…… Odd problem with freezer.

[kyrsyan]

I have a mid sized regular deep chest freezer. It is maintaining temperature and nothing is melting. But, it's not freezing new items that are put in it.
The new items are cold. None of the existing items defrost. If I crank it up from the current temperature to a colder one the compressor kicks on and works.
A friend thinks that there is simply a thick layer of ice over the temperature sensor and I need to fully defrost the freezer. (I haven't done that in a year or so now. There are some bands of thicker ice.) I have no clue where the temperature sensor is in this freezer.
Any other suggestions as to what I need to look at? Getting a repair person out here will take several weeks and a large chunk of money just because of location.

 

[summerthyme]

Oh, dear... that's how our old 30 cubic ft freezer started to die.

First, have you vacuumed out the condenser and coils on the back? Most refrigeration problems are due to dust buildup. Do that, and defrost it completely (pile all the frozen foid in laundry baskets and cover the pile with quilts and comforters). Then watch it like a hawk!

I'd also suggest putting a thermometer in it, and I'd STRONGLY suggest getting a freezer alarm and installing it.

Summerthyme

 

[kyrsyan]

Oh, dear... that's how our old 30 cubic ft freezer started to die.

First, have you vacuumed out the condenser and coils on the back? Most refrigeration problems are due to dust buildup. Do that, and defrost it completely (pile all the frozen foid in laundry baskets and cover the pile with quilts and comforters). Then watch it like a hawk!

I'd also suggest putting a thermometer in it, and I'd STRONGLY suggest getting a freezer alarm and installing it.

Summerthyme

That's what I'm afraid of. But I can do all of the above this week and will. Well, defrosting will have to wait until all the fruits and stuff get run through the dehydrator or the canner. Because I have nowhere to put them if it doesn't come back to life and I don't want to be doing that in a panic. I've already moved about half the stuff to a friend's freezer so that I can start working through what is leftover in it. Bonus is that I'm making granola bars for my son on a weekly basis. So all the dried fruits will get used pretty quickly.
This one is only about 10 years old. Freezer alarm actually wouldn't do me much good since it is in the detached garage and I wouldn't hear it until I was already going out to check on it. Right now I'm just checking it daily so that if it completely wipes out I can get to work faster. But there is a rather large bag of ice in the center that is still solid with no melting occurring whatsoever. So far.
But thanks. That's about the plan I've pulled together to go forward with. Hopefully the friend is right and I just need to be much more diligent about defrosting the freezer regularly. (Of course this would occur when the chances of picking up a good used chest freezer are about nil.)