My Ice Cream Won’t Fit! On the Road RV Freezer Defrosting
About the 3rd week of a road trip we begin to have problems fitting stuff into the freezer. It has been slowly filling up with frost for weeks. But when the cartoon of ice cream doesn’t fit anymore we are desperate to fix the problem!
 We dreaded doing this on the road, but on our last trip it was clear we had to. So we finished up the ice cream, purposely ran low on the food in the fridge, and scheduled some time for some RV freezer defrosting.
 It turned out to be simple, and only took about 15 minutes – half of which were packing the stuff in the fridge into our soft side cooler stored in the under-floor trunk. That done, we got out Lynn’s travel blow-dryer, plugged it in and set it on the freezer door blowing hot hair into the freezer.
While waiting for the freezer ice to melt, Lynn started cleaning the door shelves. Before that job was half done there was water dripping from the freezer. A couple of mop ups with a sponge and the ice fell off the top of the freezer compartment. Then the bottom and sides were loose.  In less than 5 minutes the freezer was clean and dry. It happened so fast we missed getting a photo before the ice was gone.Â
We finished wiping out the fridge and dumped the drip pan which is under the fins in the fridge. The fridge is now clean and dry. We closed the door and turned the fridge back on.  It will take awhile to cool back down.
Since we use a double fridge / freezer wireless thermometer to monitor the temperatures, we stuck one of the sensors in the soft side cooler with the food and the other in the usual spot in the fridge.
 That way we could watch the fridge cool back down also make sure our food didn’t get too warm before the fridge / freezer had cooled back off enough to put the food back. We were prepared to buy some ice, but that didn’t turn out to be necessary.
A feared task turned out to be no big deal.
I tried this and it worked great.
I use a fan then I can straighten up the rest of the trailer.
I do this in our rv also.
Thanks
Yep..about the only reason I have a hair dryer aboard.
I use portable hair dryers for this and to dry out electronics too. Amazing once the cellphone is dry the battery will charge and the phone still works.
that’s how I defrost my freezer
If the ice cream will not fit buy a new Rv with a bigger freezer.
Works like a charm
Thanks for the tip.
Works. Like. A charm!
We never have to defrost. The inventory is always moving and changing so there isn’t time for ice build up.
Lol Ruth Lange-Trecker you can tell you’re gone. The freezer in recovery had to be defrosted last week and it took two people most of the day to get the job done!
Fiona Tubmen-Scovack Laura Dickey Somebody stole my idea, I’ve been doing this for 40 years
I do that at home on my large upright freezer too!! Takes minutes in the RV.
Best thing I did to mine was put a gate latch on the freezer door – inside ice is now almost non-existent…oh and I switched to Klondike Bars for my ice-cream…
Buy pints 🙂
This year I have added a George Forman grill and a crockpot to my inventory. In the hot weather it is so much cooler to cook outside. I mostly stay in RV resorts now because of age related illnesses. So all I need is electricity.
I do that in our RV too!
After you have it defrosted spray the inside with cooking spray and wipe it around with a paper towel. It will be much easier and faster next time.
i have done this – it usually takes me about 20 minutes, because i don’t have a hair dryer. same m.o. – put the food in a cooler, get the ice warmed enough to separate it from the sides of the feezer, mop up the mess, and cool the whole thing back down. i use a pan of warm water when i do it. fulltiming, i usually have to defrost every few weeks in the east and on the pacific coast, and almost never out west in the interior. i have actually seen dew points below zero, under which circumstances your freezer defrosts itself.