I Broke the Fridge and Freezer

I thought I was being pretty clever yesterday. Emma sprained her ankle - while crossing the street - so we needed to ice it down. We didn't have any ice in the freezer; except that the freezer badly needed defrosting. So I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and chisel away the ice the surrounded our freezer and use it for Emma's ankle.

Big, big mistake....

I got out the hammer and screw driver and was making great progress. I had gotten enough ice for at least one hour of Emma's ankle therapy. And it was kind of fun. And I felt like a Nordic rock climber. My arms started to get a bit fatigued but a Nordic rock climber wouldn't stop half-way up the mountain and I wouldn't stop until Emma had a full evening's worth of ice and the freezer was fully defrosted.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I got to one pretty solid piece of ice on the far left side of the freezer. I hammered the screw-driver in there pretty good but the ice still wouldn't come loose. I hammered it one more time...and that's when the entire operation fell apart.

All of a sudden a hissing sound started to come from the exact place that I had just been chiseling. A line of mist and foul smelling odor were coming right at me. The apartment began to smell hazardous. It took me a good 10 seconds to realize that I could have a situation on my hands. I pulled the fridge from the wall. Unplugged it. Closed the fridge door. About 5 minutes later the hissing stopped. About 45 minutes later the apartment didn't smell anymore.

Apparently I am not the first one to have defrosted their freezer this way. And I am not the first one to have broken their freezer this way. Based on 30 minutes of internet research, the two go hand-in-hand.

Emma and I were worried that the fumes may be toxic. If I am to believe what I read on the internet, the volume of gas is too small to create any long-term health effects. However, various folks had different opinions on whether it is safe to still use the food exposed to the gases.

I'll let Emma give it a try and see how it turns out.

On a separate note, I have a great deal on a slightly used fridge/freezer. There's some wear-and-tear on it but the owners have treated it well. Please let me know if you are interested.