Hotpoint FZA80 Freezer is leaking water and building up ice inside at the bottom. Could you advise on access to the drain hole please?

please check your ice maker to make sure it is not jammed up water can leak into fridge

Unplug the unit and take out all the drawers and remove the back (behind the drawers) panel carefully. (This back panel has foamy thermal insulation behind it and this will be probably be enmeshed with ice - you may have to wait awhile for this ice to melt before you can remove the panel, even after you have unscrewed it.
When you have got the back panel off, you will see a large solid block of ice, probably halfway up the cooling coils, right down to the bottom of the exposed space. You have to melt all this ice (I used a hair dryer to blow warm air onto the ice (have towels and a bucket ready to mop up the melted water, otherwise it will run over the floor. When you have melted all this ice, you will see a drain hole at the bottom of the exposed space. This will have ice in it and it must be cleared.
Then replace the back panel and all should be OK.
The panel bulges because ice/water is accumulating behind the panel, water, when it freezes, expands, forcing the panel forwards.
I reckon it's a Hotpoint Design fault. What is supposed to happen is that during the heating cycle, melted ice drops down from the cooling coils and down the drain hole onto a plate over the compressor unit, where it evaporates. BUT, during the cooling cycle, a fan circulates cold air from the cooling coils, through the entire unit, which includes the chamber behind the panel that is below the coils. Thus this chamber gets cold (-18 deg.C) so that water dripping down during the heating cycle is frozen before it has a chance to fall down the drain hole.
I now defrost in this manner every six months or so. Sadly, very sadly, Hotpoint, like other white goods manufacturers (Baxi Potterton boilers for instance) do not reply to my enquiries.
Hope this helps.

I've just had a similar problem. I fixed it by removing the large panel on the back of the inside of the freezer. I found a large build up of ice at the bottom of the freezer which seems to have developed because the drain hole at the bottom of the freezer was blocked. I defrosted the ice, cleared the drain and now the freezer is working fine.

The defrost drain hole in the freezer side is frozen closed.
Turn off the fridge.Remove the bottom bin and look on the back wall of the freezer for the drain pan. It will have a block of ice in it. Use a hair dryer to defrost the pan AND the drain hole inside the pan,until you can pour a cup of water through the drain hole.

Hello, this sounds like you have a blockage in the drain tube, remove bottom shelf from fridge and remove the styrofoam..you may see ice build up...melt ice with hair dryer/heat gun...you will see a pan below evaporator...melt ice in pan...dry water up in pan with paper towel...now you should see a hole in pan that leads to drain tube...pour some hot water in pan..wait a couple minutes..mop up water and repeat this step 2-3 times....once you have done this find some flexible curatain wire or electrical wire..poke down the hole until you see the water drain..now it is clear..put back panel back and you are good to go. The reason you see water in the Freezer is because the water has been leaking into the freezer instead of running into the drain hole...Please feel free to comment again if you need any further assistance. Mike

There's a drain hole inside the freezer in the bottom of the back wall ;probably is clogh .Put hot water into it to melt the ice and then blow it with air pressure;keep it clean pouring bleach throught it every 2 or 3 months.

Your defrost drain hole is clogged. Look for the drain hole in the bottom rear of the freezer section. Turn off the fridge. Heat the drain hole with a hair dryer and clear the ice. Pour a quarter cup of bleach into the hole.

Hi, Remove the rear inside panel of the freezer and locate the drain hole under the evaporator coils.
Use a hair dryer and melt the ice. Make sure and get the ice out of the drain hole as well.
After the ice is removed, be sure and flush the drain hole with hot water. A baisting surenge works great for the flush.
I hope this helps you. If I can assist you further, please let me know.

Vic

If the tube or channel is clogged or obstructed, the water backs up and leaks into the inside of the refrigerator compartment. Then the water builds up at the bottom, inside of the refrigerator. When the water has built up for a time it may spill out of the front of the door opening. To fix this problem, clear the drain tube or channel and allow the defrost water to flow down to the drain pan.

The ice and water-dispensing system of your refrigerator is quite complex. Many components work together to provide the ice and water. Aside from a simple problem of a leaky water tube or a jammed ice chute, most other components are not user serviceable. We suggest that you contact a qualified appliance repair technician for such repairs.

Sounds like a blocked defrost drain. By "American" I presume you mean side-by-side.
I had a similar problem with a freezer-on-top style Samsung. The solution to that was to defrost the freezer, remove the false backing plate in the freezer (required removal of the ice cube tray. the panel just pops out with a bit of pulling). The drain hole beneath the freezer coils was blocked with ice. This drain passes down into the fridge and then out the back of the fridge into the evaporation pan next to the motor. There is a collector pan under the freezer coils, this and the drain hole were filled with ice. When the freezer goes into its self-defrost cycle the water collects here and then overflows into the fridge.
I removed the ice with hot water/vinegar mixture (so it doesn't re-freeze immediately) and simultaneosuly used a bit of chiselling with a screwdriver to clear the drain plug. I did this from inside the fridge working up the drain hole into the freezer. The whole job took about an hour.