Uploaded April 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This was uploaded because I thought the compressor had a nice startup sound that ought to be captured. It's really rather more bassy and deep than the camcorder microphone suggests. You can really tell when it has managed to build pressure and the system is coming into working order. Prior to recording this video the unit had been unplugged for about two weeks.
This compressor is in a Montgomery Ward Signature 15 Deluxe chest freezer. This unit utilizes R-12 refrigerant. Near as I have been able to tell, it was manufactured in mid-1972. Other than that, information is pretty thin on the ground. I'm not even sure who made it for Montgomery Ward, although Norge is reported to have made a lot of their private labeled white goods. Despite the compressor's Italian origins, the rest of the unit is indicated as having been made in the United States.
This freezer has been in the family since it was new. By the time it came to me, it was reported to have stopped working. Apart from the brief chattering of the starting relay, it's worked just fine since I first plugged it in a few months ago. It's held the temperature well below freezing without fail. The real test will be coming up, now that the weather is starting to get warm enough that the unit will actually have a load to work against. I'll load it up with some bags of ice and just see how it does. Refrigeration-wise, it seems healthy. Current draw is where I'd expect it to be, and it seems to build pressure as quickly as it should.
I suspect either the starting device has become flaky or perhaps the thermostat got stuck.
Necchi seems to have begun as an Italian manufacturer of sewing machines who eventually got into the refrigeration compressor business. By all accounts that I've found, which weren't many, their compressor business fell on hard times, and may have ultimately been spun off to another owner. (I am curious as to the correct pronunciation of the company's name, if you happen to know.)
There is some good information here about the company (scroll down, way down): freon12museum.blogspot.com/2012/08/kelvinator-mod-kt1042-year-1966.html
If you have any information that does *NOT* come up in a web search, I'd love to hear it, especially if you worked on the line where these units were made!
Notice the yellow tag wrapped around the refrigerant lines. This has several inspection steps printed on it (high side leak test, low side leak test, cabinet and final inspection) with punched stamps from each person who inspected the unit before it was shipped. It also states that anyone having a complaint about the unit's functionality should include the tag with their complaint. Curiously, no one ever indicated the unit's serial number on the tag!
Other videos that may be of more interest to you are in the works. I won't make any promises about when they'll be uploaded.
This was uploaded because I thought the compressor had a nice startup sound that ought to be captured. It's really rather more bassy and deep than the camcorder microphone suggests. You can really tell when it has managed to build pressure and the system is coming into working order. Prior to recording this video the unit had been unplugged for about two weeks.
This compressor is in a Montgomery Ward Signature 15 Deluxe chest freezer. This unit utilizes R-12 refrigerant. Near as I have been able to tell, it was manufactured in mid-1972. Other than that, information is pretty thin on the ground. I'm not even sure who made it for Montgomery Ward, although Norge is reported to have made a lot of their private labeled white goods. Despite the compressor's Italian origins, the rest of the unit is indicated as having been made in the United States.
This freezer has been in the family since it was new. By the time it came to me, it was reported to have stopped working. Apart from the brief chattering of the starting relay, it's worked just fine since I first plugged it in a few months ago. It's held the temperature well below freezing without fail. The real test will be coming up, now that the weather is starting to get warm enough that the unit will actually have a load to work against. I'll load it up with some bags of ice and just see how it does. Refrigeration-wise, it seems healthy. Current draw is where I'd expect it to be, and it seems to build pressure as quickly as it should.
I suspect either the starting device has become flaky or perhaps the thermostat got stuck.
Necchi seems to have begun as an Italian manufacturer of sewing machines who eventually got into the refrigeration compressor business. By all accounts that I've found, which weren't many, their compressor business fell on hard times, and may have ultimately been spun off to another owner. (I am curious as to the correct pronunciation of the company's name, if you happen to know.)
There is some good information here about the company (scroll down, way down): freon12museum.blogspot.com/2012/08/kelvinator-mod-kt1042-year-1966.html
If you have any information that does *NOT* come up in a web search, I'd love to hear it, especially if you worked on the line where these units were made!
Notice the yellow tag wrapped around the refrigerant lines. This has several inspection steps printed on it (high side leak test, low side leak test, cabinet and final inspection) with punched stamps from each person who inspected the unit before it was shipped. It also states that anyone having a complaint about the unit's functionality should include the tag with their complaint. Curiously, no one ever indicated the unit's serial number on the tag!
Other videos that may be of more interest to you are in the works. I won't make any promises about when they'll be uploaded.
