Freezer Ice-up

[RichRob]

My freezer has a layer of frost in back of freezer. Tried the dollar bill test, and it slid out with some resistance, so seals seem fine. I looked at some threads with similar problems, but all I saw were refrigerator fans to circulate air, but they are not to be used in freezers. Defrosting now, but are there any suggestions on how to limit this problem in future? It's a pain to defrost when freezer is needed while camping.

[16ACE27]

Ours does the same thing.

[taylorbob1]

Me too
It’s a Norcold electric/propane

[abjbrtd]

Welcome to the good ol days, no auto defrost on rv refrigerators.

We don't wait till it gets bad.

Empty the freezer then soak a towel in hot hot water, wipe the frost till it's gone or till the towel starts freezing, resoak and do it again and again if needed.
Load freezer and keep the door closed as long as possible.
Takes us about 10 minutes
Edit: tell "kids" stay OUT of the freezer!!"

[Lt Keefer]

Yeah, no defrost cycle on an RV freezer.

[cavie]

Wecome to "Old School". Know you know who your grand kids feel about Pay Phones.

[HarryTh]

A couple of years ago mine used to do the same thing. The coils in the back of the refrigerator also got ice on them and things in the refrigerator were freezing. One quiet night I realized it never cycled. It ran all night. I replaced the thermistor on the coils and all is still well.
Harry

[The_Breeze]

Originally Posted by cavie

Wecome to "Old School". Know you know who your grand kids feel about Pay Phones.

if you can find one anymore, it's a museum piece

[The_Breeze]

I was on the road for a year before encountering this after letting her sit for 4 months to take care of something else. It never did it before that. The only thing I can suggest is I always kept it packed full. I full time, so that was relatively easy.

I remember when self-defrosting refrigerators first came out. It was a huge deal and you paid for it at checkout too, but I digress...I received so many tips on manual defrosting, I chalked it up to a common problem.

Here's one of, what may be, many ways:
1. Place all freezer items in the kitchen sink and cover with a towel
2. Place a towel in the bottom of the freezer to catch the water
3. Fire up the wife's hair dryer and go to town
4. Wring out the towel and repeat

Takes 10 mins. Hope that helps.

[Billr580]

My "house" style Whirlpool refrigerator did the same thing under warranty. The guy that came out defrosted it with a hair dryer and told me that this version is notorious for freezing up as it doesn't stay in defrost mode long enough for the water to drain all the way and the drain hole freezes up. He told me I had 2 choices, 1. to empty and unplug the refrigerator when I'm home and let it thaw naturally 2. after the warranty is out he said he's used a copper wire wrapped around the defrost bar in the refrigerator and run it about 3inches down the freezer drain. Neither sounds great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSYPjuJLrmI

[Judge]

I'm not so sure the copper wire is not a bad thing to try. All it is doing is transferring heat to the copper wire and keeping the drain opening warm enough to allow the water to flow through the drain.

[wrfabus]

We have a Dometic fridge/freezer and in the freezer we use one of those thin plastic cutting mats you can get at Walmart and place it upright along the rear wall of the freezer. The ice buildup in the freezer sticks to this mat and we just remove the mat periodically and shake the ice off in the sink and put it back in. Hope this helps.

Safe Travels All,
Bill

[Lt Keefer]

Originally Posted by wrfabus

We have a Dometic fridge/freezer and in the freezer we use one of those thin plastic cutting mats you can get at Walmart and place it upright along the rear wall of the freezer. The ice buildup in the freezer sticks to this mat and we just remove the mat periodically and shake the ice off in the sink and put it back in. Hope this helps.

Safe Travels All,
Bill

Now that's thinking!

[MLP]

Hair dryer melts it quickly. Never turn the fridge off and wipe the water up ASAP. Did this only once on a three months trip across the country. Mainly got a lot of ice build up where it was humid. Open the freezer, humid air enters and the water freezes on the sides.