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?)
Manufactured May 1999
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
[quote=denman;386791]Your defrost heater is the black device (wire) that runs below the evaporator coils.[/quote]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).[quote]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.[/quote]Yes! That worked great (and was fun), thank you again denman!
duplicate post I can’t figure out how to delete
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.
[quote=denman;387144]Sort of got confused by your last post.[/quote]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).
You do not need metal on metal.
You may have to wrap the copper wire around the heater a couple more times to get decent heat transfer.
Leave some spacing between the wraps so you do not create a cold spot on your heater.
Then check it to see how hot it gets by doing a manual defrost after it is installed.
Note: that the face of the defrost thermostat must be frozen for the heater to come on.
[quote=denman;387705]You do not need metal on metal.
You may have to wrap the copper wire around the heater a couple more times to get decent heat transfer.
Leave some spacing between the wraps so you do not create a cold spot on your heater.
Then check it to see how hot it gets by doing a manual defrost after it is installed.
Note: that the face of the defrost thermostat must be frozen for the heater to come on.[/quote]The ‘drain defrost install’ is done, thank you very much denman! You made it easy enough that even I, with little mechanical ability, could do it.
I’ve forced a couple defrost cycles (once after letting frost build overnight), and while the frost on the evaporator and wire melts, and neither remain cold, not only is the wire not too hot, it doesn’t feel particularly ‘warm’..but then neither does the defrost heater itself. I guess in a couple days I’ll know for sure whether the drain remains clear now.
p.s. I was surprised to find that instead of the 30-minute defrost period the manual listed, it only lasts 15 minutes.
Was the 15 minutes when the compressor turned back on or just that the defrost heater shut off.
If the latter then the defrost thermostat shut it off once the frost was melted off the coils.
This is how it is supposed to work so you do not get excessive heat into the freezer.
[quote=denman;388855]Was the 15 minutes when the compressor turned back on or just that the defrost heater shut off.
If the latter then the defrost thermostat shut it off once the frost was melted off the coils.
This is how it is supposed to work so you do not get excessive heat into the freezer.[/quote]In (each time about) 15 minutes the compressor actually turned back on. (I honestly don’t know what “compressor” means, but in context I gather that that’s the loud component that freezes the compartment.)
[quote=coyote2;38867]I’ve forced a couple defrost cycles (once after letting frost build overnight), and while the frost on the evaporator and wire melts, and neither remain cold, not only is the wire not too hot, it doesn’t feel particularly ‘warm’..but then neither does the defrost heater itself. I guess in a couple days I’ll know for sure whether the drain remains clear now.[/quote]Now a couple days have passed, and it seems that the drain is remaining clear! Thank you denman!
The ‘drain path’ to the drain has some ice on it, but perhaps that won’t build up further. Time will tell. If so, depending on how much buildup there is on the drain path, perhaps I’ll defrost it either (manually if the need is infrequent) with boiling water or (if the need is frequent) I’ll run another ‘copper-wire defroster’ along the drain path.
Already, this will save me many hundreds of hours, thank you!
[quote=coyote2;390659]Now a couple days have passed, and it seems that the drain is remaining clear! Thank you denman!
The ‘drain path’ to the drain has some ice on it, but perhaps that won’t build up further. Time will tell. If so, depending on how much buildup there is on the drain path, perhaps I’ll defrost it either (manually if the need is infrequent) with boiling water or (if the need is frequent) I’ll run another ‘copper-wire defroster’ along the drain path.[/quote]Now 6 weeks later, the drain continues to remain clear. Just a little more buildup on the path. Perhaps after many months I will need to use hot water (which before this fix I had to use every other day). I couldn’t be more happy with this fix, thank you again, denman!
You are welcome and I am glad to hear it is working for you.
And thanks for getting back to us. Now when others search for a similar problem they will see what actually worked instead of just suggestions about what could be the cause.
If it ices up again in the future perhaps add one more wrap around the heating element, this will add a little more heat to the drain defroster.
hoping to piggyback my question onto this solution, since I have the same problem with my GE GDS18SBR/LBR. like clockwork my drain pan will collect enough ice to block the drain hole in a week.
first I tried loosely coiling copper wire (probably 18 gauge) around the defrost element and draping it down the drain, didn’t work. then, since the drain pan under the evaporator is a separate piece from the part that funnels the liquid to the drain I installed a tube directly from the drain pan to the drain hole, also didn’t work. I ended up coiling the copper tighter around the element, wrapping it in foil, then draping a strand of the copper through my custom drain tube. worked great for a couple months but now I’m back to a weekly manual defrost schedule.
has anyone been able to troubleshoot this kind of problem to a specific part of the system? I know the defrost timer and element work. if the thermostat has any kind of failure it isn’t keeping the element from turning on. is there an expansion valve that could be leaking causing the drain pan to be warm enough to melt at the defrost element but cold enough to re-freeze at the drain?
After three years functioning perfectly, my drain defroster stopped working; suddenly I now again need to apply a pot of hot water every other day.
So I unscrewed the panel and inspected the drain defroster, expecting to find it had detached or something…but I looks exactly as it did the day I installed it. With the exception of the fact that the wire wound around the heating element is no longer copper-colored. It now looks gray.
Time for me to get another copper wire and start over?
I am assuming that the evaporator coils are defrosting properly and it is just a drain problem.
Also that the drain line is clear. Could be that gunk has grown in the drain line and is slowing down the draining so even with with a drain heater you still get drain freeze ups.
If it drains slow then flush the drain line with a 10% bleach solution.
This should kill anything in the drain line and let you flush it out with warm water.
A turkey baster comes in handy when doing this.
Just take care that you do not overflow your drip tray.
Also wear old clothes unless you are into bleach designs on your clothes.
I am not sure why the drain heater wire is gray.
I would also replace your drain heater.
Check that the defrost heater looks OK where the drain heater is wrapped around it.
Clean it if it also has gray deposits.
Then I would let the unit cool down again and force a defrost cycle just to be sure everything is working OK.
Be careful to not burn your fingers on the defrost heater.
The drain heater just has to get warm.
The evaporator coils have to be frozen or the defrost thermostat will not be closed and this kills power to the defrost heater.
