Are there any refrigerator companies that make a reliable fridge anymore ??

[fitter1]

I have a 1936 Servel Electrolux gas refrigerator that i converted from natural gas over to propane,works great but is manual defrost,total non-electric. There is a guy in maine that sold parts for them and even sent me a repair service manual.

 

[goeduck]

I've seen a lot of freezers that people keep in an unheated garage that kick out on the thermostat when the garage gets cold enough and the food in the insulated freezer begins to thaw. Most of these are chest freezers that have the thermostat mounted on the outside of the unit.

Why would the food thaw if the garage was cold enough such that the thermostat did not call for cooling? And why would a thermostat element be outside of a freezer?

 

[aczlan]

Why would the food thaw if the garage was cold enough such that the thermostat did not call for cooling? And why would a thermostat element be outside of a freezer?

More likely, it's the defrost temp sensor that is mounted on the outside of the coils that is being kept cold enough by the ambient temperature that it gets stuck in the "let it warm up" portion of the defrost cycle.

Aaron Z

 

[goeduck]

More likely, it's the defrost temp sensor that is mounted on the outside of the coils that is being kept cold enough by the ambient temperature that it gets stuck in the "let it warm up" portion of the defrost cycle.

Aaron Z

That makes more sense. :thumbsup:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

We originally put our 2nd fridge in our unheated garage. One winter everything in freezer compartment thawed and we lost it all. Was because of thermostat sensed cold and shut down the freezer section, fridge section was cold enough.
Repair guy said look in your manual, sure enough the specs were something like over 40° room.
Moved fridge to basement was the fix. It has a bunch of our frozen stuff in it now.

The old freezer is at 42° inside. Still running but not cold.

 

[tallyho8]

Why would the food thaw if the garage was cold enough such that the thermostat did not call for cooling? And why would a thermostat element be outside of a freezer?

In most upright freezers the thermostat is mounted inside the refrigerator/freezer where you have to open the door to access it keeping the whole thermostat the same temperature as the inside of the refrigerator/freezer. But in most chest freezers the thermostat is mounted on the outside with the sensor tube running inside to the coils. This allows cold outside temps to cool the thermostat too much shutting off the compressor.

Then, since the freezer is well insulated, the inside will eventually warm up and defrost as long as the temperature on the outside stays low.

 

[tallyho8]

Back during Hurricane Betsy in 1965 we had 2 Servel gas refrigerators, one from the 30s and one from the 50s. The electricity went out for several days and all the neighbors knew we had gas refrigerators and brought over food for us to store for them. We had them jam packed but they kept working. As the years went by they each got refrigerant leaks and since their refrigerant was ammonia it was easy to tell they were leaking and they were disposed of.

 

[kenmac]

as long as you don't get an ammonia leak, those old Servel gas refrigerators will last forever. No moving parts to go bad

I worked on many Servel / Bryant gas A/C units back in the day

 

[5030]

I saw this awhile ago and saved it.

The No. 1 most reliable appliance brand in America, according to Consumer Reports - MarketWatch

Speed Queen like a lot of other brands is owned by Whirlpool.

 

[goeduck]

In most upright freezers the thermostat is mounted inside the refrigerator/freezer where you have to open the door to access it keeping the whole thermostat the same temperature as the inside of the refrigerator/freezer. But in most chest freezers the thermostat is mounted on the outside with the sensor tube running inside to the coils. This allows cold outside temps to cool the thermostat too much shutting off the compressor.

Then, since the freezer is well insulated, the inside will eventually warm up and defrost as long as the temperature on the outside stays low.

Now I am stuck on this again. (Talking about freezer only units, not refrigerator/freezer)

It should not matter if the thermostat adjustment knob is inside or outside of the freezer. The remote element location is what controls when the freezer comes on. In a basic chest freezer (not frost free) there is only one thermostat. On a frost free there is a second thermostat to defrost the inside coils, but that element is inside the freezer as well and not adjustable.