OT: Fridge repair, side-by-side, how long does freezer last?

tirsdag den 24. april 2018 kl. 23.35.03 UTC+2 skrev Joerg:

the manual for my top half fridge, bottom half freezer says it'll keep the temperature below -9'C for 30 hours with no power I think others are similar it won't tell you how long it'll last with a door open but at least it's a data point

room for for some bags of ice and salt? that's -20'C

Take out the freezer food... wrap in newspaper then wrap up in towels. That will keep cool for hours.Oh, and store in a cool palce- not out in the sunshine :)

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What's a newspaper?

It should hold for at least an hour. Biting the bullet I recently defrosted our upright freezer. I packed everything up in a foam chest along with a bunch of freeze paks. Took me almost three hours using a hot air gun :-( The stuff in the foam chest was still hard. ...Jim Thompson

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           To those of us in my age bracket... 

           GREEN means inexperienced and/or incompetent.

+1, I use a high speed fan to defrost fridges & freezers and that takes an hour. No sense taking the stuff out.

NT

When we defrost our upright freezer, we take all the food out and lay it on towels. Then we defrost, which takes over an hour. The frozen food remains frozen - it doesn't even appear to begin to thaw. You're not even taking the food out - you'll be fine.

Ed

Don't worry about it, the heat capacity of melting ice is more than enough to keep it at 32 at the worst, for hours.

Tim

-- Seven Transistor Labs, LLC Electrical Engineering Consultation and Contract Design Website:

hot water works well, more kilowatts and more control I guess.

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The thermostat in our Kenmore side-by-side fridge is croaking. New one is on the way. I estimate the repair will take me an hour, considering the removal of some panels and stuff.

The fridge door will be open that whole time, with the food from the fridge side removed. I'd like not to have to empty the whole freezer side because finding other places would be tough. This fridge is the usual circulating air deal. I can plug or tape the bottom air transfer port but not the upper one because the thermostat capillary snakes through there.

I can hardwire it for an hour or so before this job and cool the freezer side down to the max which is about -15F. Would that make the food in there survive for an hour? Two hours if things don't go smoothly? Is there a major risk that this whole open door repair process will cause the evapoator coils to freeze up after I plug it back in?

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/ 
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As others have said, it will probably  be just fine for an hour or two.  
Fill as many soda bottles and plastic milk jugs as you can about 3/4 full  
with water and stuff the freezer full to maximize the mass.  Put the water  
in over a few days so you don't overwhelm the freezer.  Freeze them in the  
upright position and then screw on the cap and orient however gets the most  
in there.  I did that before a hurricane passed by several years ago, and  
just left the water in  unless I needed more shelf space, in case of a power  
failure (I only seem to keep my freezer 1/3-1/2 full).

When I thaw food for cooking, taking it out in the morning and placing it on the 25 degrees surface of the stove it takes several hours before even the surface is thawed

So you will be good

Most freezers can survive around 12 hours power cut without compromising the food inside at all provided that you don't open the door. You could preload the freezer with freezer packs and containers of water to increase its thermal inertia if you are worried about a long down time. You could also mark the stuff presently in the freezer for first use if you do have thawing problems but I think it highly unlikely unless your kitchen ambient temperature is 60C or something crazy.

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Regards, 
Martin Brown

Something you'll find hidden in a cupboard or under the bed when you move house....

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FWIW some things can thaw relatively quickly, but most don't. I've found lightweight foods most vulnerable, like cakes etc. Any that do get eaten first.

NT

We have a side by side, different beast.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

No, something behind thems flat glass thangs upon which people keep pecking. Also good for other jobs.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Thanks, an hour should last. I guess I can always hot-wire it and close the door if the job rauns into snags. Such as hardware that absolutely won't come off.

Defrost should not be necessary with modern fridges because it's automatic.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Thanks, then I'll do it without unpacking.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Yes, by now I also think so. Can't do the water jug thing because the frezer is very full and my wife wants this fixed prontissimo. Old American saying, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody gonna be happy" :-)

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

When my defrost heating coil opened up, I just packed all the frozen stuff in coolers while I installed a new one. If you are worried get a little dry ice. I have two grocery stores locally that sell dry ice, you might too. As to how long does a freezer last, Mine Kenmore sidr by side is 23 years old. I doubt it's as efficient as it once was, I don't notice it though. Probably wasn't built as efficient as the newer ones, but probably will last longer than a newer one. Mikek