what I have learned today.

[Canardly]

Oi you, behave!

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Using a steam mop to defrost the freezer isn't any better than my usual method.

[ian]

I've only ever defrosted one freezer and that involved a hammer. And then a replacement freezer.

Frost-free, it's like a special kind of magic hated by polar bears.

[Ham]

Using a steam mop to defrost the freezer isn't any better than my usual method.

Bowl of hot water in the bottom, wait 5 minutes, works remarkably well.

[Kim]

Fan heater at close range.  With something to stand it on so it doesn't drown.  And an RCD, because I'm all about the health & safety.

By the time the room's up to the mid-20s, the ice is pretty much gone, and you can move in and clean up with a mop.


Or you can stab it to death and get a new freezer.  But that's why *I'm * in charge of defrosting the freezer.

[Polar Bear]

I find myself irresistibly drawn to removing 'frost' accumulation about once a week.   It's such a cathartic job and keeping on top of it makes life easier methinks.

[Diver300]

As long as the room temperature is above about 10 °C, lots of room temperature air is just as effective or better than a little bit of hot air, so an ordinary fan works very well, with Kim's suggestion of something to stand it on and an RCD.

[ian]

Seriously, are you lot living in a steampunk dark age of fuming grey kitchen goods? I didn't think 'frost-free' was an option these days. I've not had to defrost a freezer since that student incident with the hammer. The only ice that comes out of mine is square and goes into G&Ts.

[Kim]

Our freezer dates from when we were PSOs, and barakta murdered the last one.  At the time frost-free was new and expensive.

[Diver300]

Seriously, are you lot living in a steampunk dark age of fuming grey kitchen goods? I didn't think 'frost-free' was an option these days. I've not had to defrost a freezer since that student incident with the hammer. The only ice that comes out of mine is square and goes into G&Ts.

My wife managed to buy a new non-frost free one recently due to not reading the small print. I don't think it'll last as we will get fed up with it and get a frost-free one instead, making the current one less of a bargain than it first appeared.

[Zipperhead]

I find myself irresistibly drawn to removing 'frost' accumulation about once a week.   It's such a cathartic job and keeping on top of it makes life easier methinks.

I'm wondering how my computer illiterate father has managed to take control of your account PB. He insists on cleaning (using a squeegee to remove any water and then a soft cloth to polish) their shower after every use.

I know that he's been retired for many years and therefore has fuck all to do, but there are limits.

Tell him to get his own computer but not to call me for support.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Using a steam mop to defrost the freezer isn't any better than my usual method.

Bowl of hot water in the bottom, wait 5 minutes, works remarkably well.

Yes, that's what I usually do, but I thought I'd give the steam mop a try. But, this is the magic bit - once you have removed all the old ice (and washed and dried the freezer if you are that way inclined) rub a thick layer of glycerine over all the surfaces on which ice accumulates. Next time you defrost, the ice will all just drop off in big sheets/chunks and you won't need to hack away with a bread knife.

[Jaded]

Using a steam mop to defrost the freezer isn't any better than my usual method.

Bowl of hot water in the bottom, wait 5 minutes, works remarkably well.

Quite possibly, but this micro-thread is about defrosting freezers.

[T42]

That the intermittent droning sound that has had me listening closely to my Windows box and keeping an eye on CoreTemp is actually a bloke up the road drilling holes in a wall.

[citoyen]

Bowl of hot water in the bottom

Princess Diana used to swear by it, I understand.

[clarion]

I think I'd probably swear, too.

[T42]

On Saturday I learnt that eBikes do actually have on/off switches for the lights. Some of them, anyway, but like BMW indicators they're rare in this neck of the woods.

[Kim]

On Saturday I learnt that eBikes do actually have on/off switches for the lights. Some of them, anyway, but like BMW indicators they're rare in this neck of the woods.

Lots of ways that can work, depending on the system and lights involved, but why did you think they didn't?

Of course, with an ebike, the penalty for having your lights on is practically non-existent.  It's a vanishingly small amount of energy compared to the total capacity of the battery (which like any motor vehicle user, you'll have planned your journey around not running flat).  You're already going to recharge the battery, and it doesn't even create extra drag like a dynamo hub.  So if you're inclined towards thinking that daylight running lights are a good idea, there's no reason not to.


Data point: With Shimano STEPS (which is a newish high-end system, and relatively rare to spot in the wild, but it's one I happen to have read the manual for properly) the lights are controlled by a prominent button on the console, and optionally tied to the display backlight state.  This seems typical of well-integrated off the shelf ebikes.  A minor niggle is that they default to off (rather than the option of 'previous state') on boot-up.

Data point: On barakta's trike, which is a retrofitted kit, I've provided power for the existing dynamo lights (which have a sensor mode and switch on the front light in the usual manner) whenever the battery system is switched on.  Normally we leave them in sensor mode.  Potential gotcha is leaving the battery switched on when parking the bike (eg. at a pub), and the lights coming on at dusk.

[TheLurker]

Using a steam mop to defrost the freezer isn't any better than my usual method.

A couple of plant sprays set to "jet" rather than "spray" full of hot water work well and as any fule kno you can pretend to zapping Treens with yore atomick death ray which makes the chore meer childs pla .  Grate fun.

[Mrs Pingu]

When we had the Liebherr freezer engineer round (our freezer was broke cos it was all frozen up, prolly cos the door had been left open) he was most explicit that it should be defrosted by leaving it open at room temp for 24 hours.
This was in a frost free freezer but he said it was because it would be all frozen up in the polystyrene insulation inside the back and would take that long for all that to thaw out properly.

[Diver300]

When we had the Liebherr freezer engineer round (our freezer was broke cos it was all frozen up, prolly cos the door had been left open) he was most explicit that it should be defrosted by leaving it open at room temp for 24 hours.
This was in a frost free freezer but he said it was because it would be all frozen up in the polystyrene insulation inside the back and would take that long for all that to thaw out properly.

That sounds right. When frost-free freezers do fill with ice, due to malfunction or misuse, the ice forms in hard-to-reach places, so they are worse to defrost than normal freezers. However, defrosting should be extremely rare.

[T42]

On Saturday I learnt that eBikes do actually have on/off switches for the lights. Some of them, anyway, but like BMW indicators they're rare in this neck of the woods.

Lots of ways that can work, depending on the system and lights involved, but why did you think they didn't?

Because almost every eBike I have seen on the road has had the lights on, even at midday in high summer.

[Legs]

That Bashar al-Assad's favourite band is the Electric Light Orchestra.  Yes, I've been watching HyperNormalisation!

[Vince]

That Jonty Rhode is actually John Torode. 

I had never seen his name written before.

[mrcharly-YHT]

That giant walking machines are a thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2V8GFqk_Y