My Grandmas FEDDERS finally died. :(

[Vern_in_IL]

1978 Sears Kenmore window unit, 18,000 BTU has finally died. Compressor locked.

It had only been recharged twice it's entire life.

We are all emotionally attached to the unit, as we spent many times in Grandmas living room looking at that beautify foe wood grain.

What an excellent design it was.

 

[loneryder]

Those old Kenmore appliances would last forever. There was a company in Cincinnati that made whole house AC units so well that they went out of business because they never needed replacement. There's a 30+ yr. old ac still running across the street from me in SW FL. Nothing lasts like that in FL!

 

[CarbonSteel]

Fedders is a brand I have not heard in forever, but they were tanks back in the day.

 

[nascarnation]

I've got a Kenmore freezer in the garage in use continually since 1978 with zero maintenance other than cleaning.
Truly amazing durability.

 

[PowerSurge]

This thread reminded me of an Emerson QuietCool window unit we had when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's. Talk about cold air. That thing would freeze your face off if you stood in front of it.

 

[nascarnation]

Originally Posted by 2015_PSD
Fedders is a brand I have not heard in forever, but they were tanks back in the day.



That's interesting. In the early 80s I bought a house in a development where most had Fedders heat pumps which were a disaster, many of them had been replaced after only a couple years and there was a class action lawsuit.

 

[nascarnation]

Originally Posted by PowerSurge
This thread reminded me of an Emerson QuietCool window unit we had when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's. Talk about cold air. That thing would freeze your face off if you stood in front of it.



Sounds like the old GMs with the A-6 Frigidaire compressor.

 

[ffhdriver]

Originally Posted by nascarnation
I've got a Kenmore freezer in the garage in use continually since 1978 with zero maintenance other than cleaning.
Truly amazing durability.
Had a Kenmore refrigerator/freezer I bought in 1978 that was still running, with no problems, when I sold my house in 2005.

 

[Jarlaxle]

My old house had a big (220V, I think 18-20K BTU) Fedders air conditioner...it worked perfectly for more than 15 years and was working when I sold the house.

The little 5K GE my grandmother bought in 1979 at Woolworth's has outlasted (at last count) five replacements and is still working.

 

[WobblyElvis]

My home AC is 37 years old, don't know the brand but it's still going. Some one gave me a large Chrysler window ac unit about 20 years ago but I never used it and threw it out 6 years ago. Took it to the scrap metal dealer and placed it on the scale. He shouted and got out of his chair when he saw the weight of it. Should never have thrown that away.

 

[AandPDan]

I'm still running a 1969 Bradford 5k window unit. Never recharged. It'll turn a room into a meat locker.

It's also make the electric meter spin like a top.

Love the sound of it's compressor. I

 

[BAJA_05]

Originally Posted by PowerSurge
This thread reminded me of an Emerson QuietCool window unit we had when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's. Talk about cold air. That thing would freeze your face off if you stood in front of it.

My Grandparents had one of those in the front living room back in the day. Yesterday, pulled my female friends Fedders air conditioner out of her dining room window. She bought the house in 1993 and bought that Fedders unit that summer. Yes, 27 years later and still running strong but noisy as ever here the last year. Replaced with a newer model but she is not gonna scrap that old Fedders she says.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Not familiar with Fedders, but our RCA Whirlpool gas dryer is about 55 years old (1960s dates on parts inside it and RCA Whirlpool was only around in the mid 60s) and still working perfectly. Just had to finally replace the belt a few years ago. The Whirlpool washing machine is a good 40 years old or so. It doesn't have a date on it, but the wood grain indicates 70s or early 80s to me. Still works perfectly as well. Nowadays you'd be lucky to get 10 years out of a washer or dryer.

 

[JTK]

42yrs of service! That is amazing.

I had a Fedders dehumidifier in the basement of my first house 21yrs ago, that for all I know is still there!

I hope that old fedders lives on because today's consumer units are junk. Little coke can sized compressors that get scorching hot, etc.

I know if we have to buy replacement window shakers for areas at work, we pretty much only buy Friedrich Kuhl units now because they are the only ones that will last more than a year or two. Problem is, they're like $1500.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Sears branded stuff at one time was the end all be all. Pretty much the best!!

 

[Al]

Originally Posted by JTK
4
I know if we have to buy replacement window shakers for areas at work, we pretty much only buy Friedrich Kuhl units now because they are the only ones that will last more than a year or two. Problem is, they're like $1500.

I have bought the cheapie $100+ ones in my 3 window units over many many years. I have yet to have one go bed. I replace every 6+ years to get the higher efficiency.

That Fedders unit chewed up enough electricity over these 42 years to be replaced several times. But yes. In 1965 I bought a Fedders for my bedroom window when I lived with my parents. I had an extremely well paying summer job where I worked14 hour days drilling quarry dynamite holes.

 

[Drew2000]

Originally Posted by nascarnation
Originally Posted by PowerSurge
This thread reminded me of an Emerson QuietCool window unit we had when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's. Talk about cold air. That thing would freeze your face off if you stood in front of it.



Sounds like the old GMs with the A-6 Frigidaire compressor.


...and R12 refrigerant was the best! (for cooling, not so much for the ozone layer). The modern ozone-friendly high pressure refrigerants just don't seem to have the same heat moving capability.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Sears branded stuff at one time was the end all be all. Pretty much the best!!


Absolutely! I collect vintage Sears branded stuff (lots are still unopened). One of these days I wanna setup a little display in one of my rooms to make it look like a little Sears store...

 

[jhellwig]

Originally Posted by PowerSurge
This thread reminded me of an Emerson QuietCool window unit we had when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's. Talk about cold air. That thing would freeze your face off if you stood in front of it.


That was the best thing in the summer when I was a kid. Run around all day and then come stand in front of the window unit and freeze. The smell of a good chilly window ac brings back memories.

 

[Speak2Mountain]

We just tossed a washer, made 1st month of Reagan's 2nd term. SpeedQueens are tanks. Bought another