5.02-11: Frigidaire 1942 Compressor

Description:

AN INTEGRAL HP COMPRESSOR (2 TO 3 HP), BY FRIGIDAIRE, possibly MODEL R, CIRCA 1942 ‘ it would be representative of a new generation of open system refrigeration compressors for F12 refrigerant, which began to emerge in the late 1930’s. With a whooping 17 inch, twin V belt fly wheel, in formed and riveted steel plate, it followed the slow speed, high displacement compressor design idiom preferred by Frigidaire in the period. It would come to stand as an historic marker of the end of an epic era in refrigeration machinery engineering.

Group:

5.02 Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Compressors - Commercial

Make:

Frigidaire

Manufacturer:

Frigidair Div. General Motors Corporation

Model:

R [see note]

Serial No.:

Body markings, 637638; 1-6; R; 2

Size:

14x10x19’h

Weight:

70 lbs.

Circa:

1942

Rating:

Exhibit, education, and research quality, illustrating the end of an epic period in slow speed, open system refrigeration machinery engineering by Frigidaire, on the eve of moving to high speed hermetic system designs.

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Provenance:

From York County (York Region) Ontario, once a rich agricultural hinterlands, attracting early settlement in the last years of the 18th century. Located on the north slopes of the Oak Ridges Moraine, within 20 miles of Toronto, the County would also attract early ex-urban development, to be come a wealthy market place for the emerging household and consumer technologies of the early and mid 20th century.

This artifact was discovered in the 1950’s in the used stock of T. H. Oliver, Refrigeration and Electric Sales and Service, Aurora, Ontario, an early worker in the field of agricultural, industrial and consumer technology.

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Donor:

G. Leslie Oliver, The T. H. Oliver HVACR Collection

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Bibliographic References:

Frigidaire, Master Parts and Price Catalogue, Jan 1940. Compressor Parts, Page 2

Notes:

The machine markings are ambiguous, as is often the case, historically, with embossed equipment part numbers mixed up with model and serial data. The ‘R’ designation is present, corresponding to a recognised type, shown in the company’s master parts and price catalogue, Jan 1940.

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