, closed ring.  The terminal caps that retain the wires; they won't fit properly with any type of crimped terminal. If a crimp is used, that will not allow the cap to be installed correctly, leading to stress on the terminal studs.

The start-relays on these are not unreliable; but they are getting very old.  Unlike the later ones from the 40's on up - these older ones had a magnetic start relay. It is position sensitive, so be sure it is mounted correctly before making any run attempts on the compressor. Because these are so old some are worn out and just won't work. 

When it comes time to actually fire it up - use a current meter in line with the fridge; such as a Kill-A-Watt meter. Be sure the current demand is not too high. The current may go up to 125% of rated current during the first run cycle because of the high heat load from the warm cabinet interior. After it's started cycling on and off, it should pretty well start and stay within the rating.

Hope this is helpful!

Sincerely,
David 

Chuck, you'll probably be OK with the terminals. Your compressor looks really clean and it probably didn't take a lot to get them loose. The problems usually happen when trying to disconnect them when they are rusted.   If they are damaged, there will be slow seepage of oil from them and a gradual loss of refrigerant. 

If you determine that the compressor does not function, check that those crimped ring terminals aren't the culprit. Sometimes they will be clamped by the plastic part of the terminal insulator and not the stud its self. I have done that myself and wasted a lot of time troubleshooting; and had one "needs compressor" fridge brought in to my shop and found the only issue to be the use of ring terminals - the compressor was fine. I hope it works for you! Just if not, check there first. :) 

All of us who work on electrical stuff should invest in a Kill-A-Watt meter. Truly a time saver and motor saver.

These are a somewhat uncommon design, with a high-side compressor housing. That basically means that the compressor depends on heat (from the motor and moving parts) to push refrigerant vapor out from the housing, so it can circulate and allow the fridge to cool. Before the compressor is warmed up, it may not cool much. Give it about half an hour running, before starting to be concerned about how much cooling you feel. 

Hope to hear a positive outcome of how it runs!

Sincerely,

David

@Rich - The mechanical principle used at the core of the Meter-Miser compressor has been around since the ancient Greek times, and as such the basic orbiting roller design couldn't be patented by any one manufacturer. There are probably others, but for sure the Frigidaire Meter-Miser, Norge Rollator, and General Electric Type CA Monitor Top all used variations on this design. 

Here's a video where I'm reassembling one of these after replacing the terminals to fix a leak. You can see how the mechanism operates. 


 

Hi Chuck. Hope she's running like new! Anxiously waiting for an update. :) 

Hi Chuck - glad to hear it's working!

If the freezing continues, you may be looking at a thermostat calibration problem.  Sometimes people take the knob off the thermostat and put it back on in the wrong position. If it's still too cold at the warmest setting, you can take the screw out of the center of the control knob, and move the stem to a warmer position, then put the knob back on. 

There are a lot of good ways to adjust these. What I try to do is set them where bottled water will just barely freeze overnight with the control at the coldest setting. That gives you enough range for storing food at the least cold range, packaged softdrinks in the middle and adult beverages toward the coldest end. It seems hard to try and equate a thermometer measurement with how items stored in the fridge "feel" when taken out. In my opinion, using water bottles is an effective way to get them calibrated.