Just for my TeeVee friends...
 

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

Best,

Wiggy

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.:D

You never know.

That's how I found this:

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

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

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!

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

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

On that stove....
 

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.

Disposable society
 

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

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

Re: Disposable society
 

I don't disagree. But wives want what wives want, and there is no point in arguing it. She doesn't give me any grief about my weird camera or wristwatch or stereo collections, and she cooks my dinner - so if she wants a new range, then who am I to argue?

Best,

Wigwam

Ah, wimmin.........ya can't live with them, and ya can't kill them.

Too bad someone didn't clue in Scott Peterson.

Anthony

Wigwam, it's not everyday I see a photo of downtown Kenly on the internet!:)

Re: Re: Disposable society
 

Hmm... you have a point, and men want what wives got, so I guess you'd be better to get her a new one. What doesn't she like about the stove? That it's old? Something doesn't work on it?

You could go to one of the above listed sites and hope to give that Westy a good home. I'd hate like hell to see it get thrown in the trash:(

Re: Re: Re: Disposable society
 

Well, two of the burners are out, and they're not the removable kind - except in the sense that ever thang can be removed wif a big hammer. Other than that, she likes it alright. But what she really wants is one of those ranges wif the gas cooktop and the electric oven part. I guess.

As to tossing it out - well there seem to be a lot of stoves like this one sitting by the side of the road around here - but not usually in any kind of working shape, let alone looking as nice as this one does. I reckon we'll try to sell it - not sure where to start, though. Not even sure this monster will fit through our front door - that may be why it's still here!

You know anybody who collects and fancies a trip to NC to pick it up, I'm sure we can reach a reasonable price!

Best,

Wiggy

Hey! What chew doing? Raleigh? Why you're prolly the reason I bin prowling ALL the SA and GW shops in Raleigh ever weekend and find NOTHIN NO-WHAR! It has been CLEAN pickins from Goldsboro to Durham for some time now - some buddy's bin gittin up early!

You know why I wuz in Kenly! - I hadda take I70 to Raleigh to avoid the crush on 40 at Knightsdale - Saturday mornings are obscene!

Best,

Wiggy in Wilson

Re: Re: Re: Re: Disposable society
 

You may want to stay with electric as gas is getting scarce.....after years of the industry promoting wider use they finally have gotten themselves in a pickle as they didn't increase production capability nor search for new sources. After decades of surplus now they have a shortage. Idiots. Guess who'll now end up paying for their short sightedness?

Anthony

I hate to derail this thread any more, but no, I'm NOT the one who's picked the thrifts clean in Raleigh. A few good vinyl scores are all I can claim lately. Even the garage sales have yielded very little the past few months. I recognized the pic as Kenly cause I travel through there quite often during deer season, en route to a farm outside Fremont.

Here's to better luck at the thrifts, and fewer Yankees clogging up the roads!!:beerchug:

Sweet TV--Steve!!
 

That a real cool roundie!!! Love to have it. Eric:D

“Freon” is a trade name used by DuPont for their fluorocarbon refrigerants. It does not identify any particular refrigerant (i.e. R-12 or R-22). As far as performance is concerned, don’t blame the refrigerant, blame the cheap junk it is put in. I’ve been in the HVAC/R industry for some time, and there are many excellent, energy efficient units on the market. Unfortunately, the “Crap-Ola” brand has gotten a stranglehold on the market. Auto A/C units are the same, too. For the most part, just cheap junk. Converting an auto from R-12 to R-134a requires a compressor that will flow 15% more CFH than the original, not to mention the need for a larger condenser, and readjusting the low pressure control.
That being said….Congrats on your find!

Color me guilty of using "Freon" to describe good ol R12, but I meant it in the colloquial sense as opposed to any of the replacement elixirs........most none of which (as you pointed out) are direct drop in replacements and will more often than not result in reduced performance. Unless of course you elect to use Propane (and you know what I'm yakking about!)

Seeing as how you're much more familiar with this than I, am going to install a 1990 Chevy engine with that small radial compressor into a late 50's car and wish to use the original factory installed underdash evaporator, do you feel this is compatible? Of course I'll have custom hoses made up with the proper fittings on either end. AFAIK this compressor was originally an R12 flavor.....should I consider changing to say a Sanden and using R134 instead? Thanks

Anthony

i have a 96 geo tracker made by suzuki. the a/c will freeze you solid. the dash above the vents will get dripping wet with water. my 03 thaoe will throw snow balls at you also.:D

A Geo with A/C? I bet when you turn it on the extra load on the engine makes it feel like someone just threw an anchor out the window LOL!

Anthony

Had a friend once with a 4 door GEO with automatic, air, and a 3 cylinder! The whole family would pile into that poor little thing...I think it took 1 1/2 cylinders to run the a/c! One day I was over there watching tv and I heard this noise like an electric motor-they couldn't get it started so they hooked it up to a battery charger and just kept the key turned, I mean they cranked it for for 5 minutes at a time! Finally decided they needed a new motor so they scrapped the car. They didn't want to have to pay someone to change it, how hard could it be to change one of those rascals?!

Hmm that doesn't sound right...if the motor still cranked over it was probably ok...they should have checked fuel pump, vacuum leaks, carbonized spark plugs, coil, distributor rotor, carburetor accelerator pump (if used), carburetor needle valve sticking open causing flooding, fuel lines, etc. If the starter motor just whirred then the solenoid was probably bad. Have had and fixed all these problems on vehicles, when the trouble symptoms were that it would not start at all. I'm curious as to how they arrived to the conculsion that it needed a new motor.

If the timing belt broke then it could've bent the valves and that would account for the sound of the engine spinning over fast (no compression any longer.....it would crank over as fast and sound just like there were no spark plugs in it)

Anthony

Since I'm guilty of keeping things OT, I'll bring things back with this photo I took in the spring in Louisville. I went inside and found 2 techs in a crowded shop working on later model sets. One of them said all the tube stuff was long gone. Lots of neat signs like this in Louisville.

It would probably be best to take all the pictures you can of the old tv shops and their signs. As we all know...tv repair is becomming a thing of the past except for us collectors and restorers. There soon wont be anything left of our tv repair history. Its nice to see pics of some of these old shops. The town i live in used to have at least 5 repair shops and now theres none. The closest one now is about 40 miles away.
-Tony

I live in a very small town some 30 miles east of Cleveland. Nearest TV shop to here is just five miles south, but they don't do anything much anymore except sales of new sets and warranty repairs. The last time I had them out to fix my TV (that was over three years ago), it cost me something like $60 because the warranty didn't cover the problem, which was a broken antenna connector on the tuner PC board (I have a 1999 RCA XL-100 19" color set, with the troublesome on-board tuner). The technician must have fixed it right (!) this time, however (resoldered all the ground points around the tuner) after repairing the antenna port, because the set's been operating just fine (good picture and all on cable) since then, as I said, now over three years later.

Now, if they could only make digital cameras that last...I have a Polaroid digital (no flash) that I bought on the Internet for $40 a couple years ago; it quit on me about a month ago. Just ordered a new one today from Radio Shack, with built-in flash; I hope that one lasts me a bit longer. I mention this because of the comments which have been made here in reference to appliances, etc. being throwaways if anything goes wrong with them after the warranty expires. I guess that's branching out to the less expensive digital cameras now as well. Grrrr.....

A quick note about WW Jones's Westinghouse range: Wiggy, you may like that range because it was made in the late '50s, but if things are starting to go wrong with it, such as burnt-out burners (replacements may not be available anymore after 45 years), perhaps it is time to get rid of it and get a new one. After four and a half decades, believe me, you and your wife have gotten your money's worth from it. Time to retire it before something really big goes wrong with it, or (heaven forbid) something shorts out in it and sets your kitchen on fire. Personally, after 45 years, I wouldn't trust anything with heating elements anymore. The insulation may be crumbling off the wiring, the switches may be on their last, last legs, the timer clock almost certainly gave up years ago (I had a neighbor in my hometown who had an electric stove dating back to the '50s; by the time she died, the year I moved here [1999], the timer had been inoperative some 40 years), etc.--just about anything could happen to an appliance (or anything else electrical) that old. With a brand-new one, you will have a factory warranty on it, so no repair or service worries for as long as the warranty is in force. If you get a brand such as Sears, Whirlpool or some other well-known make (I'd steer clear of LG and other offshore imports for obvious reasons), the stove should last you at least a few years without giving you major trouble.

Air conditioners are probably just as bad. I don't have one, since I live in an apartment building with central air (and never had one where I used to live, either), but I've been reading the posts about how car and home AC units go bad after so many years (loss of the Freon charge, compressor burns out or otherwise stops, seals go bad, etc.) and am not surprised. These days, with brand-new window ACs going for less than $100, you are right; no point in getting them fixed if anything goes wrong. It will cost as much or more just to have the thing looked at, and this isn't figuring in the cost of the repairs themselves (labor charges these days are very high) or parts. For that much, the best bet is simply to buy new.