(I don't expect any replys to this post --just writing this for DIY
posterity.)

I thought I'd share my adventure today with a Whirlpool fridge that's
been dripping water inside the main compartment for quite a while.
Sometimes the water would pool on top of various containers and turn
to ice. I don't have the model handy but would guess this is probably
a fairly generic problem. It's a 2004 model.

Earlier I got temporary relief by the very inconvenient process of
emptying the fridge, unplugging it, letting it thaw out for a day,
draining out all the water, plugging it back in and restoring the food
to it. I did this in the winter since I could put the food in our cold
garage to minimize spoilage.

Today I wanted to get more to the bottom of the problem. I first
looked at the owners manual which provided some really 6th-grade info
but one useful thing it did suggest was to vacuum the condenser coils
near the bottom. We have a cat and the coils were loaded with hair.
The owner's manual talks as if this were an easy job but one can only
really access the first "fold" of these coils. They zig and zag back
about 18". You will have no luck tipping the fridge back to get access
underneath because there is a (mostly) solid piece of sheet metal
there.

I called the Whirlpool number in the manual thinking I could ask how
to get the bottom sheet off and access the coils, and more about what
really might be wrong. They were of little help. They will basically
just read you parts of the owners manual you have just read. They have
no "tech support". Rather, their function is to determine your
warranty status and then connect you with the closest appliance
service center. But if you think you can get do-it-yourself advice
from one of these places you have another thing coming. I can't
blame them.

Anyway I ended up running an air hose into the house and blasting the
coils out with my compressor at 140 psi. It was fun and worked well!
It scared the hell out of the cat.

A second thing I wanted to investigate was ice build-up near the back
ceiling of the main compartment where there are some air ducts linking
both the freezer and main compartment. There is a styrofoam-lined duct
piece that looked like it could be removed but the tabs holding it in
place were way too thick to pry aside. The secret was to pull a bit on
the outer skin of the duct. An old-fashion electronics chip puller
worked great for this. You need a flat strip of metal with a very
shallow right angle hook at the end. After that, I took my heat gun
and melted all of the ice around the area (taking great care not to
apply too much heat which can easily melt or warp the surrounding
plastic).

Then I wanted to investigate the other side of the vents in the
freezer side. In fact, after I got the food out I could see that this
area was completely sealed by ice --right where it looks like there
was a designed gap for air
flow. FIRST MAKE SURE THE POWER IS DISCONNECTED IF NOT ALREADY, JUST
TO BE SAFE. There is a panel at the rear of the freezer compartment
that is held in by two hex head screws. I removed the screws and then
also realized I would have to remove the ice maker. That was easy --
held in only by three hex head screws, not counting a modular signal
plug and what looks like a grounding clip. (We never use the ice maker
and don't have a water line for it anyway. Later I chose to not
reinstall it to take advantage of the extra freezer space.) At this
point the back panel might not want to come out --held in by ice at
the base. I used a heat gun again to melt all this out. Took a while.
To expedite the process I used a toothpick to get under the ice and
pry it out. You may have a better idea for a pry tool, just don't use
anything metal. Don't force anything. Some of these parts are really
cheap. When the back panel does come out it does so by the top tipping
forward. Then I saw all sorts of ice build up near the vents and
about a 1/2" thick spreading horizontally near the base. I melted it
out with the heat gun. Underneath all this ice was the big discovery:
Some sort of drain plugged up with ice. I believe this is the drain
that the defrost cycle uses. If it clogs the water takes the next
available route, namely thru the vents connecting the freezer
compartment with the main compartment and down on your food. The
plugged drain line runs to the back bottom right side of the fridge
and into a cheap plastic long drain pan.

But how to unfreeze the water in this mostly inaccessible drain line?
I wondered how far the blockage traveled so removed the back bottom
panel (cheap cardboard), took a electricians fish tape (aka wire
puller) and slid it up the drain line. Judging by how far I slid it
up, there was roughly 4" of blockage. So how to remove this without
waiting a day or so? Heat gun and evacuating with an eyedropper? No,
takes too long. Hot wire? No, that would melt plastic. Hot water in
a syringe? Close, but that was taking too much time as well. I
finally had the idea of using one of those motorized dental Water Piks
filled with hot water. It worked almost immediately. In fact I
probably should have used that in place of the heat gun for the other
tasks as well. It would have been more messy but much faster. If you
don't have a Water Pik use a toy squirt gun. Hot water is much better
at melting ice than hot air.

Anyway, our fridge has been humming along just fine for a few days now
and no more dripping water. Hope this saves you a service call.

--zeb

PS. I haven't addressed how this problem developed in the first place:
I will admit to putting in large kettles of hot soup which probably
isn't smart. We don't have air conditioning. We do have humid
summers. We also tend to
really use up all available space which limits the amount of cold air
that can circulate. Also, as I mentioned the coils were pretty
congested with cat hair.

On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:05:58 -0800, zeb7k wrote:
Anyway I ended up running an air hose into the house and blasting the
coils out with my compressor at 140 psi. It was fun and worked well!

I once thought about doing that with ours - the coils are packed pretty
tight.

In the end I used a bit of compressor hose duct-taped to the normal
vacuum cleaner hose and just sucked it out - makes a lot less mess! :-)

On Dec 22, 11:05*am, wrote:
(I don't expect any replys to this post --just writing this for DIY
posterity.)

I thought I'd share my adventure today with a Whirlpool fridge that's
been dripping water inside the main compartment for quite a while.
Sometimes the water would pool on top of various containers and turn
to ice. I don't have the model handy but would guess this is probably
a fairly generic problem. *It's a 2004 model.

Earlier I got temporary relief by the very inconvenient process of
emptying the fridge, unplugging it, letting it thaw out for a day,
draining out all the water, plugging it back in and restoring the food
to it. I did this in the winter since I could put the food in our cold
garage to minimize spoilage.

Today I wanted to get more to the bottom of the problem. I first
looked at the owners manual which provided some really 6th-grade info
but one useful thing it did suggest was to vacuum the condenser coils
near the bottom. We have a cat and the coils were loaded with hair.
The owner's manual talks as if this were an easy job but one can only
really access the first "fold" of these coils. They zig and zag back
about 18". You will have no luck tipping the fridge back to get access
underneath because there is a (mostly) solid piece of sheet metal
there.

I called the Whirlpool number in the manual thinking I could ask how
to get the bottom sheet off and access the coils, and more about what
really might be wrong. They were of little help. *They will basically
just read you parts of the owners manual you have just read. They have
no "tech support". Rather, their function is to determine your
warranty status and then connect you with the closest appliance
service center. But if you think you can get do-it-yourself *advice
from one of these places you *have another thing coming. *I can't
blame them.

Anyway I ended up running an air hose into the house and blasting the
coils out with my compressor at 140 psi. It was fun and worked well!
It scared the hell out of the cat.

A second thing I wanted to investigate was ice build-up near the back
ceiling of the main compartment where there are some air ducts linking
both the freezer and main compartment. There is a styrofoam-lined duct
piece that looked like it could be removed but the tabs holding it in
place were way too thick to pry aside. The secret was to pull a bit on
the outer skin of the duct. An old-fashion electronics chip puller
worked great for this. You need a flat strip of metal with a very
shallow right angle hook at the end. After that, I took my heat gun
and melted all of the ice around the area (taking great care not to
apply too much heat which can easily melt or warp the surrounding
plastic).

Then I wanted to investigate the other side of the vents in the
freezer side. *In fact, after I got the food out I could see that this
area was completely sealed by ice --right where it looks like there
was a designed gap for air
flow. FIRST MAKE SURE THE POWER IS DISCONNECTED IF NOT ALREADY, JUST
TO BE SAFE. There is a panel at the rear of the freezer compartment
that is held in by two hex head screws. I removed the screws and then
also realized I would have to remove the ice maker. That was easy --
held in only by three hex head screws, not counting a modular signal
plug and what looks like a grounding clip. (We never use the ice maker
and don't have a water line for it anyway. *Later I chose to not
reinstall it to take advantage of the extra freezer space.) At this
point the back panel might not want to come out --held in by ice at
the base. I used a heat gun again to melt all this out. Took a while.
To expedite the process I used a toothpick to get under the ice and
pry it out. *You may have a better idea for a pry tool, just don't use
anything metal. Don't force anything. Some of these parts are really
cheap. When the back panel does come out it does so by the top tipping
forward. *Then I saw all sorts of ice build up near the vents and
about a 1/2" thick spreading horizontally near the base. I melted it
out with the heat gun. Underneath all this ice was the big discovery:
Some sort of drain plugged up with ice. I believe this is the drain
that the defrost cycle uses. *If it clogs the water takes the next
available route, namely thru the vents connecting the freezer
compartment with the main compartment and down on your food. *The
plugged drain line runs to the back bottom right side of the fridge
and into a cheap plastic long drain pan.

But how to unfreeze the water in this mostly inaccessible drain line?
I wondered how far the blockage traveled so removed the back bottom
panel (cheap cardboard), took a electricians fish tape (aka wire
puller) and slid it up the drain line. *Judging by how far I slid it
up, there was roughly 4" of blockage. So how to remove this without
waiting a day or so? *Heat gun and evacuating with an eyedropper? *No,
takes too long. *Hot wire? *No, that would melt plastic. Hot water in
a syringe? *Close, but that was taking too much time as well. I
finally had the idea of using one of those motorized dental Water Piks
filled with hot water. It worked almost immediately. *In fact I
probably should have used that in place of the heat gun for the other
tasks as well. *It would have been more messy but much faster. If you
don't have a Water Pik use a toy squirt gun. *Hot water is much better
at melting ice than hot air.

Anyway, our fridge has been humming along just fine for a few days now
and no more dripping water. *Hope this saves you a service call.

--zeb

PS. I haven't addressed how this problem developed in the first place:
I will admit to putting in large kettles of hot soup which probably
isn't smart. *We don't have air conditioning. We do have humid
summers. We also tend to
really use up all available space which limits the amount of cold air
that can circulate. Also, as I mentioned the coils were pretty
congested with cat hair.

I have one of those that does that about once a year as well. I use a
10' piece of 1/4" drip irrigation hose, a pan of hot water, and my
mouth. I suck the hose full of hot water and then "blow" it into the
drain in the back of the freezer.

wrote:

I thought I'd share my adventure today with a Whirlpool fridge that's
been dripping water inside the main compartment for quite a while.
Sometimes the water would pool on top of various containers and turn
to ice. I don't have the model handy but would guess this is probably
a fairly generic problem. It's a 2004 model.

snip

Underneath all this ice was the big discovery:
Some sort of drain plugged up with ice. I believe this is the drain
that the defrost cycle uses.

Yep, you discovered the very same problem that plagued Amana
refrigerators made in the late 1990s-early 2000s. Whirlpool owns the
Amana brand, so this doesn't surprise me at all.

Due to poor design, the drain lines have a tendency to clog with ice.
Eventually the melted water from successive defrost cycles backs up
onto the freezer compartment floor and overflows into the main fridge
compartment. What efforts are involved in getting at the drain line to
thaw it depends on various models.

I had an Amana fridge with this problem. Amana's "solution" was to
install a block of styrofoam at the bottom of the freezer compartment
that was supposed to keep the drain line warm enough that it wouldn't
freeze. Didn't work. Amana told angry owners that that was all they
would do.

Some people removed the plastic drain line and replaced it with
wider-diameter copper lineA. Some people had a small heater installed
near the top of the drain line. Myself - well, after four years of
every few months having to empty the freezer compartment, remove the
freezer door and floor, thaw the drain, then replace everything again
until the next time, I gave up and bought a Kenmore. I'll never buy an
Amana fridge again. Guess I'll put Whirlpool on my shit list, too.

If you google the archives for this group back to around 1998-2000,
you'll find a lot of posts on the subject.

Sounds like you did an excellent job,and got the
refrigerator repaired. Having repaired a bunch of fridge, I
do things differently. Not necessarily any better or worse,
just differently.

Hope the cat calmed down, later.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


wrote in message
...
(I don't expect any replys to this post --just writing this
for DIY
posterity.)

I thought I'd share my adventure today with a Whirlpool
fridge that's
been dripping water inside the main compartment for quite a
while.
Sometimes the water would pool on top of various containers
and turn
to ice. I don't have the model handy but would guess this is
probably
a fairly generic problem. It's a 2004 model.

Earlier I got temporary relief by the very inconvenient
process of
emptying the fridge, unplugging it, letting it thaw out for
a day,
draining out all the water, plugging it back in and
restoring the food
to it. I did this in the winter since I could put the food
in our cold
garage to minimize spoilage.

Today I wanted to get more to the bottom of the problem. I
first
looked at the owners manual which provided some really
6th-grade info
but one useful thing it did suggest was to vacuum the
condenser coils
near the bottom. We have a cat and the coils were loaded
with hair.
The owner's manual talks as if this were an easy job but one
can only
really access the first "fold" of these coils. They zig and
zag back
about 18". You will have no luck tipping the fridge back to
get access
underneath because there is a (mostly) solid piece of sheet
metal
there.

I called the Whirlpool number in the manual thinking I could
ask how
to get the bottom sheet off and access the coils, and more
about what
really might be wrong. They were of little help. They will
basically
just read you parts of the owners manual you have just read.
They have
no "tech support". Rather, their function is to determine
your
warranty status and then connect you with the closest
appliance
service center. But if you think you can get do-it-yourself
advice
from one of these places you have another thing coming. I
can't
blame them.

Anyway I ended up running an air hose into the house and
blasting the
coils out with my compressor at 140 psi. It was fun and
worked well!
It scared the hell out of the cat.

A second thing I wanted to investigate was ice build-up near
the back
ceiling of the main compartment where there are some air
ducts linking
both the freezer and main compartment. There is a
styrofoam-lined duct
piece that looked like it could be removed but the tabs
holding it in
place were way too thick to pry aside. The secret was to
pull a bit on
the outer skin of the duct. An old-fashion electronics chip
puller
worked great for this. You need a flat strip of metal with a
very
shallow right angle hook at the end. After that, I took my
heat gun
and melted all of the ice around the area (taking great care
not to
apply too much heat which can easily melt or warp the
surrounding
plastic).

Then I wanted to investigate the other side of the vents in
the
freezer side. In fact, after I got the food out I could see
that this
area was completely sealed by ice --right where it looks
like there
was a designed gap for air
flow. FIRST MAKE SURE THE POWER IS DISCONNECTED IF NOT
ALREADY, JUST
TO BE SAFE. There is a panel at the rear of the freezer
compartment
that is held in by two hex head screws. I removed the screws
and then
also realized I would have to remove the ice maker. That was
easy --
held in only by three hex head screws, not counting a
modular signal
plug and what looks like a grounding clip. (We never use the
ice maker
and don't have a water line for it anyway. Later I chose to
not
reinstall it to take advantage of the extra freezer space.)
At this
point the back panel might not want to come out --held in by
ice at
the base. I used a heat gun again to melt all this out. Took
a while.
To expedite the process I used a toothpick to get under the
ice and
pry it out. You may have a better idea for a pry tool, just
don't use
anything metal. Don't force anything. Some of these parts
are really
cheap. When the back panel does come out it does so by the
top tipping
forward. Then I saw all sorts of ice build up near the
vents and
about a 1/2" thick spreading horizontally near the base. I
melted it
out with the heat gun. Underneath all this ice was the big
discovery:
Some sort of drain plugged up with ice. I believe this is
the drain
that the defrost cycle uses. If it clogs the water takes
the next
available route, namely thru the vents connecting the
freezer
compartment with the main compartment and down on your food.
The
plugged drain line runs to the back bottom right side of the
fridge
and into a cheap plastic long drain pan.

But how to unfreeze the water in this mostly inaccessible
drain line?
I wondered how far the blockage traveled so removed the back
bottom
panel (cheap cardboard), took a electricians fish tape (aka
wire
puller) and slid it up the drain line. Judging by how far I
slid it
up, there was roughly 4" of blockage. So how to remove this
without
waiting a day or so? Heat gun and evacuating with an
eyedropper? No,
takes too long. Hot wire? No, that would melt plastic. Hot
water in
a syringe? Close, but that was taking too much time as
well. I
finally had the idea of using one of those motorized dental
Water Piks
filled with hot water. It worked almost immediately. In
fact I
probably should have used that in place of the heat gun for
the other
tasks as well. It would have been more messy but much
faster. If you
don't have a Water Pik use a toy squirt gun. Hot water is
much better
at melting ice than hot air.

Anyway, our fridge has been humming along just fine for a
few days now
and no more dripping water. Hope this saves you a service
call.

--zeb

PS. I haven't addressed how this problem developed in the
first place:
I will admit to putting in large kettles of hot soup which
probably
isn't smart. We don't have air conditioning. We do have
humid
summers. We also tend to
really use up all available space which limits the amount of
cold air
that can circulate. Also, as I mentioned the coils were
pretty
congested with cat hair.

wrote:
(I don't expect any replys to this post --just writing this for DIY
posterity.)

I thought I'd share my adventure today with a Whirlpool fridge that's
been dripping water inside the main compartment for quite a while.
Sometimes the water would pool on top of various containers and turn
to ice. I don't have the model handy but would guess this is probably
a fairly generic problem. It's a 2004 model.

Earlier I got temporary relief by the very inconvenient process of
emptying the fridge, unplugging it, letting it thaw out for a day,
draining out all the water, plugging it back in and restoring the food
to it. I did this in the winter since I could put the food in our cold
garage to minimize spoilage.

Today I wanted to get more to the bottom of the problem. I first
looked at the owners manual which provided some really 6th-grade info
but one useful thing it did suggest was to vacuum the condenser coils
near the bottom. We have a cat and the coils were loaded with hair.
The owner's manual talks as if this were an easy job but one can only
really access the first "fold" of these coils. They zig and zag back
about 18". You will have no luck tipping the fridge back to get access
underneath because there is a (mostly) solid piece of sheet metal
there.

I called the Whirlpool number in the manual thinking I could ask how
to get the bottom sheet off and access the coils, and more about what
really might be wrong. They were of little help. They will basically
just read you parts of the owners manual you have just read. They have
no "tech support". Rather, their function is to determine your
warranty status and then connect you with the closest appliance
service center. But if you think you can get do-it-yourself advice
from one of these places you have another thing coming. I can't
blame them.

Anyway I ended up running an air hose into the house and blasting the
coils out with my compressor at 140 psi. It was fun and worked well!
It scared the hell out of the cat.

A second thing I wanted to investigate was ice build-up near the back
ceiling of the main compartment where there are some air ducts linking
both the freezer and main compartment. There is a styrofoam-lined duct
piece that looked like it could be removed but the tabs holding it in
place were way too thick to pry aside. The secret was to pull a bit on
the outer skin of the duct. An old-fashion electronics chip puller
worked great for this. You need a flat strip of metal with a very
shallow right angle hook at the end. After that, I took my heat gun
and melted all of the ice around the area (taking great care not to
apply too much heat which can easily melt or warp the surrounding
plastic).

Then I wanted to investigate the other side of the vents in the
freezer side. In fact, after I got the food out I could see that this
area was completely sealed by ice --right where it looks like there
was a designed gap for air
flow. FIRST MAKE SURE THE POWER IS DISCONNECTED IF NOT ALREADY, JUST
TO BE SAFE. There is a panel at the rear of the freezer compartment
that is held in by two hex head screws. I removed the screws and then
also realized I would have to remove the ice maker. That was easy --
held in only by three hex head screws, not counting a modular signal
plug and what looks like a grounding clip. (We never use the ice maker
and don't have a water line for it anyway. Later I chose to not
reinstall it to take advantage of the extra freezer space.) At this
point the back panel might not want to come out --held in by ice at
the base. I used a heat gun again to melt all this out. Took a while.
To expedite the process I used a toothpick to get under the ice and
pry it out. You may have a better idea for a pry tool, just don't use
anything metal. Don't force anything. Some of these parts are really
cheap. When the back panel does come out it does so by the top tipping
forward. Then I saw all sorts of ice build up near the vents and
about a 1/2" thick spreading horizontally near the base. I melted it
out with the heat gun. Underneath all this ice was the big discovery:
Some sort of drain plugged up with ice. I believe this is the drain
that the defrost cycle uses. If it clogs the water takes the next
available route, namely thru the vents connecting the freezer
compartment with the main compartment and down on your food. The
plugged drain line runs to the back bottom right side of the fridge
and into a cheap plastic long drain pan.

But how to unfreeze the water in this mostly inaccessible drain line?
I wondered how far the blockage traveled so removed the back bottom
panel (cheap cardboard), took a electricians fish tape (aka wire
puller) and slid it up the drain line. Judging by how far I slid it
up, there was roughly 4" of blockage. So how to remove this without
waiting a day or so? Heat gun and evacuating with an eyedropper? No,
takes too long. Hot wire? No, that would melt plastic. Hot water in
a syringe? Close, but that was taking too much time as well. I
finally had the idea of using one of those motorized dental Water Piks
filled with hot water. It worked almost immediately. In fact I
probably should have used that in place of the heat gun for the other
tasks as well. It would have been more messy but much faster. If you
don't have a Water Pik use a toy squirt gun. Hot water is much better
at melting ice than hot air.

Anyway, our fridge has been humming along just fine for a few days now
and no more dripping water. Hope this saves you a service call.

--zeb

PS. I haven't addressed how this problem developed in the first place:
I will admit to putting in large kettles of hot soup which probably
isn't smart. We don't have air conditioning. We do have humid
summers. We also tend to
really use up all available space which limits the amount of cold air
that can circulate. Also, as I mentioned the coils were pretty
congested with cat hair.

I'd wonder if just thawing it for a few days would have done the job easier.

Who's got a few days? Most folks keep food in the fridge.
Even a couple days thaw, he'd still had the dusty condensor,
and the clogged drain.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Bob F" wrote in message
...



I'd wonder if just thawing it for a few days would have done
the job easier.

wrote in message
...
(I don't expect any replys to this post --just writing this for DIY
posterity.)

I thought I'd share my adventure today with a Whirlpool fridge that's
been dripping water inside the main compartment for quite a while.

....snip...

PS. I haven't addressed how this problem developed in the first place:

In the back of my fridge there is a defroster wire that heats up
occasionally. I put a few wraps on 14 gauge wire around the defroster wire
and dangled the end down the drain tube.

Now, when the defrost cycle runs, it also melts any ice that may be in the
drain tube.