Just for my TeeVee friends...

[Wigwam Jones]

Saw this sign on an old building in NC and thought you might like to see it.

Best,

Wiggy

[Steve Hoffman]

Stop on in and see if they have any goodies in the back room!

And they also do appliances for us appliance nuts. Hmm.. Might have an old washing machine or two back there as well.

[Steve Hoffman]

You never know.

That's how I found this:

[VinylHanger]

I'm not a TV guy, but even I get all mooshy when it comes to NIB equipment. Saa-weeet

[Wigwam Jones]

Originally posted by jasonlava
And they also do appliances for us appliance nuts. Hmm.. Might have an old washing machine or two back there as well.

We have this ancient range in our ancient house. Wife hates it, though, so it has to go.

Best,

Wiggy

Is that a flourescent light illuminating the cooking area on that range? If so, that's just too kool!

I really like the looks of mid century appliances. Sometime in the 80's it seems that fridges (in particular) lost all style except for the latest stuff with the built in TVs.

Anthony

[Eric H]

Wiggy, might check out these Sites, your stove might be worth something!
http://www.classicappliances.com/
http://www.antiqueappliances.com/refrigerators.htm

The second one has a 1959 Westinghouse Electric range selling for $2000 restored!

Originally posted by Wigwam Jones
We have this ancient range in our ancient house. Wife hates it, though, so it has to go.

Best,

Wiggy

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
You never know.

That's how I found this:

WOW! What brand TV is that? That looks like a smaller screen roundie.

[Steve Hoffman]

It's a Packard Bell 21" roundie from 1964. Never turned on in 40 years.

[Carmine]

Better try that stove on Ebay, I sold a 50s era stove on the 'bay to a local buyer for $100. Could have gotten more if I really tried hard.

Hate to see it end-up in a landfill, or melted down and returned to the US as another cheap piece of Wal-Mart junk.

Originally posted by Wigwam Jones
We have this ancient range in our ancient house. Wife hates it, though, so it has to go.

Best,

Wiggy

Then your wife is gonna get a new stove with plastic knobs and thin metal, and she's gonna want that old Westy back. New appliances are to us appliance enthusiasts as new TVs are to old TV enthusiasts. They're cheap plastic (well metal for large appliances). They're pretty much disposable when it breaks.

Take Air Conditioners. They used to be expensvie as hell and weigh a ton. They actually blew colder air than the new ones today. My friend has a Frigidaire AC from the 70s at his house and it can freeze you out in no time. He also has a new LG made AC in his bedroom and it barely keeps up. they're so cheap and plastic, less than $100 can get you a small room AC and if it breaks, chuck it and get a new one.

Regarding older air conditioners being colder than new ones, a lot of that is due to their using good old R12 (Freon). There's more to it than that, but that's it in a nutshell.

Notice how the A/C in modern cars usually takes a lot longer to get cool and then sometimes they don't get as cold as older ones? Same deal. It's especially pronounced in older cars that have been converted to the Freon replacement R-134......the older systems aren't optimized to run that new flavor refrigerant.

Am being over simplistic here, but you get my drift. As for durability, when I see a Korean made window air conditioner retail for less than $100 I assume it's a throwaway and hope to get at most a couple of years use out of it. Disgusting, but that's the way it is.......another thing, these el-cheapos are no where near as efficient as the pricier units, and I wonder if they're any more efficient as an older one. You might just be better off buying an older repairable unit with similar efficiency rating instead. But then again, they wouldn't come with remote control! :-)

Anthony

[Chad Hauris]

Those old air conditioners are great! I have a 28,000 BTU 240 v. Sears refrigerated window unit in the living room, appears to be from the 60's or early 70's, it was left out in the barn by the previous owners. We brought it in and hooked it up...works great. It does use a lot of electricity though!
Also bought one of those remote control AC units to add supplemental cooling to the bedroom... The air does not feel as cold as the older unit, although it can do a competent job of cooling the room if the door is closed.

My old Grand Marquis with R-12 used to have ice cold AC until 2 years ago...compressor seals went out, so it's drive with the windows down time now! I was looking a 1970 Lincoln recently that appears to have a much more substantial AC compressor. There was no battery on it so I couln't check the AC performance, it would be great if it still worked.

For the most part, no air conditioner will retain it's charge of refrigerant indefinitely as it will eventually dissipate thru the hoses and seals. That's not to say that it won't take a recharge, just replace the needed part(s) and top off the oil and you should be good to go....assuming there wasn't some catastrophic failure (like the compressor grinding it's innards resulting in systemic contamination)

Anthony