I have a clogged drain in my side-by-side freezer. Water collects on the bottom of the compartment and freezes, then leaks onto the kitchen floor. I’ve removed the back panel of the freezer compartment and carefully lifted the coil assembly out of the way to clear the drain hole. First i use a pipe cleaner-not long enough. Then a 10" x 3/3" spring that use for cleaning the coffee pot - still not long enough. finally i used a wire coat hanger. it’s long enough, but bottoms out on the drain hole and has not cleared the clog. I still have water standing in the bottom of the coil housing.
How can I clean this drain? I can’t see the drian path from the back of the unit due to the sheet metal shroud that contains the assembly. Where does this drain to, the main catch pan at the very bottom housing? And what happens to the water (condensate) once it get to wherever it goes?
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000]If you use a turkey baser (or something similar) to force hot water down the drain it should do the trick. Once done mix baking-soda with water and pour it down the drain to prevent this from happing again soon. The water goes into a pan were it evaporates. Hope this helps! Refrigerator repair guide[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[COLOR=Blue]How can I clean this drain?[/COLOR]
I would remove the rear cover so you can see the pan.
It may be plugged with dust and crud at the pan.
You could try a compressor if you have one.
Blowing into a straw or piece of tubing sometimes works, problem is trying to get a decent seal at the drain.
Sometimes a turkey baster and some warm water works.
Once you get it clear, wipe out the drip pan as best you can.
Also flush it with about a cup of 10% bleach solution to kill the crud in the tubing, just be careful to not overflow the drip tray.
[COLOR=Blue] I can’t see the drian path from the back of the unit due to the sheet metal shroud that contains the assembly. Where does this drain to, the main catch pan at the very bottom housing?[/COLOR]
If you remove the rear lower cover you should be able to see the compressor and the drain pan Item 22 in Section 12. Sometimes you can see it if you remove the front kick plate.
[COLOR=Blue]And what happens to the water (condensate) once it get to wherever it goes?[/COLOR]
It just evaporates
Also I have found (strange, i know, but works) if you have a steam cleaner (little machine that you put water in and it sprays out very hot water vapor) use the steam cleaner on the drain - most cleaners have an attachment on the end that fits perfectly in all drains and the great thing about this is you actually hear the water vapor push through whatever is clogging the drain so you know its clear. These are usually used to clean grease or tile grout but has that perfect attachment that allows you to direct the spray straight down the drain with a nice seal to ensure the clog is removed. Also works great for a fridge that has a defrost problem and is all iced up - will melt a completely frozen over freezer in 15 minutes if you dont have time to leave it unplugged for hours
It’s not a problem with the drain it’s the icemaker it overflows water into the ice bin & the ice won’t cut into pieces maybe because it’s putting out to much water in the ice tray but why?
Lassiegirl i believe your problem is the Water Valve (some refrigerators have 2 depending on if there is a filter inside your refrigerator) if there is 2 replace both because i dont know of a way to actually test to see which one is bad (maybe there is but if so i dont know how)
I would remove the icemaker, thaw out the filler tube going to it if necessary and see if water dribbles out of it, if so=bad filler valve. If not=bad/jamed icemaker.
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#000000]I like that defrost idea Qtip good tip that may save me some time![/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#000000]When it comes to cleaning drains I am convinced the turkey baser is the very best. I have cleaned out a ton of drains and the turkey baser has worked great for all but three. I have used a portable air tank, various squirt bottles, and some type of plunger made for cleaning drains I even used the garden hose twice. None come close to working as well as the turkey baser for me. Well except the garden hose but that is ridiculous I only used it because I didn’t have anything else nor did the person I was working for. I am not trying to say it wouldn’t work very good just that I am happy with what I am using. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=#000000]However I love that idea for defrosting refrigerators. I bet that steam melts the ice like crazy. Now I am going to have to go out and buy a steam cleaner (as if I needed anymore tools to junk up my truck). [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000]I have found that spraying water on the coils works very well (fast) but it makes a huge mess. I spend as much time on clean up as I do melting the ice. So I just use a heat gun but it takes forever and it is the most boring job I have to do. Not to mention I normally have a ton of other jobs I need to do. I will probably give the steam cleaner a try because I believe it is going to work much faster than my heat gun and without the huge mess. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000]Even though I am totally sold on the turkey baser if I actually get a steam cleaner I will give it a try for cleaning out drains who knows I might change my mind. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
Thanks to all. The drain is clear and working like a charm. No ice buld up after 36 hours. Now and I understand where the pan is located and how this system works. I actually did have to break the initial clog with the coat hanger, but was able to blow out the rest of the crud with the turkey baster. Great tip!
I should have mentioned that i has defrosted the freezer before hand, so there was nothing frozen in the drain. just crud and standing water. If i have to defrost in the future I’ll remember the steam genie.
One last question? I noticed that there is a ton of dust and crud on the black coils that sit under the fridge. Is there a simple way to access these to vacuume/clean them without turning the whole fridge on it’s side and removing the galvanized metal tray that sits beneath the coils?
Yes, some units are a royal pain to clean.
There are long brushes available to do this.
I do not know if the following will work for you, it depends on how your kitchen is set up. It works great for me.
I remove the front kick plate and the rear cover.
Then open the kitchen door and roll the fridge over to it.
Then I just blow it out with my compressor from inside the house.
Just about all the dust is blown outside.
Also I do not have to worry about breaking anything under the unit while trying to clean the coils.
I have also been told that a leaf blower does a good job.
Slick idea! I believe that that will work for me too. I have a door that I can roll the fridge to. There is an 8" step involve, but I can empty the fridge, wheel it outside on the appliance dolly and giver it a go.
I was having the exact same problem with our side-by-side. Our kitchen is over a very cold garage. I noticed this problem right when the temperature was consistently below freezing level. Saw the tip in this forum about using a turkey baster to flush the drain hole with hot water and it worked like a charm! Before I did I turned the refrigerator off and left the door open so I could allow the ice formed on the bottom to melt. Even used a hair dryer for a while to speed up the process. Then heated some water in the microwave and used the baster to flush in the hole. A couple minutes later I could literally hear the water rushing down the drain. Was so glad to see that something had just frozen up along the way and it wasn’t a clog. I plan to flush hot water down the drain occasionally to maintain it and prevent a freeze in the future.
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=#000000]You might want to mix baking soda with water and pour it down the drain help clean whatever gunk that was in the drain that is still left behind. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
After clearing the drain using the turkey baster and lots of hot water to melt the ice plug, I installed one of those aluminum pieces that extends down into the drain hole. The drain just froze up again. At this point, I’m going to try changing out the defrost heater, since the only reason I can think of why this keeps happening is that the heating element is just not getting or staying hot enough in the area of the drain to prevent the freezing. Any further ideas are welcome.