Water weeping out vents in lower back of freezer compartment

Hi,

This is a simple fix but will take a little time to correct this. First of all, empty the freezer of food and shelving, ice maker if you have it also. The back wall in the freezer is a false wall, so gain access by removing screws and harness from top left corner. By the way turn off the unit or unplug it!! Now at the bottom of the unit far back you will see an ice glassier in the bottom middle is a drain hole that all the water is to exit after defrost. Well because its blocked with ice the water overfills and leaking into the refer section. Make sure you can use hot water to clear this out but make sure you cleaned out the entire drain system before reassembling this to restore cooling. Once clear you problem is solved.

Good Luck

I’m happy to help further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gere_bf68e6055dd61249

When you thaw or let the ice melt, make sure all the vents between the freezer(upper compartment) and refrigerator(lower compartment) are clear of ice or obstructions. This is very important! Make sure all vent ducts and tubes are clear of ice!!! Next Level the unit front to back and side to side. Make sure the refrigerator is level. When level the doors should close without assistance. It is normal for water build up and dripping sound in the fridge do to condensation, the air vents and an evaporation pan located behind the cover in the rear of the freezer will eliminate the water if unit is properly leveled. I had the same problem, then i read the user manual. this will also eliminate all the water in the lower compartment.

What do I need to do to fix my refrigerator

Hi,

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heatman101

This sounds like the evaporator drain may be clogged either in the freexer compartment or at the outlet to the drain pan under the unit. Every defrost cycle the defrost element makes water by melting the ice on the evaporator coils. If the drain is clogged there is no other place for the ice to go. Many times the drain may just have ice buildup in the evaporator drain funnel that can be corrected with a manual defrosting.

To do this manual defrosting all you do is first unplug the unit then remove everything from the freezer compartment. After that place a fan blowing into the freezer section for a little over 2 hours. Please NOTE this will make more of that pesky water mess so be ready to tend to the mess as it presents itself.

After the 2 hour fan session plug the unit back in and reload the freezer compartment with previous content. Monitor for the possibility of the water manifeting itself again.

In addidtion to the above there is a drain pan catch basin in the bottom of the unit near the compressor. They are usually white plastic on Maytag units and not to rugged. Make sure that the drain pan is not loaded with debris. There is about a 1/2 inch diameter opaque plastic line that drains into the catch basin. That is the Evaporator darin tube. Ensure the very end of the tube does not have caked up debris in the very end of the tube. Sometimes this tube cakes up and then the debris dries hard inside the tube near the end. Make sure the tube is free of foreign objects and clean.

After all of the above / cleaning and clearing / manual defrosting it is still making water then most likely the lower panel under the defrosting element / evaporator may have become disconnected allowing defrost cycle water from the melted ice into the freezer compartment vs exit via the drain. To fix the disconnected power metal panel problem the rear freezer panel would have to removed to re-attach / repair the metal panel that guides the water into the evaporator drain.

Thanks for using FixYa.

Kelly

defrost problem , call sears

It is acutually a collector pan for the drain hose. When the refrigerator runs a defrost cycle (about every couple days), that pan collects the water from the ice that is melted and drains it through a hose inside the unit, to a pan under the unit. You will have to pull the back panel off the back of the freezer and melt it with either hot water or a hot blowdryer. Do it until you see the water draining freely into the bottom pan.

Same problem with Frigidaire Gallery model#GLRT182SAW5 (dated 2002 on back of case)

Vents were blocked with ice. Vents (from top compartment to lower) located behind light. You can check by poking a chopstick up the (2) holes; be careful not to hit fan blades.

Solution:

- took freezer coil cover off in back; checked that defrost heater element was working (marked and rotated the timer in the hole next to light); checked that fan working. Found ice in the vents and defrost drip area. Got it out with hair dryer.

- cleaned compressor coils in back (check fan is rotating; also tweaked some of the compressor tubing bends to make them more smooth - read somewhere about a manufacturing defect ...); blew out drip tube from defroster while down there.

- Set the freezer control to WARM and the refrig control to COLD (THIS SHOULD IMPROVE AIR FLOW FROM TOP TO BOTTOM).

- Put thermometers in top and bottom. Checked that refrigerator cycles (not running continuously). Checked that cold air is coming down from (2) vents behind light.

OK: so far, so good. Lower compartment is 40 or under. Top is under 18.

CONCLUSION: Suspect marginal design. Had problems with another similar model where defroster ice doesn't drain correctly, pools and refreezes. Leading to blocked vents as well as blocked defroster drain and similar problem including dripping water from top to bottom and warm bottom.

MAYBE KEEPING THE FREEZER CONTROL AT WARM GETS AROUND THE PROBLEM?? ANYWAY, ITS WORKING FOR ME FOR NOW !!