Frequently Asked Questions About Domestic Refrigerator Repair:
Defrosting manual defrost refrigerators
Dear Fridge Dr., I helped a friend defrost her refrigerator that hadn't been touched in
many years. It was so frosted the freezer unit was a solid block of ice. I noticed the staying qualities of ice when in large quantity. Many hours later with a skillful and persistent use of an ice pick, pans of boiling water, a turkey baster of hot water and a hair dryer we got all the ice out... we thought. Then I realized there was still quite a chunk lurking behind the freezer.
I'm to go back in a couple of weeks to get that last bit and was wondering if you had any advice. I vaguely remember seeing a device in a catalog that was supposed to help defrost more quickly. Do you know anything about it or have any other ideas? Thanks,
Yes proceed on the way you were, except don’t use that ice pick. One small hole in the system and all your work along with this refrigerator is gone. I haven't heard of any new innovations for manual defrosting because it seems to be one of those skills fast fading from our common tasks and chores like hooking oxen to a plow.
I don't think you can even buy manual defrost refrigerators any more although there are still many in use as beer fridges. One thing that works really well that wasn’t around our homes when manual defrost refrigerators were common, is the hand held hair dryer. A standard 1500 watt unit puts out a lot of heat that can be specifically directed by the user and makes the job much easier.
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