We recently got a "new" freezer. We bought it used so technically the make is not new but it's new to our house. When my Mom went to pick it up we were under the impression it was fairly new in make.We had already commited to buy it and I was looking forward to it so she brought it home and we got help getting it in the garage. Later she tells me he said it was NOT frost free and was 10 years old. Well, bummer I reckon but at least I will give it a try.

I was told frost would build up into a thin layer.

I was not told frost would build up into a thin layer and then continue to layer on top of layer until my food on the thop 2 shelves was completely covered in frost so bad it's almost like a block of ice and hard to remove things. When I am able to remove something frost spills all over the ground which is very dangerous for me and my disabilities. I resorted to laying a mat down. I also will have to wear gloves at this point to pull anything from the top two shelves...This helps that situation but I don't know what to do about the frost situation. The frost is also taking up space I could be using to store food. Right now it's like half food half frost, what a BUMMER.

The last shelf and bottom pull out rack don't freeze over, nor do the in door compartments but the top 2 shelves are like snow age. Can anyone please help with advice or tips on how to reduce this or is this typical and just what older models do? Ps. I have the setting close to "coldest" - should I turn it down some?

Thank you,

Clueless and cold!

I really can't speak to how cold the setting should be ... it really depends on where the freezer is and how warm (or cold) the room gets.  You will have to experiment a little bit with that.

I have read that frost free freezers are typically worse to use for food storage because the freezer slightly warms and then cools itself over and over to keep it frost free, if that makes sense.

I have two frost free freezers and they both sit out in an unheated garage.  One of them never builds up any frost but the other one is like your freezer.  And we bought both of them new.  My dh (who can fix anything!) says it's because of where the fan sits in the freezer.  It's just a poorly designed model.  I can't keep anything in the bottom bin of the freezer because it freezes solid to the back of the freezer.  The fan sits in the back wall on the inside of the freezer and it drips down creating the mess.  But it still does its job and keeps the food frozen.  The bummer is that  I have to unplug the freezer to thaw and clean it out at least once a year. 

And then of course it might be that your used freezer is just that ... used.  What concerns me is just how quickly the freezer frosted over in the short time you've had it.

Karen, you know I trust you. You are a good friend here... I'm wondering if I made a mistake buying it and now feel horrific like a real idiot LOL

I was all hyped up. I went on Craigslist and found this one for 150. It's mid sizes so about as tall as me. I am 5ft8 inches tall... so I was either going to buy a new one at Best Buy for the same price but SMALLER like dorm size compact upright or a used one bigger for the same price. I wanted more space. This seemed promising.. My Mom has an SUV and went after work, I was not there to pick it up. She was told it would freeze a few inches over along the edges. She was NOT told it would freeze OVER FOOD. If I would have known that I would not have gotten it.

I tinkered with the idea of creating my own shelving on those 2 shelves or storing food in LARGE closed containers in their original packaging. See right now I use those 2 shelves for meat. One for chicken and a thanksgiving turkey and one for seafood/shellfish.Everything is in their original packaging and frozen over. If you need a picture I can get you one from my camera phone and upload here but you seem to know what I mean.

Problem also is the more things get stuck the harder to pull. I do not have the physical strength to pull it out!!! I have VERY limited arm strength.

I have had this freezer like 2 weeks now. I thought the frost was normal at first and then it just kept getting thicker and thicker. We also noticed the door was a little off hinge.

I really don't know what to do and feel like useless being a man at almost 30. Handyman stuff is not my forte. I was NEVER taught it and my Dad died before I was able to even ask him to learn to do this kind of stuff or work on cars. I was raised a doll basically and have carried on very feminine and more Motherly like ways of being...I am the nourishing male not the big hefty hee man type so I'm basically stuck clueless here twiddling my thumbs like yannkie doodle dandy...

The guy wasn't so polite to my Mom in the first place and so returning it to him and asking for a refund seems out of the question. We have already discussed this. I am thinking he may have been fibbing some or leaving info out in order to quick sell...

Freezers freeze over because of moisture in the air; there's no way to stop it in non-frost-free freezers - depending on the humidity in your area, even frost-free freezers will build up some frost, and then ice, over time.  Mine freezes over along the top (where the fan is).  Once a year or so I take everything out, put it in coolers and plastic tubs with freezer packs (blue ice) and defrost it.  This has the side benefit of making the freezer more efficient.  If you don't defrost it periodically, the ice will continue to build - more slowly, perhaps, but eventually it will spread.

Keeping moisture out of the freezer is key - and the key to that the seal on the door.  Make sure that nothing is blocking the door from closing completely; if you have to shove hard to make the door shut, you'll need to rearrange the freezer so nothing blocks the door from sealing.  Once you've done that, you can check the seal by running a slip of paper around the door while it's closed - if the paper slides easily between the seal and door at any point, your freezer is not sealed properly - this lets moisture in and cooled air out, so it's important that the seal be tight.  If there's a loose/weak spot in the seal, look up your model on the internet and see if you can find the owner's manual; that will give you explicit directions on how to change the seal if needed. Even if there are no obvious leaking spots, look up the freezer manual and find out how often it suggests defrosting the freezer - this is an item of regular maintenance that will extend the life of the freezer and reduce the operating costs.  Also, food that is in contact with ice for long periods is more likely to get freezer burn.

I would check the door seal. If the door seal is fully sealing , the frost will build up.  Babs

Yes, like karenteacher was saying, check the seal.  Another option is to lock the freezer (if you have the key) to make sure the seal is tight.  If the seal needs to be replaced you could hire a repair person to come out and help.  The seal itself is not that expensive but the labor to have someone replace it might be kinda spendy.

Wait, the door is not shutting 100 percent a-okay... we noticed this when we set it up in the garage. My mom got bungee cords but we haven't tried using them... would this be good???

Also try to see what the TEMP is reaching in the freezer after being shut up for 24 I have a thermometer that stays in mine all the time so I can make sure it's at ZERO mine is usually neg 4

BargainBinge:

Right now it's like half food half frost, what a BUMMER

Wow! I have my grandmother's old freezer. Thing must be over 30 years old and it is not icing this much.

BargainBinge:

We had already commited to buy it

If you made the agreement to buy a newer fost free freezer then you should not have felt bad in saying it was not what you were looking for and passed on it.

BargainBinge:

Right now it's like half food half frost, what a BUMMER

Wow! I have my grandmother's old freezer. Thing must be over 30 years old and it is not icing this much.

BargainBinge:

We had already commited to buy it

If you made the agreement to buy a newer fost free freezer then you should not have felt bad in saying it was not what you were looking for and passed on it.