new beer fridge

[sorefingers23]

so i just found out that my dad had an old fridge at his cottage, and he was gonna throw it out cause its been sitting out side for years, so i asked him to bring it to me so i could see if its worth a little time and effort to make it look good again..

the fridge works, but its in pretty rough shape, it need to be completly stripped and repainted, some dents have to be fixed, some holes in the plasic inside the fridge to be repaired, none of these things bother me, i repair smashed cars for a living, so thats not the problem.

what i am more worried about is that i spend my time and money to fix it up, and then it dies on me after a few months. the fridge is a McClary from the 1960s i dont know how reliable these old fridges are, and was hoping someone might have some knoledge on them?

here are some pics

 

[bratrules]

Ya i would be worried about the motor myself!! but after its fixed up am sure it will look really nice.

 

[SarahMatt]

I LOVE it!!
We bought an old Hotpoint (circa 1960) at a Thrift store. The plan was that it would "run warm" and be a perfect lagering fridge. (Un)fortunately it runs perfect! Better than the one in the kitchen...you know the one that is supposed to hold "food".
Anyway, its a great kegerater. We defrosted it this past week, its a champ. I'll see if I can get a pic.
I say do it!
Sarah.

 

[rycov]

looks bad ass. sorry, i can't really help with your question. but the fridge looks sweet

 

[day_trippr]

What would you be using that old fridge for? Fermenting, kegging, or just chilling bottles?

Looking at the bottom of the inside and seeing that big compressor hump, there doesn't look to be much room in front of it. Might be able to squeeze a couple of ball locks in that space, but to put carboys or buckets in there you'll need to build a shelf above the hump, but then there might not be enough height for kegs.

Unless you'd be doing it as an "art project", you have to ask yourself if the risk of it irreparably expiring all too soon would justify the significant amount of work it needs - especially as one can find virtually new fridges on Craig's List for really small money that have more functional interior spaces than that ol' girl and would be markedly cheaper to operate...

Cheers!

 

[sorefingers23]

I would just be using the fridge to chill beers in the garage. It won't cost me much to fix up the fridge, it would just cost me time. Lets say I did fix it up and in 6 months it broke down, would I be able to get it repaired, and how much could I expect something like that to cost me

 

[Goose5]

If its free that one thing. I had a similar one. When it finally gave up I plopped down 400 for a new one figuring the energy saved would pay for it's self in 4 or five years over using the old one. Those old frigs really eat the energy compared to new.

 

[day_trippr]

I would just be using the fridge to chill beers in the garage. It won't cost me much to fix up the fridge, it would just cost me time. Lets say I did fix it up and in 6 months it broke down, would I be able to get it repaired, and how much could I expect something like that to cost me

I would be surprised if you could get parts for such an old unit, but lets assume the compressor croaked and you could find a compatible replacement, it'd cost at least $200 just for the part. If you couldn't do the replacement work yourself, you'd be paying someone who likely gets a few hundred bucks for the time it'd take. Then you have to add the cost of recharging the system.

Contrast that to the $100 I paid for an immaculate 2 year old 17cf fridge/freezer from Craig's List, or the $125 I paid for a brand new 17cf fridge/freezer from CL (young couple bought a house that had a new kitchen filled with white ware and they wanted stainless - fridge still had all of the blue shipping tapes inside holding the shelves in place and the bins closed!) Both of them are E-Star rated as well. But if either one ever dies, I'll pitch it and hit CL for a replacement.

Unless you had a serious yen for fixing up such an old fridge, the economics just aren't there - and that isn't even counting the wattage those old beasts draw...

Cheers!

 

[sj_engr]

I'm sure I saw a special on how not to get trapped inside one of those....

I would toss that POS or at least get some kind of BS "cash for clunkers" credit that Sears offers. Their outlet pricing on new fridges is few hundred bucks.

 

[Ickythekid]

Why couldn't you use that fridge, and replace the guts with a scratch & dent refrigerator off Craigslist? I haven't really dug into the idea, but I wonder why not. As long as everything would fit space-wise.

Just an idea.

 

[sorefingers23]

Why couldn't you use that fridge, and replace the guts with a scratch & dent refrigerator off Craigslist? I haven't really dug into the idea, but I wonder why not. As long as everything would fit space-wise.

Just an idea.

I was thinking the same thing, I'm pretty sure it's possible. Someone on this forum must know about this type of thing.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Refrigerant and the oils used to lubricate the motors may not be compatible along with the pressures the new units run at. Not saying it can't be done wounder if it's worth it. BUT if you are good at sheet metal work why not build what you need off a newer fridge?...................my.02

 

[h22lude]

My friend has a very similar fridge that he was going to look at turning into a kegerator. His two main concerns was fixing it up and having it die quickly (which would be a waste of money to fix) and the electric bill of old fridges like that. Not that it would be a crazy amount but spending $100 for a slightly used fridge on CL would make your month bill lower than it would be with that old fridge.

 

[sorefingers23]

i had the fridge running for an hour tonight, it seems to run very well, its very quiet no noise or rattling, and gets cold very fast, just out of curiosity how bad are these old fridges on the electric bill compared to a e-star fridge..

i just hate to see something like this go in the trash.

 

[h22lude]

i had the fridge running for an hour tonight, it seems to run very well, its very quiet no noise or rattling, and gets cold very fast, just out of curiosity how bad are these old fridges on the electric bill compared to a e-star fridge..

i just hate to see something like this go in the trash.

I don't know the exact numbers but I bet the cost to run the fridge is double or triple the amount it costs to run a newer energy star fridge. Maybe $250 to $300 a year to run it. Its not terrible but it will definitely show. My keezer probably costs me less than $10 a month

 

[beaksnbeer]

i had the fridge running for an hour tonight, it seems to run very well, its very quiet no noise or rattling, and gets cold very fast, just out of curiosity how bad are these old fridges on the electric bill compared to a e-star fridge..

i just hate to see something like this go in the trash.

Any electrical appliance's use can be calculated by Volts X Amps = Watts Watts X Hours X Days Divided by 1000 will give you Kilowatts which is what you pay for. Your bill will show what you pay per KW..........Hope this can help

 

[day_trippr]

Any electrical appliance's use can be calculated by Volts X Amps = Watts Watts X Hours X Days Divided by 1000 will give you Kilowatts which is what you pay for. Your bill will show what you pay per KW..........Hope this can help

Doubtful, as he probably won't know the running amperage (labels generally provide the start current which is way higher) and unless he stays up for 24 hours watching the fridge he won't know the run time.

Otoh, one of these wattmeters can provide the wattage consumed in any time period. Then it's just a matter of doing the math as you said...

Cheers!

 

[beaksnbeer]

Doubtful, as he probably won't know the running amperage (labels generally provide the start current which is way higher) and unless he stays up for 24 hours watching the fridge he won't know the run time.

Otoh, one of these wattmeters can provide the wattage consumed in any time period. Then it's just a matter of doing the math as you said...

Cheers!

So he would be figuring on the high side if that's the case still better then nothing. The calculation is what is used to figure an estimate for one year of use. Watts X 24 hours X 365 days Divided by 1000 will put you within $50.

 

[day_trippr]

So he would be figuring on the high side if that's the case still better then nothing

The high side? Try "the astronomical side".

The only info on my 10cf keezer, for instance, says it needs a 15 amp circuit. If I banged 15 amps on a 110 circuit running 100% against our 12 cent/kw rate, it'd be over $142/month to run my keezer! You think that's "the high side"?

But I guarantee you its actual run time current draw is at the most a quarter of that - and it certainly isn't running anywhere near 100% of the time. In fact between my two fermentation fridges and my keezer, I pay barely $10 a month for electricity, which says a lot about run-time current usage and actual duty cycles.

If you let a chiller stabilize at its set point temperature, then plug it into a wattmeter and start the clock on it, then run for 24 hours, you'll be able to read the actual wattage consumed for one full day, which should be fairly representative. Dig out the 'lectric bill, find the kw rate, and you have the cost per day to run the old beast (or any beast, for that matter).

For $20 it's actually a pretty handy item to have around - if only to bring some sanity to otherwise wild-assed speculative calculations

Cheers!

 

[Dan]

Just some random thoughts....I love that old style, surprised they aren't manufactured for the nostalgic look. Somebody should but would probably cost a fortune. You said it was sitting on your dad's porch and it runs. Was it running without issues for an extended period of time when on your dad's porch?

I'd leave it plugged in for a few weeks and monitor the temp levels, find out if it makes a lot of weird noises. Basically observe it. Old fridges do use up more electricity, might even want to run for a whole billing cycle to evaluate how much more money is added to your electric bill. Hope all works out. That is a cool refrigerator for sure!

 

[sorefingers23]

Just some random thoughts....I love that old style, surprised they aren't manufactured for the nostalgic look. Somebody should but would probably cost a fortune. You said it was sitting on your dad's porch and it runs. Was it running without issues for an extended period of time when on your dad's porch?

I'd leave it plugged in for a few weeks and monitor the temp levels, find out if it makes a lot of weird noises. Basically observe it. Old fridges do use up more electricity, might even want to run for a whole billing cycle to evaluate how much more money is added to your electric bill. Hope all works out. That is a cool refrigerator for sure!

look at this site for new retro style appliances.. the prices are insane!

when the fridge was outside it wasnt plugged in, he was about to throw it in the trash before i found out about it

 

[beaksnbeer]

The high side? Try "the astronomical side".

The only info on my 10cf keezer, for instance, says it needs a 15 amp circuit. If I banged 15 amps on a 110 circuit running 100% against our 12 cent/kw rate, it'd be over $142/month to run my keezer! You think that's "the high side"?

But I guarantee you its actual run time current draw is at the most a quarter of that - and it certainly isn't running anywhere near 100% of the time. In fact between my two fermentation fridges and my keezer, I pay barely $10 a month for electricity, which says a lot about run-time current usage and actual duty cycles.

If you let a chiller stabilize at its set point temperature, then plug it into a wattmeter and start the clock on it, then run for 24 hours, you'll be able to read the actual wattage consumed for one full day, which should be fairly representative. Dig out the 'lectric bill, find the kw rate, and you have the cost per day to run the old beast (or any beast, for that matter).

For $20 it's actually a pretty handy item to have around - if only to bring some sanity to otherwise wild-assed speculative calculations

Cheers!

Calculations are what all appliances are based on Old one just states that anything less than a 15 amp circuit could trip the breaker/fuse eg: a 10 amp breaker may not support the inrush current for the appliance. Try it on an item that you have an actual amp or wattage and you will find the use in this or not ..........my .02 sorry for trying to help.