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Started By
Message
My garage freezer keeps freezing up
Posted on 6/25/26 at 6:18 am
Posted on 6/25/26 at 6:18 am
I have a Frigidaire 16 cu ft stand up freezer that I keep in my garage. I keep bait for my fishing charters in there. I bought it off marketplace about 18 months ago and its been working fine other than it freezes up about once every 4-6 months. Obviously I do not want this things thawing out full of squid and herring in my garage. I keep the temp setting inside the freezer right in the middle.
I have a mini split in my garage and most days I run it. I have been shutting it down at night and the temps in there get up there. Mid 80;s and humid for sure. During the day, I run the AC in there at 76 or so. Sometimes when Im working in there, I crank the AC down to 73.
Is it possible that the fluctuating temps in there are causing the freezer to freeze up? I just got the AC in there early this spring. The unit is Garage ready
When I got the unit, it looked like brand new. Not a scratch on it and it even still had the tags on the racks. I dont think it was ever used.. I know one time it froze up because we left the door open but I froze up two days ago and I know it had not been opened. I just roll it out in the driveway and let it thaw in the south Florida heat for a few hours, dry it off and bring it back inside.
I have a mini split in my garage and most days I run it. I have been shutting it down at night and the temps in there get up there. Mid 80;s and humid for sure. During the day, I run the AC in there at 76 or so. Sometimes when Im working in there, I crank the AC down to 73.
Is it possible that the fluctuating temps in there are causing the freezer to freeze up? I just got the AC in there early this spring. The unit is Garage ready
quote:
16 cu. ft. Frost Free Upright Freezer with Garage Ready, Power Outage Assurance, and EvenTemp in Brushed Steel
When I got the unit, it looked like brand new. Not a scratch on it and it even still had the tags on the racks. I dont think it was ever used.. I know one time it froze up because we left the door open but I froze up two days ago and I know it had not been opened. I just roll it out in the driveway and let it thaw in the south Florida heat for a few hours, dry it off and bring it back inside.
This post was edited on 6/25/26 at 6:19 am
6
Posted on 6/25/26 at 6:56 am to LanierSpots
I was just dealing with this on my garage stand up freezer. It wouldn't freeze up, but it would ice up bad every other day. Google said the seal was bad, but it looked fine to me. Changed the seal and it's been perfect since.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 7:02 am to jdavid1
quote:Are you talking about the door seal?
I was just dealing with this on my garage stand up freezer. It wouldn't freeze up, but it would ice up bad every other day. Google said the seal was bad, but it looked fine to me. Changed the seal and it's been perfect since.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 8:05 am to LanierSpots
quote:
door seal
Yes.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 9:07 am to jdavid1
I just felt around the seal from the outside and I cant feel any place where the cold air feels like its escaping. I will use my temp gauge and see if it reads anything around it
Thanks for the tip
Thanks for the tip
Posted on 6/25/26 at 10:19 am to LanierSpots
Are you saying ice crystals filing the inside the freezer, or the compressor showing ice/ when looking at it from outside the unit?
This post was edited on 6/25/26 at 10:26 am
Posted on 6/25/26 at 10:28 am to tigers win2
quote:The entire radiator is a block of ice. There is a plastic panel on the inside and the radiator is behind that.
Are you saying ice crystals filing the inside the freezer, or the compressor showing ice/ when looking at it from outside the unit?
I have to let it completely thaw out and dry out over night usually. Then dump the pan in the bottom, dry everything off and bring it back inside
Posted on 6/25/26 at 10:36 am to LanierSpots
quote:
just felt around the seal from the outside and I cant feel any place where the cold air feels like its escaping
Same with mine. I couldn't tell anywhere where it seems cold. Once removed it looked absolutely fine. To be honest, the new one looked worse as it was folded during packaging. After massaging it with a heat gun it straightened out. Ice problem went away over night. The door seal was like $45 off amazon.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 10:42 am to LanierSpots
The internal fan that blows air across the evaporator coil inside the unit probably needs replacing
Posted on 6/25/26 at 11:05 am to jdavid1
I bought a new frigidaire freezer a few months ago and was getting tons of frost. I thought the seal was bad, but the tech said sometimes they don't fully expand from the factory. He heated it for a few minutes and was done. No ice since.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 12:11 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
The entire radiator is a block of ice. There is a plastic panel on the inside and the radiator is behind that. I have to let it completely thaw out and dry out over night usually. Then dump the pan in the bottom, dry everything off and bring it back inside
In HVAC that often indicates low refrigerant or poor-low air flow across the evaporator coil (that’s the “radiator” you say is freezing up). I agree with the other poster, check the fan motor that blows air across the evap coil (“radiator”). Maybe it’s working intermediately. Also make sure the evap coil is clean, not full of dust debris.
If Napoleon (applicance repair tech) sees your post he will troubleshoot. Maybe you want to add the model number to your original post as he often asks that question when trying help troubleshoot.
This post was edited on 6/25/26 at 12:27 pm
Posted on 6/25/26 at 12:49 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
The entire radiator is a block of ice. There is a plastic panel on the inside and the radiator is behind that.
Try replacing the defrost timer. Parts is about $20 & it was easy to replace on my fridgedaire freezer. Two screws & plug in the new defrost timer.
Google image of random defrost timer
This post was edited on 6/25/26 at 12:54 pm
Posted on 6/25/26 at 2:26 pm to leftovergumbo
quote:
He heated it for a few minutes and was done. No ice since.
So he used a heat gun?
Thanks for the advice everyone. I was worried about it being the coolant. If I need to rebuild it, I may just buy a new one.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 2:36 pm to CrawDude
quote:
check the fan motor that blows air across the evap coil (“radiator”)
I checked the fan and its blowing well across the coil.
quote:
Also make sure the evap coil is clean, not full of dust debris.
Its clean, I took the garden hose to it and completely removed all the ice and dirt. Ive done that before as well and it still froze up
quote:
In HVAC that often indicates low refrigerant
Im concerned that this is the issue. It takes it a while before it freezes up. Months. I am going to let it go a week or so then take the panel off and see what the coil looks like. If its got any amount of ice starting to build up, I will get someone to check it. The seal around the door looks really good. i also took my temp gun around the seal and I dont see any variation in the temp anywhere. If the seal is leaking anwhere, its doing a good job of hiding it.
Thanks again
Posted on 6/25/26 at 3:53 pm to LanierSpots
quote:
Im concerned that this is the issue. It takes it a while before it freezes up. Months
It's freezing up because a stuck/faulty defrost timer isn't telling the freezer to go into defrost mode every 6-10 hours like it should.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 4:05 pm to LanierSpots
So, it's the outside coils that are freezing??
I'm not entirely sure from your post.
If it's the outside, may be the defroster, but if it isn't getting good airflow behind it, that might cause it as well. Also, get a blower and clean out the bottom of the fridge well.
I'm not entirely sure from your post.
If it's the outside, may be the defroster, but if it isn't getting good airflow behind it, that might cause it as well. Also, get a blower and clean out the bottom of the fridge well.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 5:18 pm to LanierSpots
Make sure you come back and say what was wrong and the solution. Helps others. Thanks.
Posted on 6/25/26 at 5:24 pm to bbvdd
quote:
So, it's the outside coils that are freezing??
I'm not entirely sure from your post.
If it's the outside, may be the defroster, but if it isn't getting good airflow behind it, that might cause it as well. Also, get a blower and clean out the bottom of the fridge well.
My coils are inside. There is a plastic panel that is removable that the fan is blowing across that is freezing up where you can get to the coils.
As for it being dirty, every thing is very clean. My garage is also my business and extremely clean. There is nothing on it.
I will take a picture tonight
Posted on 6/25/26 at 5:32 pm to bbvdd
Here are a few pics that might help. I removed the inside plastic panel and pushed it to the side. That black fan was running earlier today. I dont know if it is suppose to go off and on but its not turning now. Also, the coils have a little frost on them already from it being totally cleaned off and dry yesterday. I have never looked at them when its not frozen up so I dont know if they should or should not have a little frost on them.
Model is Frigidaire FFFU16F2VV
Model is Frigidaire FFFU16F2VV
This post was edited on 6/25/26 at 5:44 pm
Posted on 6/25/26 at 6:00 pm to LanierSpots
Freezing up is a defrost failure. On those fridges it's common for the defrost bimetal to fail not allowing the heater to get power on defrost. If you have a timer you can easily force defrost and verify. Timer is often by compressor in freezers.
If it has digital controls in the door then it has a control board. They don't cost much but it's usually the bimetal (defrost thermostat) when the fan goes out it can also ice up but you would have thawing on the top shelves first.
If it has digital controls in the door then it has a control board. They don't cost much but it's usually the bimetal (defrost thermostat) when the fan goes out it can also ice up but you would have thawing on the top shelves first.
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