Upright Freezer Troubleshooting and Tips

This video is showing step by step how we regaining air flow that was restricted because of ice building up in the drain hole and icing up the vent. After I cleaned out the frost free freezer it started freezing up on the bottom. Luckily I saw it so we didn't loose a freezer full of food because of poor air flow. This video is showing tips on freezer issues. Put a small amount of ice in a bag or an ice cube tray etc on a shelf at eye level in the freezer. If air flow is restricted or the fan stops working you will know it as the ice in the ice tray will melt first or the small amount of water in a small zip bag will melt before large food items will melt. Also two good freezer temperature gages that shows the range of freezer temperature is a very good idea so you can tell at a glance if the freezer is maintaining proper temperature.

[@sterlingparks]

Thank you so much. This video saved me and my family a lot of money. A like type freezer for me to replace my current one would be over one thousand dollars! Thank you, thank you! This was extremely helpful.

[@bevyh1]

I totally love your comment !!! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Hope all is well.

[@current.Situation]

Very useful. I was able to repair my freezer myself. On the verge of buying a new one when I decided to check you tube. Can't thank you enough. ❤

[@bevyh1]

Wonderful !!! Ours is still working fine so far.

[@blackgold2029]

That keeps happening to my freezer every few weeks. At first, I thought it was the thermostat and changed it out, it worked, but that may have been because I let the freezer thaw out a few days and really didn't need the thermostat. I just needed thawing out. I Will do this again today as my freezer stopped cooling again yesterday I noticed after I replaced the thermostat 3 weeks ago. Thanks for this video~ I was confused at first, but now I see clearly the problem.

[@bevyh1]

So glad this video helped. Our freezer has been working fine so far and is stocked full of frozen tomatoes from the garden.

[@MichaelC087]

😂😂Awesome video I love how genuine it is 👏👏👏

[@nathancurtis4184]

Have the same freezer bought it used. Cleaned it thoroughly. Saw what I thought was damage on the back side on the bottom. So I taped over it. Thanks to this video I know that is there on purpose for air flow. Now it pulls down under 20* thanks so much for saving me stress and a repair bill for a stupid simple mistake.

[@bevyh1]

I totally love and appreciate you and your comment. I have blocked air flow in the frig and caused a lot of fresh food to freeze. All the vents in the frig/freezer must not be blocked as it can be a costly problem. Best bet for a frig/freezer combo is to check where all vents are in the frig and freezer and make sure there are no vents obstructed as the frig depends on the cold air from the freezer and if there are blocked vents in the frig or freezer it will disrupt air flow causing cold air to be blocked in frig etc. Thank you.

[@nathancurtis4184]

@@bevyh1 BTW your marriage is definitely relationship goals. Even after only 12 years of marriage my wife and I have had our share of "well if I do you can say I told you so moments." Thanks again.

[@bevyh1]

@@nathancurtis4184 I have learned from my many mistakes but it would be nice to learn ahead of time more often.

[@asadahmed814]

I really appreciate your Video. Say thanks to your husband also. Saved me a lot of hassle and money. Thank you.

[@bevyh1]

I always love hearing a success story. Thank you.

[@henryhenry3832]

Best part was, If I got electrocuted you can say I told you so🤣

[@bevyh1]

Yes appliances need to be unplugged and you need to plug the hair dryer into a ground fault receptacle. Thanks for making me aware on safety as anytime a person does a DIY project there can be unexpected risks involved.

[@Angel283]

Yes Dear...LOL!!!!

[@treezalynn1]

i had the same issue seen all the ice so I took off the panel in the back and low and behold all the ice on the bottom covering the drain. used 2 blow dryers and now it's getting cold again.

[@bevyh1]

Glad to hear all is well with your freezer. I should fill one ice tray with water and put it in front at eye level so I can look for any thawing of the ice tray that could indicate ice build up again as it's easy to lose a whole freezer full of food especially in the summer when the cold air flow is restricted with ice. Thanks for your comment.

[@blakehendrix641]

Thanks for the video... our freezer has the same problem of ice collecting in the bottom but the drain tube and bucket are dry (ours has a bottom drawer instead of a shelf)! I was hoping I could avoid taking off the panel and doing a big defrost but I guess there’s no way around it! I’ll let you know if it works when I try tomorrow!🤞🏼

[@bevyh1]

I hope all goes well for you when you do a defrost as it is horrible to have a freezer full and have this happen. All the best to you.

[@blakehendrix641]

@@bevyh1 Success! I followed your steps and everything is back together an working for now so thanks! Saw another video suggesting RainX or auto type wax to make condensation slide off more easily and also adjust the feet to tilt the freezer backwards slightly so water drains more quickly! Hoping and praying that it works! Thanks again and God Bless!

[@bevyh1]

​@@blakehendrix641 Awesome !!! So glad to hear this worked for you. It has worked well for us and the freezer is still working fine. Put something like an ice tray filled with water or something small in front on a shelf at eye level and test to see if it is staying frozen as an ice tray will sound the alarm if the freezer is starting to thaw. I haven't done that, but plan on doing that. May God shower blessings on you.

[@ArisBuliteanu]

bevyh1 is that a GE upright freezer?

[@bevyh1]

@@ArisBuliteanu It's a Frigidaire.

[@toshibavoodoo]

Thanks!

[@PhillyDee215]

Very helpful video!!!

[@bevyh1]

Hope all went well for you and thanks for letting me know this video was helpful. Hope you were able to save all your frozen food. I keep thinking about putting a tray of ice cubes on a shelf in the front of freezer at eye level so I can see at a glance if the ice is melted. The ice cubes will be the first to melt and be an alert that the freezer is not working properly.

[@PhillyDee215]

@@bevyh1 good idea!!!

[@shores15852]

My freezer door is leaking at the bottom of the door . Its dripping from the rubber seal. How can I fix it

[@bevyh1]

Sometimes the seal needs to be replaced and sometimes the seal just needs to be cleaned as seals on frigs and freezers do get dirty and can get sticky and the seal can stick together and needs to be separated. I'm not recommending this but I used a flat screwdriver and folded a rag over the screw driver to protect the seal from the screw driver and cleaned in between the seal folds and my old frig/freezer seal quit leaking. Good luck. Can't remember if I used soda water or soapy water and then rinse water to wash off any soap or soda water. Care must be taken to protect the seal so it does not get damaged from the cleaning.

[@yupingsun40]

I had the same type freezer. The problem is not ice, but not cool down enough. The cold air coming out of the outlet, but I guess not cold enough. I open the panel, but cannot find the thermostat as I saw from the video. DO you know where to find the thermostat I can check to see if it is working properly? Thank you.

[@bevyh1]

The thermostat is behind the fourth shelf down to the right. You may need a flash light to see the thermostat. Also you can buy a thermostat at Ace Hardware that you can stand or hang so you can see what the temperature of the freezer is and it is worth having some for the frig and freezer. Having two is even better in case one doesn't work properly. Hope all goes well for you.

[@rrw65]

I bought a Bissell steam machine and got ice and blockage from fridge condenser drain. Stopped the icing and very fast

[@bevyh1]

Very interesting !!! Sounds great. Thanks.

[@orvinstrickler2130]

You missed the part where you clean the drain tube from the back of the freezer.

[@bevyh1]

I am so sorry about that. Sometimes I miss clips when I'm putting the movie together. Thawing the drain tube is a dilly. I had a really really bad situation last summer and a lot of my fruit and veggies thawed as it took a long time to thaw the drain tube and clear it out. I did a video on that too and have a lot of videos that I have wanted to do but haven't had the time as it takes a long time for me to do videos as I am not computer savvy. I show what I did the second time on the drain tube. I need to refresh my memory as to what all I did. All I can remember was using a hair dryer and not water but it seemed like there were some other things I did too. My husband was in the hospital and I was on my own dealing with a packed upright freezer. Best bet is not fill your freezer too full in the first place as that is asking for trouble. Also put an ice tray filled with water in a eye level shelf in freezer so you can check at a glance if the ice is thawing.

[@1954evelyn]

I am having same issues with same freezer not sure how old it is maybe 12 years old, I noticed whrn I tool a whole ham out it was not frozen and also a package of hotdogs but beef roasts and steaks were frozen I put in my thermometer and the temperature was 20 degrees, I took everything out tossed the ham and hotdogs and turned off the freezer and left the door open, . there was some ice accumulated on the inside near the bottom, overnight and water accumulated on the garage floor and I assumed it had totally thawed out I turned back on the freezer and it still only cools to 20 degrees. When your hubby removed the panel is that the coils that can get dirty or is there some underneath the freezer, I saw on one video that that could be the problem if coils dirty

[@bevyh1]

Ok here goes. I picked my husband's brain this morning to see what he remembered about the freezer. He can not remember where the coils are but he said listen to hear if the fan runs when you have the freezer plugged in. If not you may need to replace the fan as the fan circulates the air flow and if it is not working that may cause the temperature to not go above 20 degrees. Also get two good temperature gauges to determine accuracy on freezer temperature. I have what is called a Taylor name brand temperature gauge and have two that have a stand and a hook at the top. So it can hang on a rack or stand for easy visibility. The ice was so hard in the back at the bottom of freezer that we needed a hair dryer to thaw it. Your freezer most likely thawed overnight that hard chunk of ice blocking the vent at the bottom back of freezer but I would check and make sure using a flashlight. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[@1954evelyn]

@@bevyh1 Hi Bev thank you for the reply, I have had the freezer turned off since a couple days ago I just went out and turned it back on and the fan did come on right away, my son-in-law is helping me but he knows about as much as I do LOL about the freezer. He did take a flashlight and looked under the freezer and behind and he can not find any outside coils just the ones inside thanks for your help, also does your freezer now cool to zero what was the problam with your freezer

[@1954evelyn]

I rewatched your video and I am wondering if you have your freezer plugged into the strip beside of it. Our friends were gone on vacation and their house burnt down the fire marshal said it was because the freezer was plugged into a strip and not directly into an outlet. Just a word of caution if it is I would change it to the outlet. But maybe it is not.

[@bevyh1]

Yikes !!! This is the way it is set up. The last thing in the world we want is a fire hazard. Thanks for sharing.

[@1954evelyn]

@@bevyh1 I would hate for there to be a fire in your house if I did not say anything The fire marshal said it was definitely because of the freezer being plugged into a power strip I just googled the question and this is what I got, hope this helps Refrigerators and Freezers Large appliances like refrigerators require a lot of power and frequently cycle on and off, which can easily overload a power strip. These devices should be plugged directly into a wall outlet dedicated solely to powering the appliance.

[@bevyh1]

@@1954evelyn Thank you so much for the info as I'm sure there are may people that do not realize that this could be a fire risk. I hope we will be able to remedy the situation.

[@gedionsamuel2256]

@Evelyn Horsley 👏🏽👏🏽 The most underrated comment here!! Freezers/Refrigerators need to be plugged directly into an outlet AND it must be a NON-GFCI outlet! Many people complain about their fridge tripping the breaker or tripping the GFCI without knowing that fridges were not designed for those type of outlets. GFCI outlets are meant for bathrooms and countertop areas prone to be exposed to water. Because of this, many people end up using extension cords/power strips from an outlet that “works” for them without realizing why and what the consequences are. I ran into a situation where a fridge in the garage kept tripping (because the outlet installed was the first/main GFCI outlet that protected the outlets down the line in the laundry and ending up in the kitchen counter. Hence an extension cord was used to tap into a neighboring outlet in the garage. Major fire hazard that was waiting to happen. Luckily we ended up running a separate line from the main breaker and installing a 20amp outlet.

[@howtodoitdude1662]

Correct, power strips are used for temporary usage.

[@rfibfib2706]

Thanks for the waste of time. Glad your food didn't spoil. You should video grass growing or painr drying.

[@bevyh1]

Sometimes wasting time is a good thing. Try some earthing and grounding.

[@peaceandlove2555]

Thank you 😊

[@bevyh1]

Glad this video was helpful.

[@laceynes]

Hi I have a question I have the same freezer the same issue let it set overnight unplugged all the ice melted, Darin was running freely. When I plugged it back in it got cold to zero degrees, but it got real warm to touch on the outside the side panels and top that has stopped but it continues to run, does not shut off but it is still cold 🥶 did your do this and did it finally turn off.. ?

[@bevyh1]

Our freezer is working fine the way we did it. The last time we had issues with this freezer the repairman said it was the fan that wasn't working properly and I think he cleaned the fan. This issue of ice freezing and shutting off the air flow and the fan not working properly is a similar situation as both has the issue of the air flow being restricted. Don't know if you could have a fan problem or not. I never noticed the issues you are having. Sorry I don't have a better answer. Thanks for watching.

[@treezalynn1]

go on the website and put your model number in and the manual will come up. read it. you will find out troubleshooting methods as to why you're having an issue. i did.

[@phototec]

laceynes My freezer has ice on the bottom and it is leaking out the bottom of the door onto the floor, but just like you mentioned the outside panels got real warm to touch. Do you know what caused the outside the side panels to get real warm to touch? I don't think that is normal. Thanks for any feedback.

[@chameelatorrence6935]

My freezer light comes on when I plug it in but does not run. Do you know what might be wrong with it

[@bevyh1]

Wish I could help with that but I don't know. The motor could be the issue. I'm just guessing, though.

[@yernickle]

How do you prep the tomatoes for the freezer storage?

[@bevyh1]

I just wash them and core them and leave the skins on them, and put them in freezer plastic bags. Sometimes I quarter them and sometimes I leave them whole. It depends on the size of the tomatoes. When I make veggie soup or chili, I just put them out for a while while I'm cutting up the veggies for the soup or chili and put them in after I get all the other veggies in the pot and the veggies are hot. The skins will come off easy, curl up, and are easily removed.

[@yernickle]

@@bevyh1 thank you very much!

[@patrickbodine1300]

You really should not have your freezer on a power strip. Especially if there are other appliances are plugged into the same power strip.

[@bevyh1]

Thank you for the info.