Defrosting a fridge with a sharp object

[aaronfude]

Hi,

Seemed like a good idea at the time, but not anymore since we poked in hole in the the freezer and heard the sound of some gas escaping. The fridge no longer cools.

Is this fixable?

Thanks!

Aaron Fude

[frosty]

If you can weld aluminum, yes.

[Jeff Wisnia]

Of course, anything can be fixed, 'cept maybe a broken heart and the crack of dawn.

Unless it's a very high end model your chances of getting it repaired, pumped down, and recharged for less than the cost of a new box are slim and none, and Slim rode out of town yeasterday afternoon.

I've always felt that learning from mistakes is good; Providing they are other peoples mistakes. Your admission of how you f**ked up your fridge may provide an education for others reading your post who might not realize that icepicks went out of sytle for that kind of use about the same time the iceman stopped delivering his wares to folks' houses.

Jeff

[hallerb]

just buy a new fridge. if it required defrosting its likely very old, new fridge will save you big bucks on electric:(

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Are you trolling or serious? You just ruined the freezer. Evaporator is a toast. Maybe buying new one is in order. BIG lesson learned! Sorry I had to laugh reading your post.

[Dan_Musicant]

: [e-mail] wrote: : :> Hi, :> :> Seemed like a good idea at the time, but not anymore since we poked in :> hole in the the freezer and heard the sound of some gas escaping. The :> fridge no longer cools. :> :> Is this fixable? :> :> Thanks! :> :> Aaron Fude :>

I used to have to do that, and for two refrigerators. The first thing I did when I bought my house was blow my last $1000 on a new refrigerator. Haven't had to do that stuff since. I never ruined one, but I hacked away at a lot of ice. When I started getting nervous (and as I got wiser), I started using hot water to melt the glaciers. I'd heat big pots of it and use a baster to soak the ice. Sopped up the big puddles at the bottom with big sponges. On and on until the job was done.

Frost free is neat, but I'm not sure how good it is for the food.

[Abe]

I did this MANY years ago. Celled a repairman who welded in some specialized plastic stuff (looked like a big crayon). He then evacuated and recharged the system. Total cost, $200. That was probably 15 years ago.

[jimmy]

If your vacuum allows you to attach the hose to the exhaust end it will make quick work of ice. I have an Electrosux and I just stick the vac hose in the icebox.

[David]

When I had that problem... a very long time ago... I used to shave the frost/ice with a sponge or whatever. The shavings made for a nice snowball or ice cone. I lived in Florida at the time. Nothing like greeting a northerner by having a snowball fight by the pool in 90F weather. The rest was taken care of in a half hour by a small fan. The ice broke off in nice slabs.

David

[Bob Bins]

Go to craigslist.com and buy a new one. I bought a $1100 fridge that was 6 months old for $350. Then I sold my old one that was like 10 years old for $100.00. So total cost to upgrade was $250.00. Can't beat that. And no this is not an add for craigslist. You may find the same deal in your local paper. Between this and the deail I got on my washer I will never buy new again!

[Stormin Mormon]

Sometimes it's possible to patch the leak with epoxy, and then recharge the freon. Call a couple appliance repair guys, and explain the situation. Might find one who will come out.

I've repaired knife stabbed evaporators in the past. Sometimes they come back to life, sometimes there is too much water, etc, in the system.

Regrets you had an expensive lesson.

[Jeff Wisnia]

A hair dryer works well too...

Jeff

[Don Young]

One of the first epoxies was for repairs like this. I don't remember the name of it but I remember it was green and worked really well. You would still have to have your refrigerator evacuated and recharged. Check around.

Don Young

[Phisherman]

Not practical to fix. Next time use a hair dryer and patience to defrost.

[hallerb]

Like I said before, newer fridges DONT require defrosting...

BRAND NEW fridge will pay for iteslf in electric saved, plus you get new features like automatic ice maker.

Its a no brainer time to buy new refrigerator. Home depot and lowes has the best prices!

Dont beat up on the OP all of us have done err stupid stuff occasionally:( and likely will again although hopefully not the SAME mistake.

[Steve Kraus]

There's a kind of two part epoxy (can't recall the name just now) that comes as a long thumb-thick cylinder and has inner and outer layers (presumably with some neutral separation layer). You cut off what you need and then kneed it thoroughly to mix the two layers and will begin to set. I don't know if that would work but it might. There may be special materials available for this purpose.

Anything that can withstand the pressure could work. I once had a Honda Prelude that had a crack in the high pressure liquid line. Still under warranty but the dealer had to order the part. While waiting I put a piece of rubber hose material over the crack, put a hose clamp over it, and recharged the system. Even I was surprised that it held but it did and kept me cool until the part came in.

Special sealers aside I don't know what would work in this situation. Is the evap made of two layers of thin aluminum close together with bulges stamped into it to form refrigerant passages? Is there a way you can pinch down on the affected spot without destroying the passages? Maybe a piece of rubber (of a type that stays resilient when cold) over the hole with some sort of jury rigged clamp arrangement applying pressure?

[Steve Kraus]

A couple things worth mentioning:

When using a hair dryer don't try to melt the ice over a broad expanse. Instead concentrate on melting your way through to the metal in one area. Metal is a far better conductor of heat than the ice is so once you expose a little of the evaporator you keep applying heat there (don't get crazy and damage it though) and the warming evaporator will melt the connection holding the ice in place and it will detach in large pieces. You get done faster and minimize the chance of food starting to melt.

I presume everyone knows this but in case they dont, there's no such thing as a truly frost free freezer. Ice still builds up on the evaporator coils but they are hidden from view so you don't see it. Once a day (hopefully at night) the refrigeration is shut down and a heating element melts the ice. Because defrosting is done more often than people generally defrost manual fridges the buildup is not as great. The water drains to a pan under the fridge where warm air from the condenser coil will evaporate it.