Frozen Fridge Defrost Drain
 

Kenmore two door top freezer/ bottom fridge. symptoms- water
was dripping from bottom compartment onto the floor. defrost
water had backed up and iced all over back of freezer
compartment. Ice had also formed in bottom of bottom
compartment. (the water had dripped down the inside back
wall). Fridge is about 4 years old.

After using a hair dryer and plastic tools to gently remove
all ice from both compartments, found that the drain line
from upper (freezer compartment) was plugged with
ice. Examining the pan at bottom of fridge where drain
line empties, showed dirt and dust. LIkely the drain had
not been working for a long time.

Need suggestions on how to clear the frozen drain line.
Access is available at top of line. Would like to minimize
amount of time the freezer is emptied so food will not
defrost. The drain line itself is inaccessible for most of
it's run. (It's between the inner and outer shell of the
fridge.

How to speed the 'defrosting' of this drain line segment
I cannot reach? thank you for your time.

lee h

Frozen Fridge Defrost Drain
 

I had this problem in a summer place that did not have a forced air
heating system with an air filter. Lint would clog the line. I
invested in a roll of fairly heavy stranded insulated wire at the
local hardware store. Then snaked this through on a regular basis --
every 6 months. Not the way I would want to solve the problem, but it
worked. If you are dealing with some frozen area that you can't get
to, then you are sort of stuck with a complete defrost until you can
"snake" it clean. PITA.

Frozen Fridge Defrost Drain
 

Need suggestions on how to clear the frozen drain line.

I used a turkey baster and hot water.

Hello, i would suggest a cooler and some ice. You can't rush the
defrosting.....it takes time.

What i think, (cant see it...WAG incomming), you are treating the symptom
and not the source of the problem.

My WAG is a problem in the defrost cycle. Call for repair.

Once you have it defrosted, wrap a heavy piece of wire around the defrost
wire and let it hang down into the drain hole. That way the hanging wire
will warm up during the defrost cycle.

Frozen Fridge Defrost Drain
 

Once you have it defrosted, wrap a heavy piece of wire around the defrost
wire and let it hang down into the drain hole. That way the hanging wire
will warm up during the defrost cycle.

Might be better to fix what's broken. Just the crazy way I think.

On my fridge it just a bad design. Other than replacing the whole thing
there's little that can "fix" the problem.

Frozen Fridge Defrost Drain
 

I'll have access to the box tomorrow (it's in another town).
wingnut, the defrost cycle must be working, at least to some
extent, or it would not produce the large amount of water
that drains down in the the 'icebox' portion. i.e., the
frost/ice is melting.

In googling the problem, it seems that most new designs
do have a metal plate or wire carrying defrost heat down
into the drain line. This unit does not. I'll fabricate
something out of 12 gauge solid wire if I can't locate
the correct part in short order.

Thank you for the replies, folks. I'll give it a shot tomorrow.

lee

Frozen Fridge Defrost Drain
 

On Oct 24, 5:41 pm, "lee h" wrote:
Kenmore two door top freezer/ bottom fridge. symptoms- water
was dripping from bottom compartment onto the floor. defrost
water had backed up and iced all over back of freezer
compartment. Ice had also formed in bottom of bottom
compartment. (the water had dripped down the inside back
wall). Fridge is about 4 years old.

After using a hair dryer and plastic tools to gently remove
all ice from both compartments, found that the drain line
from upper (freezer compartment) was plugged with
ice. Examining the pan at bottom of fridge where drain
line empties, showed dirt and dust. LIkely the drain had
not been working for a long time.

Need suggestions on how to clear the frozen drain line.
Access is available at top of line. Would like to minimize
amount of time the freezer is emptied so food will not
defrost. The drain line itself is inaccessible for most of
it's run. (It's between the inner and outer shell of the
fridge.

How to speed the 'defrosting' of this drain line segment
I cannot reach? thank you for your time.

lee h

For what it's worth, my Kenmore used to freeze up the same way.
Freezer gunk would clog the drain hole and the defrost water would
have no place to go. Solved it by buying a new fridge - bottom freezer
GE. Love it!

Frozen Fridge Defrost Drain
 

DerbyDad03 wrote:
For what it's worth, my Kenmore used to freeze up the same way.
Freezer gunk would clog the drain hole and the defrost water would
have no place to go. Solved it by buying a new fridge - bottom freezer
GE. Love it!

Yep. The box before this one was an avacado green
Kenmore, bottom freezer. Worked fine, lasted thirty
years. :-) Dont expect as much from this new
crap.

lee