Freezer door will not open? (1 Viewer)

[Delboyarapaho]

Any advice please on how to open the freezer door? it is a Dometic Tec tower fridge, freezer and oven. The two buttoms on the freezer, when pressed feel slightly different to the bottons on the fridge door (which touch wood continues to open normally) but I have noticed for the last week or two that the door tot he freezer has felt less normal when closing. Now it wont open at all and obviously I don't want to do any damage by forcing it but if anyone knows how to open it from outside that advice would be gratefully received.

 

[Yorick]

Dynamite ftw

 

[Robert Clark]

Could it be frozen shut?

Our Dometic tec tower had a heater element in the frame which could be turned on to defrost any frozen condensation.

If your model doesn't have this, it might be worth turning the appliance off and letting the freezer defrost slightly

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[jongood]

Ours does this sometimes when swmbo rams the freezer too full and the air cant circulate. I generally find that lifting the door slightly will get it open, and I then turf a few things out. But if you re not as impatient as me then you could try turning it off

 

[scotzsue]

Ours has a defrost button for freezer door too.

 

[DavidG58]

ours locks shut when ignition is on, bonkers that the fridge door doesn't do the same and both have those stupid slide catches anyway

oops, getting cross again, who mentioned Dometic and door in the same thread

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[funflair]

Wasn't there something about the lock on the 8 series freezers filling with condensation and then freezing, the later ones have a switch so that you can just use the magnetic seal when you are on site.

Martin

EDIT this is the thread I was thinking about, https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/dometic-8000-freezer-problem.62510/

 

[Littlewheels]

Could it be frozen shut?

Our Dometic tec tower had a heater element in the frame which could be turned on to defrost any frozen condensation.

If your model doesn't have this, it might be worth turning the appliance off and letting the freezer defrost slightly

I concur definitely needs defrosting.

 

[Lenny HB]

We just put the catch in the locked up position and rely on the magnetic door surround to hold it shut when traveling. On the last van we put a bungee across the door otherwise contents ended up on the floor on fast corners if heavily loaded. Not praticle to do that on the current van so fingers crossed.

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[Zepp]

Our lock froze up on the freezer door and the lock broke

We are in Germany at the carthago factory and by chance a domectic man was there the dometic guy changed the lock as it was full of ice

He also took the black facia off and explained the problem was caused by the bit of black duck tape sealing the front of the lock not being air tight (letting in condensation) his solution was to resealable it with several strips of silver duck tape.He also told us the defrost button is only for the control panel not the lock

 

[Fletton]

Mine freezes on occassions... patience is all that is required... waggle button.. keep pressing ... but don't force it.. eventually it releases ... then tou are able to get at frozen bit... and defrost/dry.

 

[Mel]

If ours was the same model I used a hairdryer around the lock area.

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[Alistair33]

If there's any electronics in it and it's frozen, then try turning it off then back on again......... I'll get my coat

 

[Shrimp]

I had a freezer in the house that would do this, I found the seal was too good and a finger or wooden stick-not a blade-shoved in between the seal and the freezer body was enough to break the seal and allow the door to open.
But it could be that it's got moisture in there & needs a defrost!

 

[Lenny HB]

If there's any electronics in it and it's frozen, then try turning it off then back on again......... I'll get my coat

Purely mecanical, the area around the latch fills with moisture and freezes.
Depending how bad it is turning on the door frame heater sometime sorts it in 10min but can take an hour or two, worst case we had to turn the fridge off overnight, not funny when your dinner is in there. That's why we never use the latch now.
I think the German Dometic man was talking out of his posterior. The heater is a frame heater around the freezer, that's why its called a frame heater. As for duck tape, pigs might fly. When it freezes the whole area around the latch freezes and the latch gets held down buy the ice that has formed above it.

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[SIFTA SAM]

Dynamite ftw

Very quiet from 'Delboyarapaho'
Was your advice followed?

 

[hilldweller]

Dynamite ftw

Take care...............

 

[Terry242]

We've got the same problem with our 8 Series freezer door, the 6mth old van is currently at a Dometic dealer awaiting new lock parts.
The door worked perfectly whilst on our summer trip around Europe but suddenly whilst in Germany, the door would not open and we could not get at the contents. The weather at the time was very hot/humid and this was suggested as the issue. However, over a period of time we tried the frame heater and switching it off to let everything cool down but neither worked.
Took it to a service agent when we got home...... here's the interesting part -
The fitter used an 18" steel ruler, opened the fridge door and this allowed him to slide the ruler up the inside of the freezer door from the bottom edge. It took him a couple of goes because the latch is recessed but it was easy-peasy. Luckily the contents had not stunk the van out!
We've now been waiting almost 4 weeks for the parts. Poor show.

Terry

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