sweetbeats
Reel deep thoughts...
I'm not repairing vintage appliances.
Not really.
I mean I did, but it was just one appliance and it was out of necessity.
Old GE refrigerator from, like, 1938.
It just quit one day. It would only "hummmmm".
I figured it was hopelessly done and we were just going to do whatever we had to do to get rid of it without having to haul it anywhere like post a freebie ad on craigslist or put it up on freecycle.
I wondered if it was an easy fix so I pulled it apart as well as I could to look at the back side of the compressor where all the wiring is. I figured it was either bad wiring, a bad relay or...hey...lookit that (I said) there's a cap in there...161uF/125V big can cap. OLD, but not original I believe. I thought "if that cap is bad maybe there's just not enough ooomph to kick over the compressor."
Well, its working now.
Guess all this electronics tinkering counts for something. My wife will be pleased as the apples and pears are about ready to drop and we haven't a place to preserve them while she dries them and/or cans them. She does now.
The wiring is pretty scary. I cleaned up what I could but ideally it should all be replaced. I didn't have a proper cap value-wise but I did have a couple 470uF/63V caps which I wired in series which I believe gives me about 235uF and 126V. Its just patched together at the moment to test but its working great. I'm surprised actually. MAN those old refrigerators chill down fast! I can't believe the exchange rate. The refrigerant is scary stuff: sulpher dioxide.
Moderator, yank this if necessary...not really analog audio related at all...just pleased that I was able to apply knowledge I've gained working on my gear to repair the old icebox.
Not really.
I mean I did, but it was just one appliance and it was out of necessity.
Old GE refrigerator from, like, 1938.
It just quit one day. It would only "hummmmm".
I figured it was hopelessly done and we were just going to do whatever we had to do to get rid of it without having to haul it anywhere like post a freebie ad on craigslist or put it up on freecycle.
I wondered if it was an easy fix so I pulled it apart as well as I could to look at the back side of the compressor where all the wiring is. I figured it was either bad wiring, a bad relay or...hey...lookit that (I said) there's a cap in there...161uF/125V big can cap. OLD, but not original I believe. I thought "if that cap is bad maybe there's just not enough ooomph to kick over the compressor."
Well, its working now.
Guess all this electronics tinkering counts for something. My wife will be pleased as the apples and pears are about ready to drop and we haven't a place to preserve them while she dries them and/or cans them. She does now.
The wiring is pretty scary. I cleaned up what I could but ideally it should all be replaced. I didn't have a proper cap value-wise but I did have a couple 470uF/63V caps which I wired in series which I believe gives me about 235uF and 126V. Its just patched together at the moment to test but its working great. I'm surprised actually. MAN those old refrigerators chill down fast! I can't believe the exchange rate. The refrigerant is scary stuff: sulpher dioxide.
Moderator, yank this if necessary...not really analog audio related at all...just pleased that I was able to apply knowledge I've gained working on my gear to repair the old icebox.
