My Brady Bunch Refrigerator—I believe Jan broke it.

Hello gang,

I own a 1969 GE Americana sxs refrigerator that I absolutely adore. As I was putting together what I want for my ideal vintage kitchen to have, this was the one thing I really wanted. I found it in June for 250.00. I messaged the seller, didn’t negotiate, just paid the money. I have been looking for any brand of sxs refrigerator in avocado. The machine came from the original mcm house that the owner designed and he spared no expense. Eventually, they modernized the kitchen in 2012 and he felt guilty tossing this so he had it hauled to the basement. I was told the refrigerator that replaced this beauty died after 5 years and he had to buy a new one. His housekeeper convinced him to sell the Americana as all it did was sit—they never used it. So, I got lucky!

After gaining my trust after a week of operation, it functioned flawlessly but now we have an issue. The bottom half of the refrigerator is cooling but the top of the freezer and the top shelf is not cold enough. I noticed that the fan in the freezer is not spinning anymore. I don’t hear it run. The refrigerator is constantly running now and I know that’s a problem. I still have a spare refrigerator because of this gal’s age and I unplugged it and just let it set in case there was ice build up. It’s still constantly running and the fan is not kicking on.

My question is, how to access fan and diagnose if it is bad. I really think it is. Because it was loud when it kicked on and would make a sputter sound when shutting off. Now, it just hums away constantly. The refrigerator does run whisper quiet and it’s cooling, but the top shelves are too warm.

Photos... < > Photo 1 of 9 View Full Size


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Post# 1145874 4/5/2022 at 12:06 (751 days old) by jacz219 (Jeannette, PA)
Checkrate/Likes Hello gang, I own a 1969 GE Americana sxs refrigerator that I absolutely adore. As I was putting together what I want for my ideal vintage kitchen to have, this was the one thing I really wanted. I found it in June for 250.00. I messaged the seller, didn’t negotiate, just paid the money. I have been looking for any brand of sxs refrigerator in avocado. The machine came from the original mcm house that the owner designed and he spared no expense. Eventually, they modernized the kitchen in 2012 and he felt guilty tossing this so he had it hauled to the basement. I was told the refrigerator that replaced this beauty died after 5 years and he had to buy a new one. His housekeeper convinced him to sell the Americana as all it did was sit—they never used it. So, I got lucky! After gaining my trust after a week of operation, it functioned flawlessly but now we have an issue. The bottom half of the refrigerator is cooling but the top of the freezer and the top shelf is not cold enough. I noticed that the fan in the freezer is not spinning anymore. I don’t hear it run. The refrigerator is constantly running now and I know that’s a problem. I still have a spare refrigerator because of this gal’s age and I unplugged it and just let it set in case there was ice build up. It’s still constantly running and the fan is not kicking on. My question is, how to access fan and diagnose if it is bad. I really think it is. Because it was loud when it kicked on and would make a sputter sound when shutting off. Now, it just hums away constantly. The refrigerator does run whisper quiet and it’s cooling, but the top shelves are too warm. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 9 View Full Size

Post# 1145877 , Reply# 1 4/5/2022 at 14:53 (751 days old) by RP2813 (Sannazay)
Checkrate/Likes *Nice Score!* It sure does sound like you need to replace the evaporator fan in the freezer side. It's not a hard job at all, and although I've never owned a beautiful Americana like yours, I suspect accessing the fan won't be difficult either. I've replaced this type of fan in Whirlpool-sourced refrigerators. I can't see the interior well enough to be sure where the fan is, but I suspect it could be behind that bumped-out area about midway up the rear freezer wall. I don't think a replacement fan motor should be difficult to find. Others here with experience working on this model can confirm or redirect, and maybe provide the exact part number for the fan motor.

Post# 1145882 , Reply# 2 4/5/2022 at 17:07 (751 days old) by jacz219 (Jeannette, PA)
Checkrate/Likes *KISS—Keep it simple stupid!* So, before I started taking the fan out, I thought to keep it simple stupid. When I did this, I checked the door switches. Noticed that the one for the freezer wasn’t making contact with the door, and when I pressed it in, the fan kicked on. So, for the time being, I have a small piece of duct tape over it to hold it in and we are chilling nicely. I just need to see if I can find the little piece and epoxy it on or replace the switch if it’s an easy job. I also had no clue the freezer lit up. I started removing panels and found burned out bulbs. Never in my life did I have a refrigerator that had a light in the freezer lol. I always forget this thing was probably the top dog in 1969 lol. I love it to pieces though. Also, the photo made me realize I need to take a brush and clean those edges better! View Full Size

Post# 1145891 , Reply# 3 4/5/2022 at 18:28 (751 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)
Checkrate/Likes That switch just pry's out, you may be able to reach it from underneath.

Post# 1145892 , Reply# 4 4/5/2022 at 18:36 (751 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *GE Americana SXS Refrigerator* Hi Jake, broken or inoperative fan switches were a frequent problem with early GE SXSs Have you hooked up the water to this ref yet ? Far and away the biggest problem with GE refs during this time were broken Ice Makers, we used to repair and rebuild IMs all the time, many customers had problems every few years. After GE copied WPs IM in 1985 GE had few problems and you could fit the WP style IM to these older models however the WP IM did not make the neat cylinder shaped cubs like the original GE IMs did. It looks like the ref is in pretty good shape for its age, we had a lot of customers that loved this ref. And it will keep your kitchen nice and warm in the winter and keep you electric meter from ever getting stuck, LOL John L.