One Strange Ice Forming In My Fridge! Always After Defrost!

[Thanh-BKK]

Hello.

This one has me puzzled and i really want to know what it is and where it comes from.

Every time after i defrost my freezer (it's a Sanyo refrigerator with integrated freezer compartment) there is one round ice forming on the bottom of the freezer. It is sitting in the middle of the "line" where the coolant goes through, it always forms at that very same spot. There is nothing above that would suggest water dropping down from there (also no corresponding frozen water drops on the top of the compartment, instead this round ce seems to "grow" from the bottom.

The odd thing: It is perfectly round, has a flat top and has the same diameter over all it's length (i.e. not becoming slimmer as it grows). Usually it reaches about 3x the height shown on the picture, which was taken some 15 minutes after the fridge had started cooling again.

Do i have a ghost in my fridge or what wou8ld cause such a perfect shape to grow in there??

With kind regards.....

Thanh

[dumball]

I did a lot of refridgeration work years ago and never saw anything to compare with what you have shown , I think you are having us all on , that is the perfect shape to have been formed in a plastic cup or similar receptacle , then 'stuck' to the freezer plate .

[lannarebirth]

Look closely and see if there is an image of Jesus encased in the Ice. If there is, you can sell it on Ebay. PM Alex Lah. He'll know who to call.

Edited March 11, 2009 by lannarebirth

[Carib]

This is one of the good fridge ghosts, the bad ones make triangular shapes.

[Naam]

Look closely and see if there is an image of Jesus encased in the Ice. If there is, you can sell it on Ebay. PM Alex Lah. He'll know who to call.

i see Elvis.

[Naam]

This is one of the good fridge ghosts, the bad ones make triangular shapes.

:D

[Beardog]

Looks like it is working on a C-cup , if you get lucky it will duplicate itself & grow to double D'S

[trogers]

Refridgerant is leaking out, probably some sharp object was used in the past to chisel out ice. Also, the magnetic strip is probably not sitted tightly to the fridge body, leaking in moist air.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

If i were "growing" this myself i wouldn't ask here where it comes from, right? I have no reason to BS people. Could it be caused by a small leak in the coolant line? I noticed this first at some stage last year, because it always appears at the very same spot. However the fridge still works fine, doesn't look like it's losing coolant. Also when i remove that strange ice it does NOT grow back, only after each defrosting.

Maybe some natural phenomenon.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[trogers]

However the fridge still works fine, doesn't look like it's losing coolant. Also when i remove that strange ice it does NOT grow back, only after each defrosting.

Maybe some natural phenomenon.

Best regards.....

Thanh

Probably a thin layer of ice formed over the leak the first time stopping further loss of coolant - and no leakage, no strange ice.

[mdechgan]

I have never seen something like this before. Very strange.

[Artisi]

Any lottery numbers?

[Artisi]

Could be water hung-up somewhere which hasn't had time to drain prior to you starting the unit again - and drips as the fridge is cooling forming this shape.

[Explorer]

A good reason to try out the "Ghost Repellent" thaivisa thread link here

Explorer

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

Well here's another picture of it "fully grown up". I kept it there to see if it gets any bigger than all the time before but nope, it always reaches this same size. As previously mentioned, it stays flat at the top and keeps it's diameter pretty much the same over it's entire height, i don't think dripping water (where ever it would come from) would create a shape like this.

Best regards....

Thanh

[tjo o tjim]

Do you have a picture without the ice? I would have guessed that it is from outside air coming in through the bottom from a small hole, and building it up from the bottom.

Fun trick you can do: Heat up a paper clip (anything metal) and put it on the top when it first forms. Figure out if it is growing from the top or bottom.

If it is a refrigerant leak, the height might be limited by the pressure inside-- once it is heavy enough it is able to seal the hole.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

I will do that upon my next defrost run. As mentioned even if i remove it now it won't grow back, it only happens right after defrosting which would somehow suggest it's caused by water dripping from above, however there is no hole and also no frozen drops on the top.....

Outside air is a possibility as this is one of the standard fridges which have no specific sealing around the freezer compartment, it's just a plastic door and on the rear it is even open to allow water to run off when defrosting (a 2mm gap between the freezer compartment bottom and the fridge's rear wall). But then - why always at this same place, and this specific shape and height??

Kind regards.....

Thanh

[AsiaCheese]

Hi.

Well here's another picture of it "fully grown up". I kept it there to see if it gets any bigger than all the time before but nope, it always reaches this same size. As previously mentioned, it stays flat at the top and keeps it's diameter pretty much the same over it's entire height, i don't think dripping water (where ever it would come from) would create a shape like this.

Best regards....

Thanh

Well uhhhhm, that picture was taken on 13th April. You know: FRIDAY 13th... small wonder that strange things happen

[LennyW]

The Fridge Fairy's Frozen Fart!!

[Mischka]

Hi.

Well here's another picture of it "fully grown up". ....

Thanh

This fridge is a boy, find a girl for him and in a time you are able to sell little fridges...

[Screws]

Hi.

Well here's another picture of it "fully grown up". ....

Thanh

Very interesting..

It's not a coolant leak, or your fridge would not still be working.

My guess is that it is the moisture in the rest of the fridge being picked up by the air and carried to the freezer, where it is sublimating to this cylinder. Do you have a webcam and an LED light? Would make a great time lapse. (Wrap the webcam in saran wrap before putting it in the freezer, don't unwrap it till is has warmed back up after you take it out)

If you put a glass of water in the bottom of the fridge, perhaps it will grow higher.

[6thsense]

I am able to replicate this. In fact it replicates itself.

On days where the ambient room temperature is high the fridge cabinet has a significant temperature gradient. The space just above the freezer is quite warm. The temperature is compromised by the thin layer of insulation. There is then some melting of the ice on the top surface of the freezer compartment on the outside. The water finds a way to come into the freezer compartment and drips onto the base of the freezer and freezes. There is a slow build-up as a pillar as shown in the image previously.

On cooler days and when the ambient temperature isn't as high, the melting freezing stabilises. My fridge has two of these happening.

This demonstrates why food scientists advise not placing perishables in the door compartments of fridges (particularly milk and eggs) as the temperature can become quite warm near the walls of cheaper fridges and on the doors of most fridges.