Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Did I just break my refrigerator?

So, I have this small refrigerator -- about half my height.

I noticed one day that there was some white ice accumulating on the top shelf, along the walls and ceiling. At first, I thought nothing of it, but as time passed, I saw that this ice was "growing," so to speak, day by day.

Soon, the top shelf resembled one of those diagrams that showed a blood vessel clogged up with cholesterol build-up -- the top shelf was an "ice cave" with a vacant center, which was becoming ever smaller.

Amidst all this, the rest of the refrigerator was perfectly fine.

I needed more room in my fridge, and I simply couldn't ignore the ice, so I decided to chip away the ice with a flathead screwdriver and a hammer.

I worked my way through the ice, but then I hit the screwdriver too deep when I was picking at the ceiling area that it punctured the plastic ceiling.

Immediately, some gas began spewing out... and stopped after about 3 minutes.

I began panicking, because I thought that it might have been the refrigerant that just spilled out. What else could it have been?

I stopped breaking the ice and closed the door.

So, I have four questions:
1) What was the ice? (it was white, unlike water-ice, which is transparent)
2) Why only the top shelf?
3) Did I just break my refrigerator?
4) If so, what can I do to repair it?

1) What was the ice? (it was white, unlike water-ice, which is transparent)
Frost caused by opening and closing the door and the moisture in the air freezing

2) Why only the top shelf?
Because thats where the cooling coils are, thus the coldest part of the fridge.

3) Did I just break my refrigerator?
Yes

4) If so, what can I do to repair it?
Probably not much if its the kind I'm thinking of. The repair and service call would cost more than a new fridge..if it could be repaired at all.

Never use tools or heat guns to melt ice or frost. A pan of hot water and plenty of airflow are really the only recommended methods.

Sounds like you ruptured a refrigerant line. The fridge more than likely was not frost free and required defrosting occasionally as ice built up on it. Not worth repairing, just buy a new one.

Thank you very much for the quick and informative answers

I have been doing refrigeration work for some time and to fill in the slow times the commercial refrigeration company I worked for sent apprentices on household refrigerator calls.
In the 70's it was very common for people to still have the older non-defrosting freezers and a frequent call was a butcher knife through the evaporator coil as you have done. :D
We did patch many of them with a special epoxy but today's labor rates and refrigerant regs make this a job you would not do these days.

In the 70's it was very common for people to still have the older non-defrosting freezers and a frequent call was a butcher knife through the evaporator coil as you have done. :D

My Mom was still using her 1966 vintage GM-built Frigidaire non frost-free fridge until a couple years ago. It was always us kids' job to defrost the fridge -- to us, it was fun waiting for the frost to melt in the freezer and (carefully) pry it off in large chunks. One of those quaint little chores today's kids will never experience! The thing that finally killed that old Frigidaire was the thermostatic switch went bad, and no factory replacements were available after 40 years. Who knows how long the compressor might have lasted otherwise?

Still lots of folks around here using 1950's era refrigerators for beer coolers or extra fridge room. The simple, basic fridges from that era were truly built to last a lifetime.

I'll betcha I could have fixed that Frigidaire with a generic thermostat. How many of you guys remember domestic boxes that used hot gas defrost? I know Frigidaire used to.