How to Fix Your Frozen Freezer

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Defrosting your Freezer

No one likes this job. There is no use in leaving sticky notes on the refrigerator, or complaining loudly when you open the freezer door. Not even threatening to video the mess inside the freezer and posting the family’s frozen shame on the Internet will get anyone moving. The only choice is to call everyone into the kitchen and tell them the time will be now. The freezer will be defrosted and the cleaning begins right now.

The preparation

You will need some very clean towels. If you decide to use regular paper towels then be prepared for them to leave a residue behind when you clean. Paper breaks down very quickly, and you can typically find yourself doubling the cleaning time having to scrub away bits and piece of paper towels. Should you really want to use paper visit a hardware or handyman store and pick up the heavy duty workmen type.

Baking soda is the cleaning agent recommended the most. You don’t want to use strong chemical cleaners in a place where you will be storing food no matter how cold the storage will be. If you don’t think this will be enough to handle the situation in your own freezer than look for products that are labeled as safe around food. Organic products will be best in this situation.

Defrosting

Most refrigerators have a defrost setting for their freezer units. Larger freezers almost always have them, but if you can’t find the setting on yours then turn the setting to 0. Since the fridge and freezer is one unit then you will need to defrost both sections at the same time.

Here is where the rest of the family comes in as you will need to remove the food and either place it in a bag, box, or on countertops if available. If there is ice cream involved everyone can grab a spoon and relax until the ice in the freezer starts breaking up. When you are working against a deadline you might try putting a pan of hot water in the freezer to speed things up a bit. You will need to put another pan underneath the freezer to catch the water as the ice melts. It is better to let the ice melt without attempting to chip it out. You can scratch the surface of the freezer's interior and since you can’t see what is under the ice you cause damage to the unit. You can also hurt your hand because the cold will numb your fingers while you are holding whatever implements you’re using.

Once the ice slush and water have been cleaned out then use either the baking soda or the other cleaning agent you have chosen and clean all parts of the unit. Sticky messes might be scrubbed at with the same type of brush you would use on dishes.

Make sure that both the freezer and refrigerator are dry before you turning the unit back on. Wait until the entire unit is cooling before replacing the food as otherwise it will take longer to return to the normal cooling temperature.

Photo Credits: katesheets

Originally posted 2010-05-09 03:42:23.

This post involves:

freezer units, freezers, fridge, organic products, refrigerator, refrigerators

... and focuses on:

appliances, Handyman, How to Fix, kitchen

Posted by Fix Handyman on November 12, 2011 in appliances, Handyman, How to Fix, kitchen

How to Fix Your Own Appliances and Save Money

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For anyone who's ever seen a dish washer or washing machine break down, the struggle of man vs. technology can seem like a mighty one. This is particularly true if you don't have a lot of experience in working with appliances or other around-the-home machinery. In those cases, you're often at the mercy of the contractor's schedule. If waiting for a repairman to "get around to it" isn't in the cards for you, you'll want to fix your own appliances. There's good news: doing so will help you save money. But you need to figure it out first.

First, make sure you keep all of your owner's manuals in one safe place, usually in a storage box somewhere in your basement or attic. If you don't have an owner's manual for the appliance that broke down, you can still try to find one online, or see if there's a phone number printed on the side of an appliance that might be able to help. The owner's manual is there for a reason: the problem isn't that it doesn't help, but that many people forget to use it.

You can also conduct an online search to do your own research into the appliance. There are some Web sites out there that will be able to show a diagram of the appliance you're working with, and even tell you where you might find some replacement parts.

Fixing a machine usually requires two steps: diagnosis and repair/replacement. The hard part is diagnosis: if you don't understand the inner workings of a machine, you probably won't be able to figure out why your washing machine won't drain or why your dish washer has gone haywire. That's why owner's manuals can come in handy, offering blueprint-like guides to the inner workings of each appliance.

Once you've diagnosed a problem, you have to see if it's fixable or not. If you can snap something back into alignment or flip a switch that shouldn't have been unflipped, repairs will be relatively easy. But if parts have worn down beyond repair, you'll have to order a new replacement part. Don't fret; this is something that the repairman would have had to have done anyway. Figure out the name of the part and call some hardware stores in your area to figure out if you've found the right one. Then you can simply pick it up, along with anything else you might need to purchase.

Photo Credits: ztephen

Originally posted 2009-08-24 03:42:06.

This post involves:

alignment, appliances, blueprint, diagnosis, dish washer, inner workings, repairman, replacement parts, storage box, t drain, washing machine

... and focuses on:

appliances, Handyman, How to Fix

Posted by Fix Handyman on October 9, 2011 in appliances, Handyman, How to Fix