Defrosting freezer faster ?

[jpaul]

since it's cold outside, decided to defrost the overflow freezer

what is the best way to defrost it faster ?

currently replenishing bowls of hot water and poking with a knife/scraper/screwdriver, but it is painfully slow, and looks like an overnight job.

A heat gun could be useful,

There should be a market, like, people who have their oven cleaned, for such a service, an industrial space heater would probably kill it.

Now resurrected an older fridge in the garage for the interim, good job I hadn't sold it.

 

[james.miller]

Just keep doing what you're doing. avoid salt/vinegar/heat guns etc. Some people say warm water is better than hot because of the mpemba effect, but i'm not sure if that applies to defrosting freezers.

 

[Fishman]

Get a desk fan and blow air into the freezer. Makes it much faster.

 

[wonko]

A fan blowing cold air into the freezer will speed things up considerably. Obviously be careful not to let it get wet with the puddles.
edit: beaten to it!

 

[Mr.Cookie]

I use either a steamer or a hairdryer, if you do use a hairdryer keep it moving constantly as if you heat liner to much it will blow.

 

[Midlife Crisis]

a small fan heater on low will do it in no time. You really should not poke out the ice with anything it is very easy to damage the cooling element

 

[Zefan]

Definitely just a fan. Actively moving air "only" 20c over the ice temp will be better than relying on radiation/tiny amount of convention from water 50c+ just sitting nearby.

 

[ChrisD.]

I always use my mrs hairdryer on low.

 

[Andrew_McP]

Hairdryer on low... and rubber wellies. Water and electricity, etc, etc. Nothing says Happy New Year like electrical burns and catching covid-19 in A&E.

Edit: our 30+ year old fridge freezer gave up its last wisp of ghostly refrigerant this year and although I was sad to see the old soldier leave the house, going frost-free has been a revelation! A bit of a noisy (loud cracking sounds!) one at times, and the internal fan can be loud. But the magic of disappearing frost, when it does build up, is a delight.

Maybe if I stopped opening it to marvel at the lack of ice it might run a bit more quietly.

 

[jpaul]

semi solution, use espresso machine steam supply - silicon tube I usually use to empty/clean tank was pursuaded onto unscrewed steam nozzle,
can't keep up with the soaked cloth changes now .. which towel can I use ?

Need to ask santa for one of those steam machines next year. ...

 

[Maundie]

I've always used my wallpaper steamer, works a treat and is a bit more water resistant than a fan or hairdryer due to the nature of it's intended use.

Be careful poking things in as you can easily go through the plastic skin or god forbid one of the cooling elements.

 

[jpaul]

Be careful poking things in as you can easily go through the plastic skin or god forbid one of the cooling elements.

yes , you are right I had a few reservations so just played it at a distance, and, let it finish off, alone, overnight.

 

[IvanDobskey]

I always use a hairdryer, done in about 20 minutes.

 

[supafly]

This is how I remove the freezer frost within 10 minutes.

1. Turn off freezer.
2. Remove drawers.
3. Rub freezer drain spout area with a dry cloth, so the gaffer tape will stick. Attach two strips of gaffer tape about 6 inches long making a spout.
4. Place large pan under spout.
5. Fill up a garden pressure sprayer, and spray with a jet the ice buildup.
6. Towel dry freezer before replacing freezer drawers and switching it back on.

 

[arknor]

I always use a hairdryer, done in about 20 minutes.

same hairdryer and once it starts melting you can run your fingers across the ice, most just starts falling off

catch it in a towel or something.


frost free so much better, my crappy old beko fridge-freezer cost 200quid and survived about 7 years so far, not needed to do anything but give the shelves a wipe

 

[Semple]

Did ours just before Christmas. I found the hot/warm water a bit useless. In the end just used the hairdryer to waft warm air over the ice. Got rid of it all in 30 mins and ours was quite bad.

 

[something daft already!!]

A couple of gallons of petrol and a box of matches should do it.

 

[jpaul]

frost free so much better, my crappy old beko fridge-freezer cost 200quid and survived about 7 years so far, not needed to do anything but give the shelves a wipe

yes it's true this wasn't a frost free - last kitchen zanussi had that and the timed defrost+fan broke down, this then seemed to cause thermostat to be iced, and fridge thought it was colder than it actually was, so not maintaining low temp.

Above was a 2nd hand carlton brand with, oddly, fixed shelves and evaporator coils that run between each shelf ... hadn't been defrosted in 5 years but maybe opened just twice a week.

 

[Tom_ed1987]

I use a heatgun (hairdryer)

Back in uni when the freezer wasn't mine we used to fill the entire drawers/trays with steaming hot water & leave it. Worked a treat & 0 manual effort required but not sure how good it was for the freezer.