freezer on bottom of fridge frozen shut

[Alice In TX/MO]

When I was up in Memphis a few weeks ago, hubby called to tell me that the refrigerator's freezer compartment had been left slightly ajar and had lots of frost in it. He didn't do anything other than close it, and now it's COMPLETELY FROZEN SHUT! Not even able to open it a crack to blow in warm air with a hair dryer.

I've unplugged it, but I'm wondering if it thaw today....or tomorrow. I have to go back to Memphis on Monday. Sigh. So I'm running out of time to get it defrosted and have a service person here.

Help.

[MarleneS]

Are you fortunate enough to have a combination refrigerator freezer that has both controls in the refrigerator part so you can turn off the freezer without turning off the frig?

Only idea I can come up with on short notice is, if you have a medium sized dog, attach it's leach to the freezer while it is turned off - the dogs jerking to get away will have that freezer door released in no time

Hugs,
Marlene

[Alice In TX/MO]

Luckily, this is not our main fridge. It has water, drinks, the extra corn meal, hubby's pecan graft wood in season, etc. Right now, it's not a problem just to unplug it.

I just want it to *open* so I can get the frost out and see what the problem is.

[MariaAZ]

My mother had a little chest freezer with a freezer drawer on the bottom, and the drawer wouldn't open. She unplugged the freezer and let the darned thing sit for three days and we STILL couldn't open the drawer. I finally asked DH to give it a try and he was able to get the now water-filled drawer loose. Seems the frost on the top of the drawer was so thick it froze the roller assembly shut, and the freezer was so well insulated that the ice was taking its own sweet time to melt.

Mom bought a frost-free freezer right after that.

[Alice In TX/MO]

What's scary is that this one IS a frost free.

[MullersLaneFarm]

It will make a mess, but pour hot (almost boiling) water on it

[Alice In TX/MO]

OH OH OH It just opened. LOTS of ugly frost. I'm going to just leave it open for a few hours. It's on a concrete floor, so no problem with drips from thawing ice. I'm going to throw away what food is in there, anyway.

HOORAY!

[Shinsan]

Rose, frost-free freezers will freeze up if the door is left slightly open. I'm often in trouble with the SO because I've not ensured the door was shut properly on our old 'second' fridge/freezer.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'm hoping if I defrost it thoroughly, clean, dry, and plug it back in that it will be OK.