Defrosting the Fridge

baz

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Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C
I was checking things on our R25 the other day after it had been laying somewhat dormant over winter time and notice the ice had built up in the freezer section of the Refrigerator. It's not much mind you.

Is the best way to simply leave door open with Fridge off and let the ice melt and mop up with an old towel ? I did not notice a drain plug anywhere for the melted ice water to drain away.

Thanks... 🙂
 
This has been our routine for many years of RV and boat fridges: turn it off, open the door, put a towel in the bottom of the fridge. Put your food in a cooler while the fridge is defrosting, and pull off any chunks of frosty ice before it melts - you'll have less water to mop up. These fridges aren't too big and it doesn't take long.

A couple things we've found that keeps the frosty stuff away longer: put a plastic "hood" over the ice in the freezer (we use those food covers that look like a shower cap) and use a small refrigerator fan in the fridge - ours is a small cube that uses two D-batteries and lasts a long time on those.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Thanks Jim for the confirmation -- just wanted to know if my eyes were deceiving me about that drain hole. 😉
 
Regarding our Nova Cool refrigerator, there is a little white tray hidden directly under the freezer which I discovered holds much of the freezer ice melt down during defrosting. I assume most R-25 people have discovered the position; i.e., that you can sit on the raised platform under the table, bent over (in kyphosis), to gaze into the refrigerator. I do this a lot in shear wonderment... But, you'll never see the white tray under the freezer this way. While sitting on the cabin sole for some reason, I looked up and spotted the little tray and, curious about it, I pulled it out spilling its contents all over the place. Next time I'll periodically pull it out carefully and dump the water in the sink as the defrosting takes place. Takes about an hour with 72 degree ambient temperatures in the cabin. Some water finds its way down to the vegetable (?) bin at the bottom of the fridge. I wondered why so little seemed to accumulate, until I discovered the tray described previously.

We had very little ice buildup, too. Close the retaining clip while the door is open, and the clip keeps the door from shutting completely. You want to vent a refrigerator, once turned off, to prevent mildew. While towing I close it or prop something soft against it to avoid the door swinging around. I also vent the bathroom by inserting a dock or fender line around the outer door handle and tying it off on the towel rack inside the bath. Since we have a composting head with a constant low power vent fan, this gently vents the entire boat at all times.
 
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