Defrosting a frost free freezer

[storminabuttercup]

I'm not a good housekeeper so forgive me for this question...
We have one of those American fridge freezers which is supposed to never need defrosting, but after 4 Years it's started making very strange noises and is very icy inside! Also the temp level thing on the front keeps changing itself! I'm pretty convinced that all this is due to ice being in the fan bit at the back, so I'm planning on defrosting it, however, I have managed to get to the tender age of 28 having never defrosted a freezer, is it as simple as emptying it and switching it off with the doors open?

How long would I leave it for? And I guess I have to find alternative storage for the stuff in the fridge too?

Thanks in advance

If you can switch off just the freezer part, you can turn the fridge to its coldest setting and pop everything in there to keep for a while.

Or just put it in the fridge and shut the door on it - that keeps things pretty insulated. Or put it all on the table in a big pile wrapped in big thick towels or a blanket.

You basically just open the door and switch it off. Put old towels and/or newspapers on the floor to catch the meltwater.

You can speed it up by putting bowls of hot water on the shelves, and/or by scraping at the ice, but only if you have something suitable to scrape with so you don't damage the surface.

Could I put things in an insulated cool box? Would you say a couple of hours with the hot water in?

Thanks for your advice amuminscotland

Insulated cool box would be fine, and if you have any of those freezer packs just pop them in at the top.

Probably a couple of hours, though it depends how thick the ice is - I tend to leave mine till I can barely get the door open, but a couple of hours with hot water and scraping is usually enough.

Change the hot water periodically!

Brilliant! Thanks!

I have only just found this topic, I think I could learn lots here