refrigator

I use a small electric fan and have the door open.

Since I added internal 12 volt fans, I no longer get ice up problems.

I turn it off ;)

First off shouldn't be able to see coils in freezer and if fins on food section are freezing up then your fridge is too cold.

Turn fridge OFF......let it defrost mopping up water with towels (can speed up process with hot water in pan sitting in freezer)
Careful if you use a hair dryer......don't warp the plastic

It's supposed to do so automatically. However in high humidity they will frost up. The ice is supposed to melt and drain into a tray below the fins. This tray will then drain into a 1/4" tube that feeds into a cup in the outside access compartment. It then evaporates. If that's not working here's a work around.

Use a turkey baster or similar and squirt hot water onto the fins to melt the ice. This will fill up the tray and the excess water will not drain fast enough. If you open the outside access you'll see the 1/4 hose, usually white. There is a small plug in the end of that hose where it feeds into the holding cup. Carefully remove that plug and let the water drain out. When finished, be sure to reinsert that plug into the end of that hose.....you're done....good luck...Dennis

1. Except for about 2 models of RV refers (1 Dometic and 1 Norcold that have defrost HEATERS), there is NO REAL defrost on Absorbsion RV refers.
2. Certain models of Norcold including the 1200 4 door series have what they call a "defrost mode". That just means, IF the refer is on continuously, every 48 to 54 hours the refer auto shuts OFF for 2 hours. During that 2 hours, this gives the EVAP coils time to melt the ice build up and drain to the rear drain cp.
3. ICE on the evap fins is NORMAL. The refer, the fins are 10 degrees colder than the interior temp of the refer. So if your refer interior temp is 36 degrees the fins will be about 24 to 26 degrees which means any humidity/condensation will form as ICE on the fins.
4. ANY ICE build up restricts the cold capacity of the refer. So, keeping the evap fins as ice free as possible makes the refer operate better and colder.
5. To defrost the ice on the fins, turn the refer off and use a fan to blow on the evap fins until the ice is gone. BOTH Norcold and Dometic advise to NOT use a hair dryer or heat gun to defrost the fins as that heat may damage the plastic interior of the refer. Doug

if your moping up water from a defrost you've either left a bag of ice in the freezer or you have a stopped up DRAIN !

bshpilot wrote:
if your moping up water from a defrost you've either left a bag of ice in the freezer or you have a stopped up DRAIN !

Sorry, never saw a drain the the FREEZER section. The condensate drain is in the REFRIGERATOR section.

You do need to use a sponge or towel to dry the freezer section.

My technique: Turn off refrigerator for 1 hour.

Empty contents of freezer into ice chest, Rubbermade tub, etc.

Use a hair dryer on low heat and not getting the hot end inside the refrigerator itself (you do not want to warp the plastic parts), defrost the freezer (mopping as you go) and also the fins in the refrigerator.

Repeat when ice is 1/4" deep in freezer. Time between defrosts depends on humidity, how frequently the doors are open, how long they remain open, etc.

wolfe10 wrote:

bshpilot wrote:
if your moping up water from a defrost you've either left a bag of ice in the freezer or you have a stopped up DRAIN !

Sorry, never saw a drain the the FREEZER section. The condensate drain is in the REFRIGERATOR section.

You do need to use a sponge or towel to dry the freezer section.

My technique: Turn off refrigerator for 1 hour.

Empty contents of freezer into ice chest, Rubbermade tub, etc.

Use a hair dryer on low heat and not getting the hot end inside the refrigerator itself (you do not want to warp the plastic parts), defrost the freezer (mopping as you go) and also the fins in the refrigerator.

Repeat when ice is 1/4" deep in freezer. Time between defrosts depends on humidity, how frequently the doors are open, how long they remain open, etc.

Hi Brett....

I follow the same routine, but I do not wait 1 hour before using the blow dryer. Might I ask why you wait? While in Florida we need to defrost about every 10 days.

Bill,

The hour wait with refrigerator and freezer closed is so that the cooling unit in the freezer is still not way below freezing. Makes defrosting a lot easier if the metal at the back of the freezer is near freezing, not way below.

What fridge do you have OP..........some have 'defrost cycle' (norcold 1200) and many, many others do not therefore they need to be manually defrosted.