Antique refrigerators, got one?

[stdsch40]

Just wondering if anyone remembers the sulfur dioxide refrigerant types sold before freon. Any still working? Got pictures? 1930's GE? Some had a 'top hat' style condenser on the top.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Got 3 IH's and one 1930 Westinghouse, like the one pictured without legs. Except the tag on the back says it takes F-12.

I had a 50's GM side-by-side that I abandoned when I sold a house. That was one I never should've let go of, but we had to take the doors off the fridge to get it inside, and it felt like they were filled with concrete. I just didn't feel up to it at the time but wish I had kept it now.

It had a heated compartment in the fridge door where you put the butter so it would stay soft. Never saw anything like that before or since.

 

[Blackhole49]

Not nearly that old, but here is my working 1962 Vendo Coke machine.

 

[stdsch40]

Got 3 IH's and one 1930 Westinghouse, like the one pictured without legs. Except the tag on the back says it takes F-12.

I had a 50's GM side-by-side that I abandoned when I sold a house. That was one I never should've let go of, but we had to take the doors off the fridge to get it inside, and it felt like they were filled with concrete. I just didn't feel up to it at the time but wish I had kept it now.

It had a heated compartment in the fridge door where you put the butter so it would stay soft. Never saw anything like that before or since.

Many years ago I bought my first house, a real fixer upper, it had a fridge just like the one in the picture. It worked just fine. On the back it said it used sulfur dioxide for refrigerant. I'd never heard of that before. That fridge still ran after probably 50 years. I'm just curious if any of them are still left un-converted to freon. Yeah, they were heavy beasts too. TPTB said that SO2 was too dangeous to use, but actual facts are murky on that topic.

 

[teddy52food]

I still have a working Servel propane in the basement, also one in the deer shack.

 

[Caryc]

Got 3 IH's and one 1930 Westinghouse, like the one pictured without legs. Except the tag on the back says it takes F-12.

I had a 50's GM side-by-side that I abandoned when I sold a house. That was one I never should've let go of, but we had to take the doors off the fridge to get it inside, and it felt like they were filled with concrete. I just didn't feel up to it at the time but wish I had kept it now.

It had a heated compartment in the fridge door where you put the butter so it would stay soft. Never saw anything like that before or since.

I'm pretty fond of grilled cheese sandwiches which you need soft butter to spread on the bread. The little Styrofoam container sits on top of my fridge and the butter stays just the right temp in it for spreading.

 

[Tgrasher]

I have the antique Kelvinator rounded top refrigerator I was born with. It was white and my dad had it painted coppertone back in 1954 to match the new appliances in the new house.. It still works.

 

[old]

Just wondering if anyone remembers the sulfur dioxide refrigerant types sold before freon. Any still working? Got pictures? 1930's GE? Some had a 'top hat' style condenser on the top.View attachment 107965

A couple years ago I sold one that my mom had. It was an old curved top from the 50s or so. My parents picked it up for free back when we lived in Winfield KS and my dad figured he would plug it in and see if it still worked and it did. So it has been to a number of different states from KS like NE, TN, MS, MI, and then to MO.

 

[NDIHC]

My old IH quit over 20 years ago it was late 40s or very early 50s model that my grandparents bought new. I think they got rural electric in 1949 so it was probably about that time that they got the refrigerator. The handle had been broken for many years and eventually it quit cooling so I hauled it down to the scrap pile. I saved all of the IH emblems and the freezing compartment door. It's still laying there but I think I put a dent in it once when I moved it with my loader. I have an early 50s Coldspot in the basement now that works well. Time to defrost it though.

 

[JMOR]

 

[stdsch40]

Nice stories. So far no one has the sulfur dioxide refrigerant version, must all be dead and gone by now, just shows me they just don't last forever.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Just wondering if anyone remembers the sulfur dioxide refrigerant types sold before freon. Any still working? Got pictures? 1930's GE? Some had a 'top hat' style condenser on the top.View attachment 107965

Refrigerators from the late 1800s until 1929 used the toxic gasses, ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as refrigerants. Several fatal accidents occurred

Who Invented the first home Refrigerator?​

The first practical home electric refrigerator was introduced by General Electric (GE). Albert Marsh, a chemist working for GE, developed an improved electric heating element that was used in the first commercially successful domestic refrigerator called the “Monitor-Top” refrigerator. This refrigerator was introduced in 1927 and was designed by Ralph J. Hull. It featured a hermetically sealed compressor and used a refrigerant called sulfur dioxide (SO2).
Is sulfur dioxide a health hazard?
Despite its utility, the compound poses significant health risks, including respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders when inhaled in excess.

I never seen the first home refrig. If I had one I would want it in my house or garage.
Too dangerous

 

[THinAl.]

View attachment 108027

I have one like this, it’s used for holding junk for the last 65 years.

 

[RedMF40]

There was an old fridge in the basement of a house I bought to rehab. Looked like a mother-in-law apt set up in the basement but it had definitely seen better days. Had to be gutted and the fridge removed. My recollection is that it was a 1950s-era GE or Westinghouse. Tiny freezer up top, maybe big enough for some ice cube trays and a carton of ice cream. Maybe there was more of an emphasis on fresh foods back then. I don't know, but the freezer was laughably small by today's standards. Anyway, before I removed it, I of course had to see if it still worked. So I plugged it in. Fridge and freezer both worked. This was in the early 2000s so the fridge was already about 50 years old.

 

[Teakettle]

It turns out that sulfur dioxide fridges run beautifully if the lines are properly purged and they’re filled with the stuff in the aerosol “air duster” cans. That’s what restorers are using nowadays to keep them going.

 

[used red MN]

It turns out that sulfur dioxide fridges run beautifully if the lines are properly purged and they’re filled with the stuff in the aerosol “air duster” cans. That’s what restorers are using nowadays to keep them going.

R12 was Dichlorodifluoromethane, —

R-134a refrigerant, also known as 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, has the chemical formula C2H2F4, consisting of two carbon atoms, two hydrogen atoms, and four fluorine atoms. —

The main propellant in most canned air (aerosol duster products) is a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), specifically 1,1-difluoroethane (HFC-152a), or 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), or trans-1,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFO-1234ze)

Sounds like they are just putting refrigerant in them. Their connections to the can would probably be easier if they used canned refrigerant.

BTW, I wouldn’t suggest topping off dinner with a shot of sulfur dioxide.

 

[Gary Reif]

Still have my grandparents 1953 IH in the garage. Still working keeping adult beverages cold.

 

[urbancase]

I always wanted a IH but never did try to get one. I would like to have converted and use but my wife did like the gas pump idea in te basement so I sure that would go over to good either. I hear all the time she comes down that I have to many shot gun reloaders and I push her limits on my trap shooting hobby so I leave it alone

 

[37 chief]

Many years ago I bought my first house, a real fixer upper, it had a fridge just like the one in the picture. It worked just fine. On the back it said it used sulfur dioxide for refrigerant. I'd never heard of that before. That fridge still ran after probably 50 years. I'm just curious if any of them are still left un-converted to freon. Yeah, they were heavy beasts too. TPTB said that SO2 was too dangeous to use, but actual facts are murky on that topic.

When I was young I would play around our family dump. The dump was 1/2 a mile or so from the buildings. There was an old refrigerator. I was messing around with it, I broke a line, gas came out that took my breath away. I couldn't breathe for a short time. I ran awa from the thing and was ok. I told my friend, lets get out of here. 65 years later I have my grandmas old GE exposed coil top refrigerator. I wonder if it has the nasty gas inside? Stan

Refrigerators from the late 1800s until 1929 used the toxic gasses, ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as refrigerants. Several fatal accidents occurred

Who Invented the first home Refrigerator?​

The first practical home electric refrigerator was introduced by General Electric (GE). Albert Marsh, a chemist working for GE, developed an improved electric heating element that was used in the first commercially successful domestic refrigerator called the “Monitor-Top” refrigerator. This refrigerator was introduced in 1927 and was designed by Ralph J. Hull. It featured a hermetically sealed compressor and used a refrigerant called sulfur dioxide (SO2).
Is sulfur dioxide a health hazard?
Despite its utility, the compound poses significant health risks, including respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders when inhaled in excess.

I never seen the first home refrig. If I had one I would want it in my house or garage.
Too dangerous

 

[Gambles]

About 20 years ago, I bought a property that I was remodeling. The property had an old refrigerator in it. I called in a veteran HVAC man, and as he was working on something completely different, he said “Man, I haven’t seen one of them in ages!”
Me:”What are you talking about?”
Him: “That ‘fridge. It’s an old ammonia ‘fridge. They got away from them.”
Me: “Why?”
Him: “If they leaked, it could be very unhealthy.”
I never plugged it in and I soon took it to the dump.