DRAIN BLOCKED WITH ICE

Can often be caused by ice blocking the cold air path air from the freezer. You may not be able to see the ice buildup but it's likely to be around the evaporator fins and could be due to a blocked ice-melt drain tube.
Probably worth emptying the freezer contents into a chilly bin or well insulated box (to keep it frozen) and leaving switched off with the freezer door open for half a day to let any ice melt, then see it it has started working again. If there is lots of water in the freezer after this you might want to find the drain tube (usually comes out above the compressor motor) and clear it (plastic coated flexible spring line for hanging curtains is good for this).

first are the evap coils one big ice block? if so melt the ice and look for a air gap in the door gasket. the comp. turns on so the thermostat is sending the signal to turn on. on these the drain from the evap (cold part/ top) could be blocked. blocked drain, water sits, then freezes and blocks air flow

If your air damper door is constantly getting ice forming on it there is a reson for this. This is most oftern caused by an improperly sealed fresh food compartment door gasket, a warped door or improperly adjusted door hinges. Having said that... there can be other causes such as a clogged compartment drain in eaither compartment that forces air to rapidy transfer from one compartment to the other side when one of the doors is opened and the rapid temperature change initiates the rapid air flow and eventual condensation / freezing.

Make sure your compartment drains are clear and the end of the drain tube that terminates in the catch basin under the unit is free of obstructions. (rear fiberboard compressor cover removal required) To cause the rapid air transfer I spoke of above this tube has to be blocked.

If you discover that the compartment drain is clogged with ice.... the only fix / remedy is to perform a manual defrost by unplugging the unit, removing the freezer contents and directing an exteranl fan into the freezer compartment for just over 2 hours. The reason for the 2 hours is that should there be ice in the drain funnel the water in the top of the funnel accumulates on top of the ice and insualtes the ice in the funnel from melting so you just have to wait until it warms up over time.

After perforning this manual defrost... use a vacuum to first attemot to remove any debris from the drain tube end and then put the hose on exhaust and direct air into the end of the compartment drain tube to float out any debris from the compartment drain funnel.

One question I have is why are you changing Jazz boards? Do you suspect you have an Automatic defrosting problem?

Thanks for choosing FixYa,
Kelly

Hi this problem could arise due to various reasons so lets find out what could it be the cause.

1)In the back of your freezer compartment is the drain hole. It's very common in GE for the drain to freeze up. With the drain hole plugged up, your freezer will continue to defrost the evaporator, but not the water in the drain hole. So the water builds and freezes, builds and freezes until it eventually overflows into the air diffuser for the fridge causing the leaky fridge problem."Heat Probe" that can be installed.This will prevent water from freezing up in the drain hole allowing it to drain as designed

2)Inspect the door seals and the sides of the refrigerator around the doors. If you see any beads of water or moisture, then the door seals may be failing to create an air tight seal which causes the cold air from the refrigerator to escape and form condensation around the doors. Sometimes you can solve this problem by applying a light film of gasket lubricant to the existing seals or just cleaning them of any debris with a warm soapy rag. If they still don't seal well after you apply lubricant, or clean them, you may need to replace the entire seal assembly.

3) If the water is coming from the freezer but you think that the defrost drain pipe is clear, then it may be coming from the ice maker. Check the ice maker for cracks in the unit's body or a misalignment of the water supply line. Make sure that the water supply spout in the freezer lines up with the ice maker's water supply cup.

4)Check the ice maker copper water supply line, your ice maker water filter, and the plastic ice maker water supply tube for any cracks, splits or connection leaks. If you find any leaks, remove the leaking part and obtain a replacement at the hardware store.

5)Your leaking refrigerator may just have a cracked or damaged drain pan. Your fridge regularly drains water into this pan to prevent water pooling in the fridge itself. Evaporation takes care of the rest. Look underneath your fridge where the drain pan sits and pull it out for inspection. If it has a crack or is otherwise damaged, contact the appropriate retailer about getting a replacement as soon as possible.

6)If your leaking refrigerator is draining inside as opposed to onto your floor, you're probably dealing with a clogged defrost drain. Your fridge is constantly producing condensation inside the freezer, and that condensation drips down the defrost drain into a drain pan underneath the unit. This defrost drain can become clogged with debris or, more often, it freezes shut. Look in your refrigerator manual to locate your defrost drain, and take the appropriate steps to unclog it (inundating your drain with warm water will often do the trick).

Note:Switch you Refrigerators for more than 8 hours and let the frost melt fully use hair dryer and now switch on and check you are getting leak.

post a comment for further assistance.

Thank you for using fixya have a nice day:-)

Usually caused by failure of defrost system, Air ports from freezer to fridge blocked by ice

This can be caused by the drain hole below freezer coil being blocked by ice. You MUST remove all ice in drain under freezer coil. Use turkey baster to squirt hot water into hole and use hairdryer to defrost. Possible defrost thermostat is defective. Unit never goes into defrost, ice forms on coil and in floor of freezer. After defrosting may work OK for a week or two but gradually gets warmer because ice is blocking ports where cool air gets to refrig. May also have water in refrig box. Can also be caused by defective defrost timer.

By going online, saw several posts re this problem. In short, the water drain was clogged and there was also a problem with the defrost timer. Service man blew out the drain line with compressed air and installed a new timer. Voila! Problem fixed. Interestingly, the serviceman found a wad of what looked like putty, but was sticky like gum in the drain area. He said he had never encountered anything similar.

Check to make sure the fan in the freezer compartment is working and not blocked. This delivers the cold air to the refrigerator. The fan should run every time the freezer calls for cold.

Bad news, it appears unit is short on gas leak,,,,,Because of this the temp. sensing device over reacts causing the frig to constantly run,,,,also poor door seals do not help,,,,due to costing of repair its better to replace the unit. Water thing bit of a mystery,,,,,could be blocked defrost drain,,,,refrig section of cooler section and just below this is a small drain hole of some description, get a tube or straw and blow down this to clear blockage,,,,,difficult without seeing but hope to be of help,,,,,,,,,,,,,Barry

I have a Kenmore Coldspot Model 70262990. When I get wet shelves (water, not just condensation), I was able to trace my source to the cold air vent from the freezer. In my case, the water melts from the evaporator and collects in the rear lower section of the freezer. It is "supposed" to go down the drain tube. However I had the drain hole freeze over. Then additional water from the defrost cycle would accumulate in the freezer floor (under the plastic floor) and eventually find its way down the cold air vent between the freezer and refrigerator section. You'll need to unplug the unit, take the plastic floor out of the freezer, remove the evaporator panel to access the defrost drain, melt the frozen water (hair drier works nice), and remove all the water (towel/sponge & bucket). Make sure the drain is not frozen and not blocked. Then put it back together and plug it in.

Does anyone know how to stop the drain tube from freezing over?

Good luck.

give the unit a full defrost then unblock the drain hole. it sounds like the tiny defrost heater element may not be working and is therefore causing excess frost to build up on the freezer evaporator. also check door seals are not holled anywhere.