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Thread Number: 97006
/ Tag: Refrigerators
1959 Frigidaire Will Not Stop Running |
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Post# 1218053 , Reply# 1 11/6/2024 at 17:42 by goatfarmer  (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Post# 1218088 , Reply# 4 11/7/2024 at 06:00 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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1959 Frigidaire refrigerator won’t stop running
Unfortunately, you likely have a weak sealed system, if the control were bad, it would be freezing everything in the refrigerator, but like Christopher suggested it should be in the 34 to 37° range in the refrigerator no higher, in the freezer should be getting close to zero if you’re not getting these temperatures with the amount of time it’s running there’s a serious problem.
Usually these refrigerators, you would run it around number one on the control, but that’s not an exact number. It varies depending on many other conditions which setting is gonna work for you? John | ||
| Post# 1218096 , Reply# 6 11/7/2024 at 11:03 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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John- If there were a leak in the system what would be the next step? And I keep reading about keeping a gallon of water in the freezer and lots of drinks in the fridge. Does that help at all? | ||
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Post# 1218098 , Reply# 7 11/7/2024 at 12:49 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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It sounds like it’s keeping good temperatures, but it must have a slightly weak system if it has to run that much but there’s really nothing you can do about it, Frigidaire refrigerators tended to have undersized compressors that would run a lot as they got older.
It could be a little low on refrigerant. If only half the evaporator in the back of the refrigerator section is icing otherwise if it’s all frosting and then defrost each time it shuts off there’s not much you can do short of a more powerful compressor. John | ||
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Post# 1218138 , Reply# 10 11/7/2024 at 21:20 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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1959 Frigidaire refrigerator running too much
Hi, I don’t think your model has a timer. Is it a completely frost free freezer with a fan inside it?
If that is a timer control, there is nothing that has to ever be set and it cannot be sent wrong. You might be able to get a rough idea of the refrigerant level by looking at the evaporator in the back of the refrigerator if it has frost on it. Evenly probably is not low on charge. You can also feel the coils on the back of the refrigerator if they’re reasonably warm all the way down to the bottom, it’s Probably not a low charge. It’s pretty normal for these Frigidaire refrigerators to run almost all the time and they use a lot of electricity compared to a new refrigerator. This refrigerator would use at least twice the electricity an 18 ft.³ frost free refrigerator today maybe three times as much. I love old appliances as much or more than anybody here but I long ago gave up on the idea of a vintage refrigerator or freezer for that matter because of the amount of power they use. Unless you’re gonna get just a simple single door refrigerator with a tiny freezer most two door or combination or frost free models use a lot of power before about 2000. | ||
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Post# 1218220 , Reply# 12 11/9/2024 at 07:35 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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1959 Frigidaire refrigerator
Hi, what does the refrigerator say on it? Is this a frostproof model or a cyclematic model , If it’s a frost proof model, it has to have a fan in the freezer that should be running. and it would have a defrost timer which it looks like it does, in any event it doesn’t hurt the refrigerator to run 100% of the time not so good for your power bill but the refrigerator compressor will not get tired running 100% of the time for the next 10 years but if it’s running 100% of the time in a normal temperature room if your house gets hotter in the summer it won’t keep food properly cold at that point.
John | ||
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Post# 1218303 , Reply# 14 11/11/2024 at 06:32 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Refrigerator running Time
Hi Anne, it sounds like your refrigerator is running as normally as possible, given its age, etc.
I remember customers 40 and more years ago complaining about how much they're Frigidaire refrigerators ran. Many customer said they literally ran all summer around here. Frigidaire tended to use a less powerful compressor than other major brands And they tended to have very long running times, especially as things aged a little bit, the larger refrigerators and the frostproof ones were especially bad usually the basic manual defrost ones didn't have this problem. GE by comparison often had 1/3 hp compressors and they tended not to run near as much but they used more power when they did run, so power consumption is similar overall. If you're curious, get one of those little kilowatt devices and plug the refrigerator into it and see how much power is really using in a week or a month time. Your 1959 refrigerator is only the second year of a frost proof refrigerator from Frigidaire and the early ones tended to be a little over built, but they also used a lot of power. I have a 1967 Frigidaire 19 ft.³ bottom freezer refrigerator. It was Frigidaire's top-of-the-line refrigerator that year they called it. The food life preserver, the thing has eight motors in it between the icemaker and the automatic door opener and three different controlled temperature areas. I love the refrigerator for it's cool engineering and looks and I would plug it in when we have big parties and things for extra storage space But I have finally given up on the thing it literally seems to add about $30 or more to the electric bill if I let it run for a month it's just too much to use it any longer I'm giving it to a fellow collector. There's not much you can do about how much it's running you could buy a dozen solar panels to offset the use of this refrigerator if you like. John | ||
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Post# 1218319 , Reply# 16 11/11/2024 at 16:12 by Sudsomatic (Indiana) |
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In all seriousness though, good luck with the fix, I know I've found a mountain of resources from this community for fixes with my own older appliances. Definitely in the right place. | ||
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Post# 1218322 , Reply# 17 11/11/2024 at 18:02 by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area) |
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"how much their Frigidaire refrigerators ran" John, I have a 1947 Frigidaire refrigerator, and when it was being used it didn't seem to run excessively, despite a less than perfect door seal. It is also very quiet. Was it later models that ran a lot? | ||
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Post# 1218324 , Reply# 19 11/11/2024 at 19:21 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Refrigerator running Time
Usually manual defrost refrigerators where the thermostat sensor was clamped to the freezer compartment and covered with ice, these refrigerators tended to have a very set running time. They would run for a while, and they'd be off for a long time, but once refrigerators had a thermostat sensor that sensed the air temperature in the refrigerator Refrigerators often had much longer running times.
So older, simple manual defrost refrigerators did not tend to run as long however they didn't often keep the refrigerator compartment as cold as you would have liked. The thermostat was sealed under a block of ice, so it was really just keeping that block of ice at a set temperature. Once frost free refrigerators became common in the 60s everybody started complaining about how much refrigerators ran. I heard it from hundreds of customers. John | ||
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Post# 1218335 , Reply# 23 11/11/2024 at 22:57 by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area) |
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John, thanks for the explanation. Mine, of course, is manual defrost. It was used mainly for pop, and it kept it quite cold. | ||
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Post# 1218353 , Reply# 25 11/12/2024 at 06:14 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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1959 frostproof Frigidaire refrigerator won't stop runni
Unfortunately, everything seems to be working fine. The only thing you could do is a major sealed system intervention. It could be a little low on refrigerant but most likely it's a weak compressor. Sometimes the filter dryer clogged up a little bit restricting refrigerant flow.
It's very unlikely the defrost heaters are running while the compressor is running, in my career I've only seen that happen a couple times with 1970s GE refrigerators with very cheap Mallory timers. The defrost heaters are far more powerful than the refrigeration system. It will quickly put a halt to any type of cooling. It's kind of like putting your foot on the brakes while you're driving your car the brakes are much more powerful than the engine and you won't go anywhere. I wouldn't worry about power searches and turning it on and off that won't hurt it nothing wrong with turning it off at the breaker, etc. If you want to try to resolve this, you might be able to get David from Alabama to do a servicing on the sealed system, he may be able to get it working better, my guess is it would take a new compressor. But sometimes they can be saved with a new filter dryer and recharging. John | ||
| Post# 1218361 , Reply# 27 11/12/2024 at 09:39 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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Well, I guess it must be doing something, because the compressor does turn off after 10 mins. | ||
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Post# 1218364 , Reply# 28 11/12/2024 at 11:38 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Proper defrost timer operation
I would put a little mark on the red knob with a sharpie or something, the knob should make a complete revolution every 12 or 24 hours not sure of the specs on this refrigerator.
When you turn it to the defrost. Were you hear the motor shut off The refrigerator should be drawing electricity. You can check with an amp meter. You should also be able to see a little bit of water coming out of the drain if you empty the pan immediately before doing this see if any water shows up in the pan the timer will turn the refrigerator back on in as little as 10 minutes or as much as 70 minutes, depending on the frost buildup in the freezer section. If the knob is not moving, the timer is bad this timer had a fail safe system that still turns the compressor back on, so it can't get stuck in defrost, unlike newer refrigerators, where if the timer dies while it's in defrost, the refrigerator never comes back on. This was a very advanced refrigerator when it was made unfortunately due to its complexity and age it's not likely to be a good every day refrigerator 65 years later early frost free refrigerators were just too complex and too many things to go wrong unless you really wanna go to the mat to keep it working. John | ||
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Post# 1218437 , Reply# 31 11/13/2024 at 18:11 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Hi Anne, have you determined the timer is bad yet? Is it moving? Did you mark the knob to see if it's moving if it's not moving it is bad.
It would not be hard to come up with the part number for it, I can do that when I go to work the harder thing might be to find a defrost timer for it. It was not used very long. A clever technician can substitute a modern timer for that one if it's needed. John | ||
| Post# 1218470 , Reply# 32 11/14/2024 at 08:17 by turbokinetic (Northport, Alabama USA) | ||
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Reply to message #30 Anne; I have sent you an e-mail at your address shown on your profile here.
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| Post# 1218538 , Reply# 34 11/15/2024 at 11:39 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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Hi Dave, Thank you :) Anne | ||
| Post# 1218539 , Reply# 35 11/15/2024 at 11:45 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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Hi Dave, Thank you :) Anne | ||
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Post# 1218553 , Reply# 36 11/15/2024 at 14:54 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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1959 Frigidaire running all the time
Yes, you definitely have a bad timer if it's not moving eventually heavy frost will build up in the freezer section and could damage the refrigerator eventually but it would take a very long time probably months.
Hopefully David can help. I think he's closer to you geographically, he would be clever enough to figure out how to put a modern timer in this refrigerator. It's not likely you'll find the exact timer but it's possible. | ||
| Post# 1218632 , Reply# 38 11/16/2024 at 14:44 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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Could I use this for parts reference? www.automatice.org/cgi-bi... Anne | ||
| Post# 1218779 , Reply# 39 11/18/2024 at 11:46 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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Hi John, Were you able to find a part # for me? If not should I purchase the reference above? Please help Anne | ||
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Post# 1219138 , Reply# 40 11/23/2024 at 12:51 by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Timer For A 1959 FD Ref | ||
| Post# 1219211 , Reply# 41 11/24/2024 at 13:01 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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John, I am so happy! Maybe that will buy me a little time until I can take it to Alabama. Thank you so very much! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours 🙂 | ||
| Post# 1219369 , Reply# 42 11/26/2024 at 13:46 by vtgbabydress (Atlanta) | ||
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Unfortunately, someone bought it before I got to it. :( Anne | ||
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