Soft Ice Cream

[Anonymous]

Hello: Everything in my top freezer freezes, except the Ice Cream. It goes in frozen, and a day later it is soft. Why is this. The hot dogs are frozen, the peas, the meat, everything except the ice cream. no matter what brand it is. Can someone please help..Thank You

[jeff1]

Hello,

Can you measure the freezer temp & fridge section temp and post them here.

Icecream needs to be closer to 0 ( zero )ºF to freeze and meats/ice cubes only need to get below 32ºF to freeze...a 30º difference.

When was the last time the hot condensor coils where cleaned?
http://www.applianceaid.com/clean_condenser.html

Make?...model#?...approx age of the fridge?

jeff.

[Anonymous]

The type of appliance is: Kitchen Aid Superba, model: KTRS20kwwh11. 7-90 freezer is set on high, the temp is 19 o
The refrig is set on 1, the temp is 40 o, /the coils were cleaned last week, when I noticed the Ice cream was soft. The coils, (under the unit) were very, very dirty and dusty....Hope this will help you. Thank You.........Robert p.s. what are the temps supposed to be?

[jeff1]

Hi,

freezer is set on high, the temp is 19 o

The refrig is set on 1, the temp is 40 o

what are the temps supposed to be?

The average freezer temp is 0ºF to +5ºF....fresh food section is approx 37ºF to 40ºF.

Freezer is too warm.

model: KTRS20kwwh11

Oh no!! This is the rotary compressor unit....this compressor often gets a little noisy and quits pumping 100% and the temps start to warm up....tell tale sign may be to expose the cooling coils in the freezer and check the frost pattern on the coolign coils...1/2 frosted, ball of ice, any bare cooling coils would indicate a system problem.....which is probably why the freezer temp has increased.

jeff.

[Anonymous]

Hi Jeff. Thanks for all your help. I went to this whole site and can not find any thing about a rotory compressor unit. Could it be called something else? How do I get to the coils that you spoke of??. How much $$ are we talking about? about? Thanks again....Robert

[Anonymous]

Hello: I have cut and pasted the following: [check the frost pattern on the coolign coils...1/2 frosted, ball of ice, any bare cooling coils would indicate a system problem.....which is probably why the freezer temp has increased. The frost pattern is very even from the left to the right and top to the bottom. there is a light whitish frost on all the coils.. any help???? Robert

[jeff1]

Hi,

I went to this whole site and can not find any thing about a rotory compressor unit

To a ?who? site??

This is a rotary compressor...

http://appliancehelp.hypermart.net/images/wlprotarycompressor.jpg


How much $$ are we talking about?

Many/most of these a NLA as they had too many problems with them.

The frost pattern is very even from the left to the right and top to the bottom. there is a light whitish frost on all the coils

I take it you found the cooling coils!??!....with the warmth of your hand...fridge running, see if any of the light frosting will disappear from the cooling coils when you warm the passes with your hand.

Another hopefully easy test is to unplug the fridge, wai 10 seconds and then plug the fridge back in again...will the fridge restart right away?

jeff.

[alphavista]

I unplugged the refrigerator, waited 10 seconds and plugged it back in. The unit started immediately. I will do the hand over the coils test tomorrow as I have it all back together already. Is the restart test a good sign? Robert

[jeff1]

Hello,

The unit started immediately. Is the restart test a good sign?

Normally when a good pumping compressor is shut off...it will need 3-5 minutes of off time before it can restart...being able to start up right away is a sign of an inefficient compressor...so no it is not a good sign.

I will do the hand over the coils test tomorrow as I have it all back together already.

Okey Doky :)

jeff.

[alphavista]

Hi: Started to get to the freezer coils this morning and saw that the temp. was 6 or 7 degrees. So have not done the hand over the coils test. Why would the temp go down after I just took the back panel of the freezer off, looked at it and then put it back?... I don't have any ice cream at the moment to test if it stays hard...... Robert

[jeff1]

Hi,

Why would the temp go down after I just took the back panel of the freezer off, looked at it and then put it back?

Unknown...coincidence?...fate?...last breath?...some ice/frost melted while apart?...

Let us know how your icecream test goes!

jeff.

[imported_joed]

If this is frost free unit the ice cream would be soft just after the defrost cycle. There are actually heater coils to melt the ice off the walls of the freezer.

[jeff1]

If this is frost free unit the ice cream would be soft just after the defrost cycle

Very true...usually 30-60 minutes after the defrost cycle ends and the rerfigerator kicks back on again, the freezer temp should be back close to zero again :)

jeff.

[alphavista]

Just got back from:Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream store. Two quarts for $6.00 on sale. One quart finished off after dinner. The other is still in freezer for the big test............will know in about 24 hrs. if it is still frozen. ( I am keeping it away from the back and side walls) p.s. both quarts chocolate :D

[Anonymous]

:wink: I "like" chocolate!! :wink:

Also, avoid storing hard-to-freeze items such as ice cream and orange juice on the freezer door shelves. These foods are best stored in the freezer interior where the temperature varies less with door openings.

jeff.

[alphavista]

If this is frost free unit the ice cream would be soft just after the defrost cycle

Very true...usually 30-60 minutes after the defrost cycle ends and the rerfigerator kicks back on again, the freezer temp should be back close to zero again :)

jeff.

Looks like this is what is going on. The freezer gets down to 0 or so. I noticed that the freezer was not running and the temp is up to around 15. It doesn't take long for the ice cream to get a little soft. So..............does this mean this is normal or is a new compressor installation in the near future going to be necessary?

[jeff1]

Hello,

Warming up during a defrost cycle is normal and common...icecream, frozen juice, bread, pastries will all soften up during a defrost cycle and normally need 30-60 minutes of running time after the fridge comes back on from a defrost cycle...but this normally isn't something that someone just notices...it happens all along.
Defrost temps spiking too warm is possible making these more softer than normal...but again these items would refreeze hard once the fridge was running again.
Many companies carry temp recorders today...these will measure freezer ( or fridge ) temps and the defrost temps 24/7 and the chart made can help to determine the fridges ability to keep and maintaince 0ºF and how long it is running or how long it is off and tell the tech a lot about what is happening to the fridge during it's normal operations. When we run into an intermittant problem of soft food or too warm ( 19ºF ) once in a while...these can help to pay attention to the fridge without standing there watching the fridge work ;)

Your original complaint of soft icecream and a freezer temp of 19ºF still sends bells and whistles to me!!

jeff.

[imported_joed]

A defrost timer is just a mechanical timer that switches to defrost mode once or twice a day. It could be that in the past the defrost cycle was during the night or day when you weren't home and didn't notice.

[alphavista]

Thanks for all the help and replies. I will just live with the way the freezer is going for now. Looks like other people are interested in why ice cream is soft also, by the amount of clicks on this subject. Again, thanks for all your time..............Robert :D

[jeff1]

Hey all,

It could be that in the past the defrost cycle was during the night or day when you weren't home and didn't notice.

Does happen...power failure or turned off the fridge for a spring cleaning puts the defrosting times at a different time of the day/night/evening. *Most* ( not all ) fridges today have a demand defrost, the fridge will defrost after so many hours of running time so the defrosts will vary from season to season depending on humidy/ect.

I will just live with the way the freezer is going for now

Hope it stays working for you!! :)

Have a nice long weekend joed!! ;)

jeff.