How to defrost ice build up on Artevino III dual zone wine fridge

New Wine Berserker here - Looking forward to discussing all things vino!

After storing my wines under a staircase for years (I know…I know - they were at least stored in their styrofoam shipping containers), I finally purchased a dual temp Artevino III (model OXG2T206NVD) from Costco earlier this year.

This model has a cold chamber at the bottom for storing beer/white wines. I saw some ice forming at the bottom back wall about a month after filling it with my wines. It’s completely full, but I made sure none of the bottles are touching the back wall as I read here that this could be a contributor to ice forming along the back. I also read somewhere that the unit had a defrosting cycle. So I just figured it would self regulate.

Well 6 months later, I checked and the ice is approx 1" thick now. Firstly, I’d like to defrost the unit to get rid of the ice. I’m going to lower the thermostat on the cold beverage zone to 50F to see if that starts the defrosting. If it doesn’t work, does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to defrost it aside from unplugging the unit?

Secondly, anyone else have this experience? I’ve done a bit of research but can’t find anything to find out if this is a faulty unit or something in my environment contributing to the ice formation. The unit is in my garage and I live in Southern California near the beach so my garage temp ranges from 65F in the winter to 90F on the hottest summer days. I’ve made sure there is plenty of room behind the unit and there is no dust on the coils from what I can see. I’ve sent 2 requests for help to the artevino ‘contact’ page on their website, but have not heard from them.

Thanks in advance!

Is it more like ice or like hard, packed snow?

This usually means there’s an air leak somewhere. Check to make sure the door is sealing properly all the way around. Hopefully this is the cause. If it is, the ice should clear within 24-48 hours of getting the door sealed tight. If not, you could have a leak in the cabinet, which would be a warranty issue.

An air leak doesn’t lead to ice buildup in a unit that is set to 55 degrees or so. It would lead to condensation. Freezing usually indicates a low level of refrigerant, meaning a leak in the cooling system itself, which is supposed to be a closed (sealed) system.

Regardless, the ice buildup interferes with the ability for the unit to run properly, and you should definitely unplug and let the ice melt.

Isn’t it possible, if the compressor is running 24/7 due to the air leak, that you could get ice in the cabinet close to the coils?

This exact thing happened with my Artevino III. As soon as I discovered the door wasn’t sealing and pushed it shut all the way, the ice went away. Could be a coincidence, but I don’t think so.

It was ice…definitely not like packed snow.

I was trying to post a couple pictures - what public storage website do you guys use? I can’t remember where I used to store pics for forums…was it shutterfly?

Thanks Troy - I will do the credit card seal test. The magnets in the door seal are so nice and strong, I assumed it seals completely.

Greg

Chuck and Troy,

Follow up…before hitting the links yesterday, I set the thermostat to the cold storage area to 42F. When I got back in the evening, the ice had melted substantially (the drain was working properly and wasn’t clogged!) I was able to remove the rest of the ice and dry the area. The thermostat was set to 38F from the time I turned it on 6 months ago. I re-set it to 39F just now. I also put a digital thermometer in the lower cold storage area to see if the temp gets lower than 39F.

I also cleaned the door seal and the door surface where it comes in contact with the seal contact. I didn’t feel any irregularities with my finger. Also ran a credit card along the seal but wasn’t quite sure what would indicate a leak. The card slid pretty easily along all areas.

Thanks so much for your help. I hope the defrost works properly now. I’ll report if I see frost build up again.

Greg, good to hear. I think the temp is set much too cold. I keep my whites at 50F and reds at 55F. Lowest I would ever keep whites is 45F.

I agree with Troy, the only thing that needs to be that cold (for some people) is Champagne. I would set it at 50, and if you like to consume even colder, throw the bottle in your refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes. But really, that’s simply too cold.

Just upload the pics directly to the forum using the Attachments tab under the text field.

Good info here. It is also important to make sure the fan intake isn’t clogged with dust. They always will if not cleaned regularly. The fan will stop circulating air and this will make ice in more than one way. Same net effect though. Same goes for almost any self contained cooling device.

Agreed - The cold storage section of mine is mostly for non-wine beverages. I only put whites/champagne in there when I’ve bought too many reds

Hi Brian…It’s probably right in front of my face, but I don’t see what you are talking about. When I hit reply, I see:

Post Icon: (and all the icons)
Subject:
Format options: Bold Italics, Underline etc. I was trying to use the “insert image button” shown but it doesn’t ask me to link the actual picture. It just adds the code “img] [/img” which, if I don’t put a link in to the picture on a public share site, won’t allow me to post.

Perhaps it’s an issue with my browser privacy settings?

I do appreciate the help.

Greg

I wonder if, to maintain that low temp, the coil/cooling surface is below freezing. That might explain the frosting.

Also, at refrigerator temp (40F), you can get a lot of precipitation of tartrate crystals in whites and sometimes solids in reds. That’s just too cold for wine.

In the Full Editor and Preview mode, you’ll see Options and Attachments tabs at the bottom left of the text window where you type. See below. (These are not available/visible in the Quick Reply mode.)

The Attachments tab leads to the upload function. You can then upload from your local folders. No need to use someone else’s server.

This is maddening! I can’t print screen so you can see that on my screen, after selecting Full Editor, I only get the Options tab. There is no Attachments tab

Preview doesn’t show it either…Is it possible that option isn’t given for new members?

I can’t imagine that’s even possible.

Time to contact Todd or one of the other moderators.