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coyote2  
#1 Posted : Friday, March 18, 2011 3:29:31 PM(UTC)
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coyote2

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Every winter the drain of my Kenmore freezer clogs with ice every other day. (Every summer it remains clear.)

So I do what the repair guy did when it first happened: I boil a pot of water and melt the clog. Every other day.

How can I keep it clear during the winter? (Plus I'm curious, is this caused by room humidity or temperature differences?)

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richappy  
#2 Posted : Saturday, March 19, 2011 2:53:57 AM(UTC)
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In the freezer, I would wrap a 12 gauge, solid copper wire around the defrost heater and shove a two inch section down the drain, should fix the problem.
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coyote2 on 4/17/2019(UTC)
denman  
#3 Posted : Saturday, March 19, 2011 2:54:08 AM(UTC)
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Without knowing what the ambient temperatures and humidity is where you live cannot even guess. If the unit is out in the garage, this can cause seasonal problems

I did go to the Sears parts website and did see that there is a screen on the drain, I would remove it as it could be impeding your drain flow.

Check that your door is sealing correctly.

I could not find a wiring diagram for your unit but can tell you that the unit has a 12 hour defrost timer unfortunately I do not know if it is continuous ( a defrost cycle every 12 hours) or cumulative (a defrost cycle every 12 hours of compressor run time)

Since you have been pouring hot water down the drain I am assuming that you have checked the drain tube for blockage and also that there is not dust impeding drainage flow at the drip tray.

Make sure the drain path to the drain tube is nice and clean,
Sometimes a coating of wax that has been buffed can speed up drainage flow.

There is a jiggery pokery fix for this that works for many people.
Take a 12 gauge bare copper wire and wrap it once or twice around the defrost heater. The other end is routed down the drain a couple inches.
Then every defrost cycle the wire gets warm and also defrosts the drain.
After installing this, I would then force a defrost cycle and let is run it's full time (usually half an hour or so) just to be sure that the wire just gets warm as you do not want to melt your freezer bottom. Perhaps instead of two wraps one wrap will do the job.
I would not do this if the drain is exposed due to safety concerns but if it is protected by a cover it should be OK.
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!!
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coyote2 on 4/17/2019(UTC)
coyote2  
#4 Posted : Sunday, March 20, 2011 10:43:01 AM(UTC)
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How does one "force a defrost cycle"? (I see where the Timer is, under the rear of the freezer.)

I deeply appreciate the replies, Denman and Richappy, this is going to save me a huge amount of time!

I've purchased the copper wire, and am also ready to access the defrost heater (it's behind a panel on the inside, back of the freezer). I suppose I should unplug the freezer before this too.

I have parts/wiring sheets that say "An automatic 30 minute defrosting period is initiated after every 12 hours of compressor running time".

The drain path and drain are clean/smooth (and covered for safety). And I think I found the drain screen; it looks like an upside-down cap on the bottom of the drain tube; I removed it; I can't imagine what good it could do.

The freezer is inside my kitchen; summers the windows are open a lot, with mild temperatures and low humidity; winters the windows are rarely open and (based on condensation inside windows I think) the humidity is higher as are the temps.
coyote2  
#5 Posted : Sunday, March 20, 2011 2:10:57 PM(UTC)
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I removed the cover over the evaporator, but I can't figure out where the defrost heater is. (But I think I may have found the timer's knob on the timer.)

So I took a couple photos, and scanned a couple parts diagrams:

http://coyote3.net/evaporator.jpg combines two photos (so I could show the whole evaporator on either side of the panel in the way; I can't see a way to remove the evaporator to see behind it; sorry you can't see the drain hole at this angle--it's in the middle below the evaporator).

http://coyote3.net/timer.jpg shows the back rear of the freezer. I put a red "=" sign on what I think is the timer; just to the left of the "=" sign is a black plastic dial that I guess is what I turn to advance to the next defrost cycle. (not exactly sure how to turn it, since nothing I have fits it, but I figure I'll push against one of the edges on it with a screwdriver.)

http://coyote3.net/diagrams.gif shows these areas and identifies the timer and defrost heater (though I remain clueless about where the defrost heater is in the photo!).

(I also uploaded these pictures in a zip file at https://www.yousendit.com/download/eUREbUphbEozeUpjR0E9PQ 3MB; I first made versions that met the filesize requirements for Reply attachments, but it didn't work for me, sorry!)

please help me figure out where the defroster is!

thank you!
coyote
denman  
#6 Posted : Thursday, March 24, 2011 2:43:10 AM(UTC)
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Your defrost heater is the black device (wire) that runs below the evaporator coils.

It is hard to see from the picture but usually the timer adjusting cam is a cam in itself so if you use a screw driver just slightly larger than the adjusting cam and turn it in the correct direction it will hit the raised sections of the cam and then will rotate the cam. It is done this way so that you cannot rotate it in the wrong direction which would screw it up. Hope I explained this OK.
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!!
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coyote2 on 4/17/2019(UTC)
coyote2  
#7 Posted : Thursday, March 24, 2011 5:20:31 AM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: denman Go to Quoted Post
Your defrost heater is the black device (wire) that runs below the evaporator coils.
Thank you denman!

That "black device (wire)" is coated (with 'plastic'), so now I don’t know how to make your exciting advice to wrap bare copper wire around it work (because I imagine that I need to make the bare copper wire contact bare metal).
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It is hard to see from the picture but usually the timer adjusting cam is a cam in itself so if you use a screw driver just slightly larger than the adjusting cam and turn it in the correct direction it will hit the raised sections of the cam and then will rotate the cam. It is done this way so that you cannot rotate it in the wrong direction which would screw it up. Hope I explained this OK.
Yes! That worked great (and was fun), thank you again denman!
coyote2  
#8 Posted : Thursday, March 24, 2011 5:22:06 AM(UTC)
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duplicate post I can't figure out how to delete
denman  
#9 Posted : Thursday, March 24, 2011 2:22:20 PM(UTC)
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There doe not seem to be a way to delete a post.

Sort of got confused by your last post.

I am assuming that you have been able to force a defrost but am not sure if you were able to install a drain heater.

The heating coil looks like it is held onto the evaporator coils with a couple of wire ties. You could undo these to make access to the heater easier. Then wrap the copper wire around the heater a couple times.
Just be careful that you wrap it just snug not tight. You do not want to compress the heater.
THIS FORUM IS DEAD!!!!!!!
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coyote2 on 4/17/2019(UTC)
coyote2  
#10 Posted : Friday, March 25, 2011 5:20:05 AM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: denman Go to Quoted Post
Sort of got confused by your last post.
denman, are you saying that the fact that my heating coil appears to be coated with 'plastic' is not an issue? (So I should go ahead and wrap the bare copper wire around it even though the bare copper will be contacting 'plastic' instead of metal?)

Hopefully this clarifies what I'm confused about; I wonder if the copper wire will still get what it needs (from being wrapped around the heating coil) 'through' the plastic. I think now I see, and I apologize, that this may be a stupid question, that I was thinking metal-on-metal electrical conduction was required instead of just heat transfer (through the 'plastic' coating).
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