1960s Kenmore Portable Refrigerator, 645.73860
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 6:40 pm
When I was a wee lad, on weekends when my father had visitation rights, he'd sometimes take my brother and I to the beach, somewhere in the Los Angeles area, in his very early VW Squareback (Type III, 1961-73), probably either a 1966, or a grey-market Canadian model. He was always working on that thing. It was dark green and ferried us anywhere he took us.
In the back, this Kenmore portable refrigerator always accompanied us, and I recall various cold treats coming from it on the seemingly perpetually hot SoCal summer days.
When Dad passed in 2011, I got to clean up after him -- thirteen storage units, etc. -- and this was amongst the detritus I found. He'd long before switched to a huge Norcold unit for his trips, and this little three-quart unit hadn't seen service in years. I dragged it home to the Seattle area and it sat in the garage behind other stuff I actually used.
Recently, I moved again, and it came with me. Unpacking, this morning I plugged it in and let it run for a couple of hours: still works! On AC, anyway; that cigar lighter adapter looks suspiciously like it's missing a cone-shaped spring end. I can't find squat online about this Made-in-Japan cooler, which uses 1.7 oz. of R12. It's got an ungrounded 117v AC cord for AC operation, and a cigar lighter adapter for running on 12v DC -- apparently, both positive or negative ground. Green Dymo labels were a favorite of Dad's.
I'm posting some pictures here for the search engines to find them, when someone else goes looking for info on theirs. Maybe they'll have an Owners Manual
In the back, this Kenmore portable refrigerator always accompanied us, and I recall various cold treats coming from it on the seemingly perpetually hot SoCal summer days.
When Dad passed in 2011, I got to clean up after him -- thirteen storage units, etc. -- and this was amongst the detritus I found. He'd long before switched to a huge Norcold unit for his trips, and this little three-quart unit hadn't seen service in years. I dragged it home to the Seattle area and it sat in the garage behind other stuff I actually used.
Recently, I moved again, and it came with me. Unpacking, this morning I plugged it in and let it run for a couple of hours: still works! On AC, anyway; that cigar lighter adapter looks suspiciously like it's missing a cone-shaped spring end. I can't find squat online about this Made-in-Japan cooler, which uses 1.7 oz. of R12. It's got an ungrounded 117v AC cord for AC operation, and a cigar lighter adapter for running on 12v DC -- apparently, both positive or negative ground. Green Dymo labels were a favorite of Dad's.
I'm posting some pictures here for the search engines to find them, when someone else goes looking for info on theirs. Maybe they'll have an Owners Manual