Yep! 
Also, I found the original owner’s manual in the basement and in pretty good condition. Nice turquoise graphics, I think I’ll frame it for decor.
If it were mine, I would let it sit upright for a day or two before starting it up again. Just to let the coolant settle back into the compressor.
Another reason why those old refrigerators are such energy hogs: lousy insulation! Actual STRAW was packed between those heavy walls, and while straw is better than nothing, it’s not exactly the best insulation in the world. Today’s fridges have thin, lightweight insulation, much thinner walls and use mini-watts instead of mega-watts.
~VOW
Update: The Crosley Shelvador has safely arrived at its new home in Phoenix. Last thing out of the container, and I nudged it into its new spot, leaving it unplugged for 72 hours after moving it.
Plugged it in, and she started chugging away. A bit noisy at first, but quieted down and started running and cycling normally.
Today we filled it with beer and pop (and bagels). It’s working fine, from what we can see, and making ice. Pretty much a Mission Accomplished at this point! Go us!
So…can I have a beer?
Just to test it out, of course. It’s for science.
-D/a
Good job!! I love old fridges
BTW, if you like the look of the fridge itself, but it finally fails on you, it is 100% do’able to use it as a literal ice box. Provided you have another, kinda large freezer, you can freeze water into gallon plastic milk jugs, and just switch them out, maybe twice a day. We did that for quite a while when our fridge bit it, growing up. It totally works!
I guess it was only a matter of time until those snowbirds would start bringing their snow making machines to Phoenix as well.
Then again, it is a dry heat there, so perhaps this fridge makes dry ice now?
Beer is now cold and now being served. All testers are welcome to come test.
Actually, frost-free freezers have a heating cycle which basically melts off the frost that might have accumulated. That uses energy. Then they go back into freezing mode. So they have to compensate for the brief warming-up. A non-frost-free version doesn’t have that overhead. Also, the older one would presumably have a thermostat, so it wouldn’t be running constantly, just when the thermostat told it to.
Now, a newer self-defrosting fridge is going to be more efficient than an older self-defrosting fridge, but any unit which is self-defrosting will use more energy than one of the same vintage which does NOT have the self-defrost cycle.
Yes! I had a long day of training, followed by sudden uncertainty about my business trip next week, followed by an evening of packing up all the food in my house to prepare for being tented. (The house. For termites.) That beer would be really good right about…NOW.
Thanks.
-D/a
Thanks Mama Z for that information. You said it much more elegantly than I could.