Is it normal for the outside walls of a chest freezer to be warm to the touch all the time? The food in it is frozen and the top of the freezer always feels cool. I wonder if the defroster is on a timer that's stuck in the "on" position.

If it was stuck on the defrost cycle I think everything in it would be thawed.

Our chest freezer is warm on the outside walls.

Chest freezer are ALWAYS manual defrost. thye have no "defrost cycle.

The cabinet on both chest and upright freezers is the radiator for the heat removed from inside the box. It is perfectly normal for it to be warm or even quite warm depending on the amount of heat being removed.

Ok, thanks guys.