[josterberg]

Hello Folks, This is your typical Sears/Kenmore unit, w/ freezer on top and refrig on bottom. 9 years old. The auto defrost has not worked really well in the last few years, I have had to manually hack away at frost build up @ the rear panel of the freezer compartment. Recently, I have been getting a lot of water accumulating below the crisper trays in the very bottom of the refrig. compartment. I turned the unit around, found the plastic drain hose that dumps into the evaporator tray in the very bottom of the unit, and can not blow through it. I pulled the rear panel off the freezer compartment, and found a little bit of frost in the drain catch bin, but not very much. You can't really access the top of the drain hose from the freezer compartment, I would have to pull all the parts off that bolt to the roof of the refrig. compartment to gain access to the hose inlet. I am not an appliance repair guy by trade, just a DIY if possible guy. Any ideas appreciated. Thanks, josterberg

[Jeff / APP Team]

It seams that your drain is stopped up. To clear it you will need to remove the back wall of the freezer. The drain hole is located under the evaporator coils, usually in the center. Clear out all the ice that you can, then use hot water and a hose and blow out the drain hole until it clears out. When hot water will pour freely through it, then it's fixed. Hope this helps.

[josterberg]

Jeff, Thanks. Just a question from a DIY person: As I mentioned, I did clear the drain "catch basin" of a handful of ice, nothing major. Have you ever seen the hoses plug up with anything other than ice? Thanks, Jost

[Jeff / APP Team]

Yes they can get trash or food particals inside them causing them to stop up. That is why you need to blow the drain out and run hot water through it.

[josterberg]

Jeff-- BTW, this is the best website I've found, and I looked at a lot of them trying to find the parts I needed. Best selection, prices, plus the Forums--great job on all fronts. My plan is to remove the freezer back panel again, and using a turkey baster w/ a plastic tubing extension, run some hot tap water into the drain hose. The drain hose inlet is not easy to see, never mind get to. If I see the hot H2O back up then drain, I'll figure it's a fix. I will check the drain hose flow manually just to be sure before buttoning it back up. I'll post my results. Thanks Again, Jost

[Jeff / APP Team]

Thank You!!! That sounds great!

[josterberg]

Jeff, I tried running some hot tap water through the defrost drain hose as I had planned, and sure enough it was plugged. I gave it a shot of compressed air, and the water plus some debris came out of the bottom of the drain hose. The debris was NOT ice, it was some sort of material similar to paper. How it got in there is anyone's guess. I checked the bottom of the refrig this AM, it seems fine. So I think we can chalk this one up as a fix. Thanks for your help, Jost

[Jeff / APP Team]

Thats Great! Glad we could help!

[EMALINOSKI]

Originally Posted by Jeff / APP Team

It seams that your drain is stopped up. To clear it you will need to remove the back wall of the freezer. The drain hole is located under the evaporator coils, usually in the center. Clear out all the ice that you can, then use hot water and a hose and blow out the drain hole until it clears out. When hot water will pour freely through it, then it's fixed. Hope this helps.

DID THIS SEVERAL TIMES ALREADY STILL DOES SAME THING

[Jeff / APP Team]

You will need to check and make sure the drain line is clear and the unit is level. If not, it will continue to stop up. Some drain lines need to be removed from the unit to clean them out. Hope this helps.