Another Refrig. Question

[Dottie]

I have two Frigidaire refrigerators. The old one was bought in 1997 and is in the garage. Still works fine but the ice maker quit and the refrig. wa s so old we couldn't find a new one to fit or it cost so much it wasn't pra ctical - but anyway, the one in the kitchen was 2008. A few days ago I cam e in the kitchen and found a puddle of water in front of the refrig. at th e corner where the door opens. Opened door and water was puddled under the produce drawers. A lot of it. I cleaned it up -- looked at freezer. The ice maker was in the down position so it was still making ice and the box was full. I shoved the thingey up so it would stop making ice. Everythin g worked o.k. for a few days and then it happened again. The ice maker thi ngey was "on" so it was making ice and the box was about half full -- not f ull enough to automatically shut off. I shut it off and cleaned up.

Question: Is the ice maker going bad or is it related to the auto-defrost. The only water is under the produce drawers. Before I start calling repa ir service would like to know what kind of problem I have. My late DH used to decide these things and I am not very knowledgeable about electrical ap pliances. Thanks.

[trader4]

is in the garage. Still works fine but the ice maker quit and the refrig. was so old we couldn't find a new one to fit or it cost so much it wasn't p ractical - but anyway, the one in the kitchen was 2008. A few days ago I c ame in the kitchen and found a puddle of water in front of the refrig. at the corner where the door opens. Opened door and water was puddled under t he produce drawers. A lot of it. I cleaned it up -- looked at freezer. T he ice maker was in the down position so it was still making ice and the bo x was full. I shoved the thingey up so it would stop making ice. Everyth ing worked o.k. for a few days and then it happened again. The ice maker t hingey was "on" so it was making ice and the box was about half full -- not full enough to automatically shut off. I shut it off and cleaned up.

t. The only water is under the produce drawers. Before I start calling re pair service would like to know what kind of problem I have. My late DH us ed to decide these things and I am not very knowledgeable about electrical appliances. Thanks.

Disable the ice maker and then see what happens. If the water doesn't recur after 10 says, turn the ice maker back on. If it happens again within a day or two, then you know it's related to the ice maker.

[recyclebinned]

is in the garage. Still works fine but the ice maker quit and the refrig. was so old we couldn't find a new one to fit or it cost so much it wasn't p ractical - but anyway, the one in the kitchen was 2008. A few days ago I c ame in the kitchen and found a puddle of water in front of the refrig. at the corner where the door opens. Opened door and water was puddled under t he produce drawers. A lot of it. I cleaned it up -- looked at freezer. T he ice maker was in the down position so it was still making ice and the bo x was full. I shoved the thingey up so it would stop making ice. Everyth ing worked o.k. for a few days and then it happened again. The ice maker t hingey was "on" so it was making ice and the box was about half full -- not full enough to automatically shut off. I shut it off and cleaned up.

t. The only water is under the produce drawers. Before I start calling re pair service would like to know what kind of problem I have. My late DH us ed to decide these things and I am not very knowledgeable about electrical appliances. Thanks.

Did you check the condensate drain line to see if it was plugged-up?

[Stormin Mormon]

My guess is auto defrost problem. I repair these, now and again. The repair guy will probably take the freezer apart (from the front), use an over grown hair dryer, and it will take less than an hour.

Before the repair guy arrives, take all the food and ice and everything out of the freezer.

. Christ> I have two Frigidaire refrigerators. The old one

was bought in 1997 and is in the garage. Still works fine but the ice maker quit and the refrig. was so old we couldn't find a new one to fit or it cost so much it wasn't practical - but anyway, the one in the kitchen was 2008. A few days ago I came in the kitchen and found a puddle of water in front of the refrig. at the corner where the door opens. Opened door and water was puddled under the produce drawers. A lot of it. I cleaned it up -- looked at freezer. The ice maker was in the down position so it was still making ice and the box was full. I shoved the thingey up so it would stop making ice. Everything worked o.k. for a few days and then it happened again. The ice maker thingey was "on" so it was making ice and the box was about half full -- not full enough to automatically shut off. I shut it off and cleaned up.

related to the auto-defrost. The only water is under the produce drawers. Before I start calling repair service would like to know what kind of problem I have. My late DH used to decide these things and I am not very knowledgeable about electrical appliances.

Thanks.

[Stormin Mormon]

That's most likely the problem. However, the OP sounds like her skills are in different fields, rather than appliance repair. Seeing as how her late DH took care of this.

. Christ>>

it related to the auto-defrost. The only water is under the produce drawers. Before I start calling repair service would like to know what kind of problem I have. My late DH used to decide these things and I am not very knowledgeable about electrical appliances. Thanks.

[nestork]

No, it's not your ice maker.

It's probably that the drain on the evaporator pan is clogged and so the melt water that's produced when the fridge defrosts isn't draining down to the receiving pan at the base of the compressor as it should, but is overflowing that drain pan and spilling into the fresh food section instead.

This is a fairly common problem with frost free fridges.

You need to empty out your freezer compartment and you should find a removable panel; typically on the back wall of the freezer compartment.

Often that panel is held on with screws, but there are covers over the screw heads that need to be popped out to gain access to the screw heads.

Behind that panel you should find the evaporator coil, evaporator fan, defrost heater and defrost termination switch.

Under the evaporator coil there will be a drain pan that catches all the melt water that drips off the evaporator coil during the defrost cycle.

At the bottom of that drain pan you should find a drain hole where the melt water exits and goes to a plastic tube that carries it down the back of the fridge to the receiving pan at the base of the compressor.

That drain hole is probably clogged.

Appliance repair technicians use a piece of stranded 10 or 12 gauge wire to clear out that drain hole. Stranded copper wire is flexible enough that it can be used to clear the drain very much like a plumber's motorized snake.

If you find ice in that hole, then bend a piece of copper wire around the defrost heater, twist the ends of the wire together and put that twisted wire into the drain hole. The idea here is if that drain hole is getting clogged with ice, then the warm wire in the hole will melt that ice, thereby keeping the drain hole open.

On some fridges it's easier to clean that drain hole by moving the fridge away from the wall, pulling off the drain tubing at the back of the fridge and sticking your stranded wire into where that drain tubing was connected to. I'd maybe phone one or two of your local appliance repair shops and tell them what the model number of your fridge is and see if they say to clear it from the front or from the back.

[Dottie]

is in the garage. Still works fine but the ice maker quit and the refrig. was so old we couldn't find a new one to fit or it cost so much it wasn't p ractical - but anyway, the one in the kitchen was 2008. A few days ago I c ame in the kitchen and found a puddle of water in front of the refrig. at the corner where the door opens. Opened door and water was puddled under t he produce drawers. A lot of it. I cleaned it up -- looked at freezer. T he ice maker was in the down position so it was still making ice and the bo x was full. I shoved the thingey up so it would stop making ice. Everyth ing worked o.k. for a few days and then it happened again. The ice maker t hingey was "on" so it was making ice and the box was about half full -- not full enough to automatically shut off. I shut it off and cleaned up.

t. The only water is under the produce drawers. Before I start calling re pair service would like to know what kind of problem I have. My late DH us ed to decide these things and I am not very knowledgeable about electrical appliances. Thanks.

***********Thank you for your help with this. The repairman came today and it was a clogged tube. I could never have fixed this myself -- but it onl y took him a few minutes. It was "below" so he didn't have to remove anyth ing from the freezer. There is a plastic bar running from the front to the back of the refrigerator -- with the stuff you use to set the temp and all that. He removed that and on the back wall - covered by the plastic and n ot visible when the piece is in place - there is a hole. He took the stopp er out and ran a piece of tube from the kitchen faucet to that hole -- and it cleaned it out. He said if it had been anywhere else he would have had to take the back off or something.

[Stormin Mormon]

That's totally helpful. Know just what you mean. Thanks for writing back.

. Christ>

came today and it was a clogged tube. I could never have fixed this myself -- but it only took him a few minutes. It was "below" so he didn't have to remove anything from the freezer. There is a plastic bar running from the front to the back of the refrigerator -- with the stuff you use to set the temp and all that. He removed that and on the back wall - covered by the plastic and not visible when the piece is in place - there is a hole. He took the stopper out and ran a piece of tube from the kitchen faucet to that hole -- and it cleaned it out. He said if it had been anywhere else he would have had to take the back off or something.

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