Vintage GE Refrigerator

Hi all. I recently found a very old General Electric refrigerator in some old family storage and immediately thought it'd be a perfect keezer project. I've tried to learn a little bit about old GEs before tampering with it, but information is pretty limited and it seems like I'd have better luck turning to my fellow HBTers as a resource.

I may be wrong, but it looks like it may be an incomplete GE Monitor refrigerator from the 20s or 30s that someone before me has modified. The top panel has been replaced with just a piece of wood and the legs and monitor top are both missing. Other than that it appears to be in fabulous shape and it seems like replacing the top with a new, solid piece of wood with a nice finish, mounting a tap tower on it, and setting up a manifold inside would make it a very attractive serving unit.

If anyone with any knowledge of old refrigerators, particularly GE Monitor Top refrigerators, some input would be much appreciated.

I have more pictures upon request.

This refrigerator is not for sale.

Does it cool? I thought the Monitor Top was the compressor and coils.

It doesn't cool, but it does insulate.


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You would have to get creative with this one, maybe find a small ac unit and take it apart and fit it in there or build an enclosure to fit the unit and have it cool the inside. Could be a fun project.

Transamguy77 said:

You would have to get creative with this one, maybe find a small ac unit and take it apart and fit it in there or build an enclosure to fit the unit and have it cool the inside. Could be a fun project.

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Don't really want to alter it too terribly much aside from cleaning it up and adding the tap tower. If I figure out a way to make it a self-contained cooling unit that makes sense I'll do it, but I'll be keeping this in my barn where I brew and throw parties so it doesn't need to keep beer cold constantly. I have fridges, freezers, and a walk-in so chilling kegs isn't a problem and as long as the old GE insulates well, it'll play the role I want it to.

I was hoping to find someone who can could tell me exactly what it is. I'm only guessing it's a monitor top fridge. I'd like to find some legs that match it and I'd like to know if anyone else has done something similar with a similar unit.

Yeah, that looks to be exactly what you have. If you google GE monitor top and look for pictures, there are some identical looking units with the monitor top. I wonder who took it off, I've been told the refrigerant in those is nasty stuff.

If you're looking for just a serving unit and not a kegerator that cools, throwing a tower on there (would look good with a ceramic or mushroom style tower, something that might resemble the original top) seems like the way to go. I'd put a thermometer in there with a keg of cold water and a bag of ice and see how long it will keep cool.

Not sure what to tell you as far as legs for this unit.

I take it there are no model number plates anywhere on it? On my 1949 GE (rounded top) there's a model number on the inside cabinet at the top near where the door opens and there's also a tag on the bottom. I would guess this would be a 1920's or 1930's unit.

MrFoodScientist said:

Yeah, that looks to be exactly what you have. If you google GE monitor top and look for pictures, there are some identical looking units with the monitor top. I wonder who took it off, I've been told the refrigerant in those is nasty stuff.

If you're looking for just a serving unit and not a kegerator that cools, throwing a tower on there (would look good with a ceramic or mushroom style tower, something that might resemble the original top) seems like the way to go. I'd put a thermometer in there with a keg of cold water and a bag of ice and see how long it will keep cool.

Not sure what to tell you as far as legs for this unit.

I take it there are no model number plates anywhere on it? On my 1949 GE (rounded top) there's a model number on the inside cabinet at the top near where the door opens and there's also a tag on the bottom. I would guess this would be a 1920's or 1930's unit.

Click to expand...

Thanks MrFood! Yeah I asked my family about it and found out it belonged to my great grandparents and it was my great grandfather who altered it; they eventually got a new refrigerator and he turned that one into storage for items best kept airtight and removed the monitor top to make more space on top. I also learned the legs are somewhere in all the junk as well, so some more junk-diving is in my near future.

The refrigerant the old monitor tops was sulfur dioxide to my knowledge, which would've been pretty dangerous if a line had ruptured or something. Among the reasons I'm not interested in messing with a full restoration. I'll have a look around for the plates and/or numbers on it.

I have looked into those ceramic tap towers, but I may have to settle for a less expensive one for the time being and upgrade to that down the road. I'll try your idea with the thermometer, ice, and water to get an idea of how well it insulates.

Mostly Ammonia based refrigerants were used on those, me thinks, but equally as nasty!